Theatre Wellesley is starting their season a bit earlier this year with a themed production in a rustic setting.
For the first time, they will be hosting an early fall production for two small audiences.
David McNorgan plays the lead role in Harvest and he says the upcoming shows were decided on very short notice.
“A friend of mine has a barn on his property just north of Shakespeare,” he said. “It isn’t a working farm, and when we were visiting, he said, ‘Dave, you should do some theatre in the barn here.’”
The barn had a stage already built, with some recently renovated floors.
“It is already set up and is ideal for a performance like this. You can easily fit 100 people in there,” he said, adding that the show is going to be very informal, complete with standing room. “We are doing a ‘bring your own lawn chair’ thing and we are only going to do it twice. Then, we will see about next year.”
The show the group chose, Harvest, was one the company was very familiar with. It was their spring show in 2014.
“This is a show that we could get together on short notice,” he said, adding that it doesn’t take away from the meat of the story. “We call it a humourous and heartwarming production.”
The show centers around a newly-retired couple, Allan and Charlotte, who are looking to sell their house and their farm in the country. The pair find a buyer for the farm, but couldn’t unload their house.
“They ended up renting it out to a nice young man who is an airplane pilot. That was their first mistake,” said McNorgan. “It turns out he is a marijuana grower and he turns their house into a grow-op. They find out and are stuck with this big bill to fix it up.”
The couple are on the verge of losing everything, but McNorgan assures that isn’t their fate.
“There is a happy, heartwarming ending,” he said, mentioning that the show isn’t just about the house and the marijuana. “The playwright’s intention in all of this was to show the love story between Allan and Charlotte. It is about how they face adversity together. There is that bickering that goes on between married couples that have been together for 40-plus years, but here, it is about how they get through those trials and tribulations.”
Being able to put the show on a second time around, McNorgan says the characters are going to have a bit more dimension to them. The actors know the characters well, and now have a chance to explore them a bit more.
“We even have the same director for this one, and now, he is pushing us a bit further, drawing out a bit more emotion there,” he said. “It is all about that love story.”
The play will be running in two matinee shows on Sept. 10 and 11 at 2 p.m. The shows will take place at 4361 Perth Road 107. Spectators are asked to pay what they can at the door, but Theatre Wellesley suggests around $10 to $15. Bring your own lawn chair for seating, and pack a picnic to eat before or after the show. For more information, visit Theatre Wellesley’s Facebook page.
