by Stephen Dafoe
Playwright David Haas is no stranger to the Morinville stage, having performed with the Caviar Players from 2011 to 2013 and had one of his own plays A Health Unto Her Majesty staged by the troupe in 2012 during the St. Jean Baptiste Festival. Haas is now binging another of his plays to the Edmonton Fringe Festival from Aug. 14 to 23.
Pacific Time is the seventh play Haas has brought to the stage. The playwright and actor won an Edmonton Journal award in 1977 and an Alberta Culture award in 1983 for his play His Day in Court. Since 2009 Haas has had five winning entries in the St. Albert Festival of the Arts one-act play competition.
The Edmonton Fringe run marks the second time Pacific Time has hit the stage. The play did a three-performance run at the Graffiti Mix One Act Festival in Edmonton last year.
Haas said Pacific Time is a 50-minute, one-act science-fiction time travel love drama. “The action takes place inside a cafe whose unusual character emerges gradually as the play develops. Romance blossoms between seemingly unlikely partners, but external factors lead to a bittersweet ending.”
The play tells the story of Grant, a provincial government researcher lured into the local cafe by its promise of “sticky buns to die for.” There he meets Polly, a budding novelist from Victoria. The two set off on a romantic science fiction adventure throught the performance.
The part of Grant is played by Joel Dinicola who has been involved in theatre for the past five years. He has played Mr. Craven in the Concordia University College’s production of The Secret Garden. Pacific
The role of Polly is duel cast with Leah Beaudry and Heidi MacDonald playing the part.
Since Beaudry graduated from MacEwan’s Theatre Program, she has pursued film and stage acting and captured a lead role in Noel’s Story, a short film as well as the lead in a feature-length film called Placebo Love Story. Beaudry is also appearing in Canvas: A Story of the Forgotten at this year’s Fringe Festival.
MacDonald has been acting since the age of seven and won several awards, including the Hillcrest Drama Awards, Centennial Secondary Drama Award, Ardrossan Best Actress Award in her teens. MacDonald took a hiatus from acting after high school to attend college and have a baby. In the past year, she has acted in a number of short films, including Stupid Teens, Kangaroo Court, and Follow Your Dreams.
The third character in Pacific Time is cafe employee Jess, played by Kevin Brian Huang. He began his acting career acting as a student actor in M.E. LaZerte High School’s theatre productions, including Into the Woods, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Miracle Worker, Louis and Dave, and Twelve Angry Men. Two years ago, Huang appeared in White Noise, a Graffiti Mix Arts Collective’s original production. He also appeared in Pacific Time in its Graffiti Mix run last year.
Haas’ play is directed by Rachel Whipple, a recent graduate of Edmonton’s Concordia University College. Whipple recnetly completed a run as Pugsley Addams in Leduc Drama Society’s production of The Addams Family: A New Musical.
Whipple has directed several short plays, including Sorry, Wrong Number and A Matter of Husbands. This is her second time directing Pacific Time.
The performance runs Aug. 14 to 23 at the Cool Air Rentals Stage, Holy Trinity Anglican Church 101st Street and 84th Avenue, Edmonton. Tickets are $18.50 per person, including Fringe Service Fee and Capital Replacement Fee.
For more information visit fringetheatre.ca/festival_2015.php.
1 Trackback / Pingback
Comments are closed.