The Huntsville Theatre Company (HTC) is getting ready to debut their final play in commemoration of Canada’s 150th anniversary. Not only is it the last production of the season, Mending Fences will also be the last play (HTC) performs on the stage at Chaffey Hall.
Written by Norm Foster and directed by Greg Hancock, Mending Fences is a story about a man and his son who haven’t seen each other in 13 years. Featuring Serge Charlebois, Teal Cochrane and Tom Welsh, Mending Fences “is a brilliantly funny and poignant play about the choices we make: making peace with our choices, with ourselves, with our past,” said Hancock. “Some fences can be mended, some must be left behind, but they all leave their impression in our personal stories. What is really interesting is the revelation that you don’t always know all the background and details of your very own story.”
Hancock believes that Mending Fences is a perfect way to round out the HTC season of Canadian plays. “It is the work of one of Canada’s most prolific and accomplished playwrights. In many ways, this play is pure Canadiana: set in Saskatchewan, pitting the prairies against the urbane draw of Ontario, rural vs. city, union vs. anti-union. Hockey features proudly, if hilariously, as both a metaphor and a hard-knocks reality. It is about conflicting dreams and desires. And it is about how we find the person inside the stereotype, how even the worst of relationships can be saved when you reach out to the other.”
The three actors in Mending Fences play eight different roles. “This is an extremely challenging play for the actors, as it requires far more of them than most plays,” said Hancock. “It requires comedic timing, a sense of motion and distance, and the ability to dig deep into a character’s inner thoughts and emotional heights and valleys, to know not just what their character says but WHY they are saying it, and what they are leaving unsaid… And they achieve this flawlessly. Together, this cast has found a unique chemistry.”
This play is suitable for young adults and up. While there are instances of cursing and inferences to sex, there is no nudity or adult situations. If it were a film, Hancock would rate it PG14.
Mending Fences opens on Friday, May 5 and runs until Sunday, May 14, with both evening and matinee shows available. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at Treasures and Trophies, in Huntsville, or online at www.huntsvilletheatre.org.
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We saw the play last night! Fantastic!! This has to be one of the best plays so far. Our advice…don’t miss it!