A new play about an unplanned pregnancy in the oilsands will open the Red Deer Players’ Breaking Cover play-reading series.
On Saturday, Oct. 14, at the Red Deer Public Library, local actors will read from an original, never-before-staged script written by Natalie Meisner, a poet, author and English professor at Mount Royal University. Boom Baby is about the price paid for better opportunities.
It will open a season of five original plays that will be read publicly for the first time. Actors will remain seated, and only sparse costumes and props are used to help convey the story.
This year, the selection panel for the Breaking Cover series was overwhelmed by an unprecedented response from playwrights across Alberta. Group member Lori Lane said from 25 to 30 original scripts were received, which allowed for great choices for a strong season of new plays ahead.
Lane will direct the season opener, Boom Baby, which will be read Saturday at noon in the Snell Auditorium at the downtown library. It contains two intertwined stories: about three Maritimers who face new challenges after arriving to work in the Athabasca oilsands, and about married company executives who must deal with bad PR and private disappointment.
Admission is by donation. Audience members will get a chance to participate in a post-play discussion and give feedback to the playwright. Lane knows this is of huge benefit to the playwrights who want to see how certain lines go over with objective viewers. The director and actors also make suggestions throughout the rehearsal process.
Caroline Russell-King’s play Absinthe, Bourbon, Vodka and Sake, which was fully staged by Red Deer Players in June, started out as a staged reading, and was later developed more fully, with input from the public.
Other staged readings are also coming up in the Red Deer Players’ Breaking Cover Series. (All start at noon in the Snell Auditorium).
- Nov. 25: I Ain’t So Tough, by Rose Scollard, is about a mysteriously inherited farm from a forgotten war-time romance. The play is directed by Jenna Goldade
- Feb. 24: Out of Control, by Jordan Galloway, concerns a college party going sour with themes about obligations and freedoms. It’s directed by Ronen Eagles,
- March 23: Eden, by Fran Kimmel, is a story about a kidnapping and a murder, faith and truth. Directed by Evan MacLeod,
- May 11: When Someone Knows Your Usual, by Keri Halfacre, is about a photographer looking for his muse. This story about destiny and dating apps is directed by Tanya Ryga.