Community theatre, as its name suggests, involves a lot of collaboration and personal touches contributed by actors and back stage crews alike.
The late Gwen Pharis Ringwood’s play Still Stands the House which started its two-week run Wednesday evening along with her play Garage Sale is a perfect example of that collaboration.
The rocker in which Sharon Hoffman sits to knit in her role as, Hester, comes from her own home and is a family heirloom.
Her grandmother, who was born in 1898, was nursed on the rocker by her great-grandmother.
And Sharon remembers playing on the same rocker at age four or five with her buddy from next door.
They were playing so enthusiastically that the chair bucked the pair off. She remembers that they were hurt, but nothing to serious.
“The chair was kind of creaky, but Toni Savile (who plays Manning) repaired it for the play,” Hoffman says.
Other beautiful antique pieces on the Still Stands the House set have also been loaned to the club for the production.
Hoffman warns that Still Stands the House is quite dark and she is appreciating the sense of authenticity that director Cathie Hamm is bringing to the production which is set during the turbulent dust bowl depression years of the 1930s when many farms were failing.
“I am really enjoying the job Cathie is doing with the play,” says Hoffman.
During one rehearsal I attended she was curious as to whether her image in the final scene was being projected properly.
Oh, yes it was, but we won’t spoil the ending for people who haven’t seen the play yet.
The other cast members in Still Stands the House are Amanda LeForte as, Ruth, Curt Sprickerhoff as Bruce.
While Still Stands the House is a dark reflection of some of our history’s tougher times, Hoffman says audiences will be uplifted by Gwen’s play Garage Sale which follows Still Stands the House each evening.
Directed by Sylvia Swift, Garage Sale stars Michael Rawluk, who was mentored by Gwen as a youth, and Gwen’s daughter Sophia (Susan Ringwood) Schneider.
Gwen Pharis Ringwood founded the Studio Theatre 60 years ago and her plays are being staged to honour her memory March 11 to 14 and March 18 to 21.
Both short plays will be performed each evening at 8 p.m. sharp (doors open at 7:30 p.m.) with the addition of a matinee on March 21 at 2 p.m. in the Studio Theatre.
Tickets are available at About Face Photography, The Open Book and Realm of Toys.
