Rivercity Payers, Campbell River’s community theatre group, is bringing to the stage the modern Canadian play Kayak by Jordan Hall.
“I’ve wanted to bring this play to the Rivercity Stage ever since I read it,” says producer Heather Gordon Murphy. “Kayak is a quirky, creative and thought-provoking play. It explores the challenging issues of family, climate change, politics and soul searching, and it does so with compassion and humour.”
The powerfully written play finds Annie Iversen (played by Darlene Carr) on a vast stretch of water recounting the strange chain of events that left her stranded in her son’s old kayak. The doting suburban mother is blindsided when her son, Peter (played by Dennis Hawkins-Bogle), falls in love with Julie (played by Kate Humphreys), a passionate environmental activist. Unable to reconcile herself to Julie’s “radical” worldview, Annie struggles desperately to keep Peter from falling further into the young woman’s dangerous world.
Director Tim Myerscough, who is no stranger to Campbell River audiences, says he has found the play technically challenging and gratifying, “It’s been challenging to create the illusion of being lost on the water, flitting between Annie’s memories and hallucinations, and gratifying to see the growth in the actors’ portrayal of their characters and the imagination of the technicians and stage crew to bring the illusions to life.”
The production runs Feb. 17-27 with evening shows Thursday to Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and matinees Saturday and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets are available at www.rivercitytickets.ca or call 250-914-0419. For more information visit rivercityplayers.ca or facebook.com/rivercityplayers.CR/.
Anyone entering the theater must be fully vaccinated and audience members are required to wear masks. For everyone’s safety, the theatre capacity will be reduced to 50 per cent.
