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Cornerstone Dinner Theatre presents a night of coarse acting

Cornerstone Theatre is back for another spring production and laughter is at the top of the playbill. Directing this year’s Dinner Theatre are constants in the Cornerstone world: Lane and Colleen Easton.
Cornerstone Theatre

            Cornerstone Theatre is back for another spring production and laughter is at the top of the playbill.

            Directing this year’s Dinner Theatre are constants in the Cornerstone world: Lane and Colleen Easton.

            “This year we’re doing something a little bit different,” Lane explained. “We have four coarse acting plays – just short one act plays – in the coarse acting style, which basically follows the same style of murder mysteries that we do; but, this will be a satire, so we’ll be spoofing on what we generally do.”

            “This style is actually probably harder to act. Satire has to be pretty precise. We don’t want to be flat, we need to stay sharp, so it can be more demanding for the actors and the technical crew because it demands precision.”

            The four plays to be performed are “Strueth,” which Lane describes as a traditional spoof on the classic whodunit; “A Collier’s Tuesday Tea,” which is a period piece involving a coal mine; “Two Eggs,” which is a contemporary play exploring the many sides of man; and “A fish in her kettle,” with is a classic French farce where actors are in one door and out the other.

            “Don (Carter) was instrumental in finding scripts for us and hunting down good projects,” Lane said. “Doug Waldner is doing our technical and sound effects; which are quite intense and he’s doing a great job.”

            Overall about 20 people are involved with the production including those both on-stage and behind the scenes.

            “We chose to do four small ones this year to accommodate a lot of people,” Lane added. “We had a lot of interested people wanting to be involved who are bringing new energy and new ideas to Cornerstone. So, some are busy playing two or three characters and helping backstage.”

            “We’ve cast people out of their ‘normal’ characters as well, so we’re stretching people and letting them do something totally off the wall. In small towns, you can get put into roles each year, so it’s nice to be able to do something different.”

            “It will be really entertaining and it won’t be too long of a night; it will be nice and fresh. It’s very exciting.”

            Work began on the play in February and has come together quite quickly.

            “We got the technical stuff out of the way and got the stage set up, so they can just go up there and do their thing,” Lane said. “And we didn’t have Paul and Dianne (Twietmeyer) here this time for that, so the set isn’t quite to Paul’s standards, but Fred Perry, Colleen, and I put it up and for a coarse acting play it will really work perfectly because things are supposed to be imperfect.”

            “Things are not quite right and there’s twists to the performances that we normally wouldn’t have.”

            Their annual Dinner Theatre is being hosted Friday, April 20, and Saturday, April 21; with a matinee performance on Sunday, April 22. For the Dinner Theatre performances cocktails start at 6 p.m., supper is at 7 p.m., and entertainment follows at 8 p.m. Tickets for the dinner theatre are $35. The matinee tickets are $20 and the performance starts at 2 p.m.

            Providing the meal for the Dinner Theatre again are David and Shelley Slykhuis.

            Tickets for the Dinner Theatre are available from FengChé Flowers located at 202 Main St. in Carlyle.