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Review of Woman Playing Hamlet. By Sharon Reichert

5/10/2019

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Leduc Drama Society presents Women Playing Hamlet
Quirky comedy an entertaining look at Shakespeare’s most famous protagonist
Review by Sharon Reichert
To be or not to be … heading to Maclab Theatre for the Performing Arts to catch Leduc Drama Society’s latest offering, Women Playing Hamlet.
As the title suggests, the players are all women and they are an amazingly talented bunch of actresses!
The story centers around Jessica, played by Rachel Whipple, who was thrilled to be given the title role in a New York production of Hamlet, but suddenly finds herself questioning, not only her ability to take on such an iconic role, but everything about her life! Along the way, Jessica gets advice – both welcome and unwelcome – from a whole host of crazy characters, including her acting coach, her best (only?) friend, her dead father, a New York bartender and Patrick Stewart.
For director Peter Dickhout, the biggest challenge in bringing this quirky, entertaining story to the stage was dispersing 19 very diverse roles among eight gifted actresses. Did I mention that many of these 19 characters are NOT female?
Whipple does a masterful job playing Jessica, whose emotions run the gamut from despair to excitement to horror to delight and back again several times. Along the way, we learn that she may have way more in common with Hamlet than she ever realized!
Kirsten Milner plays Jessica’s acting coach, who is by turns a wonderful mentor and a borderline abusive task master.
Stacey Bradley-Wells, Brittany Boots Currie, Terri English, Annie Randall, Susanne Ritchie and Rebekah Scheffelmaier each play at least two characters, meaning quick costume changes, adding and removing wigs and facial hair and changing accents on the fly.
Highlights of the show include a musical grave digger, a cynical bartender, a drunken autograph seeker and a senile soap opera actress.
This show is quite entertaining, very funny, sometimes touching and often educational! (Did you know that Shakespeare is indirectly responsible for the release of a certain bird species in North America?)
Best of all, you can tell that the cast and crew had a great time putting this show together. They ‘enthusiastically’ invite you all to join them in their ‘parallel ethosphere’ for an evening.
To be or not to be? Really, the only question you need to consider is which night works best for you? The play opens Friday, May 10, with further shows on May 11, 12 (matinee), 16, 17 & 18.

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Fringe production of, I Hate Shakespeare for March 12 and 13 @7pm. Cast will require 3 males and 3 females who will each play many various roles. Audition will consist of a cold read from the script. “I Hate Shakespeare”, at least that’s what one audience member thinks, until he gets a comical rundown of Shakespeare classics. With zombies, talking cows, and an appearance by Jerry Springer, I hate Shakespeare, is a funny , fast paced introduction to Shakespeare with a modern twist. I am also looking for a Stage Manager and back stage help. If you are interested, please email Keith at kegummer@shaw.ca or message me at at 780 667 8207.

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Feel that spark? It’s time to audition for Miss Electricity, a theatre for young audiences play that will be produced for Edmonton’s Fringe Festival! Ten-year-old Vi is trying everything she can think of to prove to the world how special she is but it’s not going well! So far, she has disappointed her mom, alienated her best friend and fallen flat on her patoodle! Twice! But a sudden storm turns everything around!
Come out to the playhouse on Wednesday, March 6 at 7 p.m. or Sunday, March 10 at 2 p.m. to audition for this fun show that will have everyone dancing in the aisles! We are looking to cast a minimum of four people and as many as six, with at least two females and two males. It is theatre for young audiences, but we are casting adults for the show. Auditions will consist of cold reads from the script. Since the show will feature some break out dancing, come prepared to prove you can move!

This year’s Fringe takes place Aug. 15-25. Cast must be available throughout this time.
E-mail slrykert@yahoo.ca for more information

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Sympathy Jones, The New Secret Agent Musical By Sharon Reichert

2/5/2019

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Jones‐ing for a night out? Leduc Drama Society has you covered!
Don’t miss Sympathy Jones, The New Secret Agent Musical
By Sharon Reichert
The Leduc Drama Society has put together an entertaining, family‐friendly musical to warm you up on a
chilly February evening! Sympathy Jones, The New Secret Agent Musical, is set in the 1960s and carries
all the fun and innocence of those bygone days.
Sympathy, played by Erin Hutchinson, is a secretary for The Agency but she wants to be so much more!
She longs for danger, excitement and the chance to prove she can stop the bad guys!
The problem is, she is so good at her current job that her boss Roger Pinkerton, played by David
Newton, has no intention of letting her go as his assistant.
Then one day, Agent Henry Greene, played by Andrew Dupres, leaves his briefcase on Sympathy’s desk,
providing her with the opportunity to ‘borrow’ the file on a case that has the whole agency in a tizzy!
Sympathy is quickly on the case, leaving Henry to play catch up.
Hutchinson does a great job bringing Sympathy Jones to life, with enthusiasm, naivety, energy,
determination and a great sense of humour.
It was so much fun to watch Dupres take on the role of newbie agent Henry, who was a little tonguetied,
a LOT awkward and completely smitten with Sympathy!
As Sympathy and Henry are trying to work out their sudden unexpected partnership, the evil Kitty Hawk,
portrayed by Michelle Karasinski, is wreaking havoc on Washington, DC, and threatening even the
President of the United States with her plan to stop time!
Highlights of the show are many and include Kitty singing to her minions to remind them that You Don’t
Cross Kitty, without facing dire and immediate consequences! Karasinski did a brilliant job portraying the
vengeful Kitty, who was understandably hurt when her husband, played by Victor Howard, replaced her
with a younger model! Curtis Johnson was great as Kitty’s sidekick Tick Tock, in turns a scientific genius,
a frustrated co‐conspirator and a lovestruck boy toy.
Kudos to Dave Froland as Agent Nick Steel, whose injuries force him onto crutches and into the
background of the Kitty case. Froland learned to drag himself around on the crutches from the earliest
rehearsals, according to director Cyndi Wagner, which couldn’t have been easy, showing his dedication
to the character and the role. Can’t move on without mentioning Carie Fargie‐Scott, who played Caprice
Nova, tech dress designer extraordinaire, winning the hearts of the audience AND Agent Steel! Her
scenes were definitely among the highlights for this writer!
Hats off, also, to the hard working and talented ensemble! Multiple characters, MANY costume changes,
lots of fights they could never win and several recurring death scenes (some within mere seconds!)
didn’t phase them at all!
Overall, this was an entertaining, fun musical and well worth making your way to Mclab Theatre for the
Performing Arts to catch one of the three remaining shows, Feb. 7, 8 and 9.

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*Audition Notice**

1/4/2019

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When William Shakespeare wrote Hamlet, the performers were all men. Was that fair? That was then, and this is now. Women Playing Hamlet shows Willy the error of his ways by sharing the journey of Jessica as she prepares for her performance as Hamlet!
This cast is composed entirely of women!
We are looking for a minimum of 4 women to bring to life the question: “to be or not to be”.
Audition dates are January 16 at 7 pm and January 20 at 2 pm. Auditions will consist of cold reads from the script, and possibly some improv. Any questions, call or text director Peter Dickhout at 780 719 0626

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