Heading into retirement, a couple opts to sell the farm and move into the city. They do, however, keep the farmhouse, renting it out to someone they see as a nice young man. Their property becomes a marijuana grow-op, making them unwitting participants in a world completely alien to them – one that provides plenty of laughs to those watching Harvest, the next production from the Elmira Theatre Company.
Penned by Canadian playwright Ken Cameron, Harvest is based on real-life events that befell his parents. While fictionalized, many of the same emotions are at play – this was the house where the author grew up, after all.
An unfortunate series of issues – financial stress, children who have no interest in carrying on the family business, and a rental agreement gone very wrong – unfold as Allan and Charlotte Duncanson seek their golden retirement. Having run the four-generation farm their entire 42-year marriage, circumstances are now forcing them to retire to a condo in the city. In order to make ends meet and hold onto the home where memories and traditions live, they rent their farm house to a young man who claims to be an airline pilot. They think they’ve found the perfect tenant.
Harvest is an endearing depiction of the playwright’s lovingly-quarrelsome parents into which Cameron weaves humour, narrative, and fact into the story as he explores the state of agriculture and independent farming in Canada, the influence of drug gangs on unsuspecting people, and the notions of aging and retirement.
Touching on a variety of themes, the story is one many people can relate to, said director Gord Davis, at the ETC helm for the first time.
He enjoyed Cameron’s script from the get-go.
“I liked it. It’s very rural. I’m at that retirement age, so it’s sort of all those feelings you go through,” he explained of the emotions at play.
The circumstances may not be run-of-the-mill – most people don’t come across the remnants of a grow-op in their farmhouses – but that issue is really just the catalyst. Allan (Trevor Smith-Diggans) and Charlotte (Michele DiTomasso) actually have no clue what’s happened to their house when they return to find it a mess and covered in mold, until they call in the authorities. Thus begins an unexpected, but hilarious, adventure.
The humour extends from the situation and the back-and-forth of a long-married couple. And, given that two actors play eight characters, the audience has a lot of fun with the rapid-fire change from one character to another.
“The fun and comedy comes from the fact that the two actors keep switching characters,” said Davis, noting the two play six characters in one scene alone.
It’s been a bit of handful, but much less so than the large casts he’s often worked with during his time as drama teacher at Elmira District Secondary School and, after his retirement, K-W Musical Productions and The Singer’s Theatre, where ensembles are often part of the equation.
“This has been really nice,” he laughed of working with just two actors.
Along with the comedy, there are some bittersweet moments stemming from the fact Harvest is in part Cameron’s take on his parents’ relationship.
“It’s kind of like a love story: a husband and wife who are so comfortable with each other and their life, and now there’s change,” said Davis. “They’re learning to let go of some things, and to see that change is alright.”
In the original play, Allan and Charlotte move into a condo in Esquimalt, on Vancouver Island. For this production, ETC received permission from the author to localize the place names, which is why the rural references will include the likes of Wallenstein and Alma.
The Elmira Theatre Company production of Harvest runs Thursdays through Sundays, Sept. 13-22, at 76 Howard Ave. Show times are 8 p.m., except Sundays (2:30 p.m.). Tickets are $18, available at the Centre in the Square box office in Kitchener by calling 519-578-1570 or online at www.centre-square.com. A limited number of tickets are available at the door.
