Teal Cochrane as Doris and Tom Welsh as George in Same Time, Next Year (supplied photo)
Teal Cochrane as Doris and Tom Welsh as George in Same Time, Next Year (supplied photo)

Huntsville Theatre Company’s Same Time, Next Year opens tonight

The Huntsville Theatre Company (HTC) will debut its first play of the 2017/2018 season tonight, October 27.

Featuring Teal Cochrane and Tom Welsh, Same Time, Next Year is a romantic comedy following a 25-year-long
love affair between two people who are married to others and meet up once a year.

“Teal and Tom are two of the rare actors in Muskoka that draw people to see the show simply because they know it will be an experience to be savoured,” says director Greg Hancock. “This is a coming of age story for those who are already of age.”

In 1951, at a small California inn, George (Tom Welsh) and Doris (Teal Cochrane) have an affair. Instead of writing it off as a one-night stand, the pair decide to meet at the inn every year for a romantic retreat, away from their respective spouses and families. In the decades that follow, both George and Doris face their own personal struggles and hardships, and together they develop a level of love and intimacy that exceeds the ones found in their own marriages.

Same Time, Next Year ran on Broadway for five years, and the movie spawned five Academy Award nominations. It is a brilliantly written comedy, with moments of deeply touching intimacy and poignancy. The play takes place in six time periods, through some of the most iconic and influential periods of modern history. From the early ’50s, when the Bomb was a daily back-of-mind threat, through the conflict between establishment and free thinking of the ’60s, and into the Me Generation of the ’70s, this play reflects the changes that we immerse ourselves in on the outside while still remaining who we are, deep inside.

“George and Doris wind their way through the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, sliding in and out of sync, each coming to
terms with life the other 363 days of the year,” says Hancock. “The thing about Doris and George is that they are so very real: you can feel exactly what they are going through yourself. The warmth and delirium of new love, the depths of loss, the need to be loved and accepted for who you are, and the joy of knowing and being known, completely, by that one person in the world that matters more to you than anyone. You can expect to be surprised, amused, made to laugh out loud and to feel a catch in your throat at times. I know I do, still, even after all this time in rehearsal.”

Same Time Next Year opens on Friday, October 27 and runs until Saturday, November 4 at Tawingo College, HTC’s new home. Both evening and matinee shows are available. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at Treasures and Trophies in Huntsville or online at huntsvilletheatre.org.

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