Elora Community Theatre’s upcoming production of Spring Planting may not be listed as a comedy, but it’s sure to put some spring in your step.
The play tells the story of two neighbours, Garnet Black and Jill Foster. Garnet, in his eighties, and Jill, in her thirties, have outlived their respective spouses. They have a lot of unspoken guilt and anger about the deaths of their partners. Garnet’s grandson, Robert, and Jill’s daughter, Caroline, have their own problems. The hidden secrets among the four of them eventually spring to the surface like weeds.
The four have their lingering issues, with tensions and violence just below the surface – will they spring up, breaking through?
Director Bronwyn Allen Hill submitted the play for consideration last year to the play selection committee who agreed it was perfect for the season.
“They thought it was a viable option for our season,” Allen Hill said. “It has a slightly rural tone, although this could be set in any small town in southern Ontario. We just thought it fit our audiences.”
Written by award-winning Canadian playwright Kit Brennan, Spring Planting documents the interactions of neighbours Robert, Caroline, Jill and Garnet. Patrick C. Smith, Sammy Beynon, Tammy Smits, and Acey Kaspar will fill the roles.
Allen Hill says she chose the play because she enjoyed the relationships the characters develop.
“It’s what they call a four-hander: four people in the cast,” Allen Hill said. “I liked the relationship between the old man and his neighbour, a widowed, single mother and her daughter and his grandson. I really like the relationships. There’s a real connection between the young man and the young girl as there very often is with the very old and the very young.”
She says the roles seem to have been written for the actors, they fit so well. Some of the actors are relatively inexperienced but they’ve risen to the challenge.
“They’ve been absolutely brilliant,” Allen Hill said. “I’m really pleased with the casting. The way they interact, they’re brilliant.”
She notes she was on the lookout for the type of relationship the older man and the young girl share in the play.
“All of the characters undergo a certain amount of personal growth through the acts of the play,” Allen Hill said. “Of all of them I think the old man has the most significant growth challenge. He really grows the most in his personal relationship and his own mindset.”
She had the opportunity to work with Brennan also, who allowed her to change where act one ends and act begins because it got a bit heavy with the first act being so much longer than the second.
When asked what she hopes the audience will take away from the play she says, the line “it’s never too late” comes to mind.
“If you persevere it will come right,” Allen Hill said. “I think it’s very timeless. It’s set in the present but it could be set just about any age, either past or future.”
The play isn’t listed as a comedy but, she says it’s certainly funny in quite a few spots. She adds, it’s appropriate for the time of year too.
“There are certainly very dramatic moments,” Allen Hill said. “We have put a fair amount of humour in it, too. Very rarely is a play totally devoid of humour. I don’t think the audience would handle it. For every bit of tension you put in you have to put in some laughter. Sometimes it’s the dialogue, sometimes it’s the characterization. In this it’s a little of both.”
The Elora Community Theatre production of Spring Planting runs at the Fergus Grand Theatre from May 1-10. Show times are 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are available at www.fergusgrandtheatre.ca or by calling the Fergus Grand Theatre box office at 519-787-1981.
