It’s curtain’s up on Marshlight Theatre Company’s new season next week, starting with a production of Self-Help, a farce written by Canadian playwright Norm Foster and directed by Paul Griffin.
The play opens next Friday, Nov. 13 at 7:30 pm at Marshlight Theatre on Fairfield Road.
Griffin describes the play as a farce in the classical sense, where everything seems to be going well for the two main characters—actors who figure they can make more money scamming folks as self-help gurus—until one thing happens and the whole situation devolves from there.
“ And so they have that opening scene, then we have a second scene where we see them actually performing as gurus and just how hokey it all is, but they’re very successful. And then from the third scene forward is them dealing with a complication that would destroy their careers if it got out. And of course, I will say it involves a body rolled up in a rug.”
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While Griffin’s original plan involved a darker, bigger play, with seasons changing and sunlight fading, he decided audiences might rather have a good laugh, especially after the success of their outdoor play Zomblet over the summer, he said.
“ People enjoyed it. They laughed. If they think, oh, going to see a show, if they’re set up to go like, “Oh, it’s going to be a comedy,” I think that’s a good thing . . . and this is a good comedy. If I can laugh while I’m reading it, then I think it’s possible to put it on.”
Cyril Johnston has been acting for years but this will be his first role in a Marshlight production. Though he lives in Moncton, he and his wife have seen a few plays at the small theatre, and when he read the script, he couldn’t pass up the chance to audition, he said.
“ I only audition for things that I really wanna do. And I read this script, and this is a funny play in terms of the witty back-and-forth, or sometimes not so witty, but humorous back-and-forth . . . It’s a very traditional farce with all the different doors and people coming in this door and out that door, and one person comes in, and the other person goes out.”
And beyond the humour, the play has a still relevant message in this age of online grifters, said actor Abby Spencer, who is also making her Marshlight debut.
“ I would say it’s an old commentary on an old kind of person that we’re still seeing a lot of. Like, there’s a lot of really opportunistic influencers and stuff now just trying to grab onto a lot of your insecurities. And in this play you realize, oh, this has been an issue for a long time.”
The play runs Nov. 13-15 and 20-22, with showings at 7:30 pm on the Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 pm matinee showings on the Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets can be purchased online at www.marshlight.ca.
