Laughter rang through the air in Alida as Act One Productions presented their annual dinner theatre from Wednesday, March 11, to Saturday, March 14, with a Sunday matinee performance. With certain nights deemed Dessert Theatre, Cocktail Theatre, and the Dinner Theatre on March 14.
The Friday and Saturday productions were both sold out with 128 seats filled.
This year Act One performed the comedy “Caught in the Net,” by Ray Cooney. A fitting play, as it is a sequel to the very first play Act One ever put on, “Run for your Wife,” in 1993.
The play this year was dedicated to Noel Gervais who had been a mainstay in the productions since the beginning. Gervais passed away last year and this year’s performance was done in his memory.
The play centres around John Smith who is leading a double life. John has two wives and a child with each. John’s son, Gavin, and daughter, Vicki, find each other online and strike up a conversation discovering their fathers have not only a name in common, but are the same age and are both taxi drivers.
When John discovers the two have arranged to meet he does everything in his power to stop it from happening, even pulling in the help of his friend Stanley Gardner. As they try to keep people apart the lies and crazy antics snowball out of control. Eventually John tells his wives about each other and discovers they had known for years.
Laughter abounded as physical comedy was enjoyed and lines were delivered with a kick.
John was played by Kim Carlsen who has enjoyed his third year with Act One Productions. Gavin was played by Chad Peet also back for his third year with Act One. Gavin’s mother, Barbara, was brought to life by Linda Potapinski who has been in 10 performances with Act One.
Shanna Carriere took on the role of Vicki Smith. Carriere has been involved on-stage for 19 years. Vicki’s mother, Mary, was played by Margaret Peet who has been with Act One for the last 15 years.
Stanley Gardner was portrayed by Tim Cowan who has dedicated two decades to Act One. Stanley’s father, Dad, was brought to life by Dale Potapinski who has enjoyed 15 years with Act One Productions.
Many people went to a lot of work to bring the production to life, it was a true community effort.
