As the audience finished their dinner and began to quiet in anticipation of the play they were about to see, director Roxanne Irvine took to the stage to introduce herself and the cast.
"This is a comedy," Irvine said. "So please, laugh long and laugh hard."
She needn't have asked, as the Cochin Community Players' production of Sadie Flynn Comes to Big Oak had the audience roaring with laughter.
The comedy is written by Canadian playwright Norm Foster - a wise choice, considering the success seen by the Battlefords Community Players' production of Kiss the Moon, Kiss the Sun.
Foster's plays are known for their comedy, certainly, but above all else, they are known for Foster's tenable treatment of characters, as their dilemmas and sentiments often ring true with the audience.
"I find it far more satisfying if I can make an audience laugh and feel a little heartache within the same story," says Foster. "The farces are a lot of fun to write but it's the stories that touch an audience's heart as well as its funny bone that are the most rewarding." (www.normfoster.com)
Sadie Flynn Comes to Big Oak takes place over a week in the 70s, wherein Sadie Flynn, recently released from jail where she served time for killing her husband, descends upon the quiet town of Big Oak.
The play is set in Millie's Diner, where we first meet Tom Shaw, an ex-hockey player and Orson Hubble, his simple-minded employee. Later, we are introduced to Bev, a hairdresser whose husband recently walked out on her, and Rachel, who thinks she knows everything about everybody.
After a series of unfortunate events befalls men who are unfaithful to their wives, suspicion ripples through the town. There is also much discussion around a coveted "coin collection," but you'll have to see the play to understand that big item.
Being believable was ultimately what helped the cast of Fraser Glen, Lloyd Deshaye, Donna Fisher, Lynn Pirot and Marieanne Corbeil carry the play to a standing ovation.
It was not the deliverance of punch lines and puns, although hilarious, that drove the audience to their feet, rather the depth the cast gave to each character, portraying them as real people with seemingly unique, but all-too-common problems.
Who doesn't know the handsome life-long bachelor seen in the character Tom Shaw, as portrayed by Glen, or the town gossip, played by Corbeil, who has her own set of secrets?
The set was also remarkable, designed by Ealine Iverson and Linda jones and constructed by Mike Carlson and Ray Carriere.
Sadie Flynn Comes to Big Oak was performed April 8 to 10 and April 14 to 17 at the Cochin Community Hall, and was the Cochin Community Players' last production of the season.
Tickets for next season's performances, which sell out quickly, go on sale Oct. 12 for performances in November, December and March.
See www.cochin.ca/pages/cochin_comm_players.html for more information.
