Curtain Up

So why has it been chosen for production on the Playhouse stage?

Director, Belinda Quick says it was a good starting point for her, and for co-director, Lerae Davison.

“We worked to try to find something that was fun, and that was not going to be the same as every other fairytale,” Belinda said.

‘I didn’t want to do something that was animal-based - we had just come off the back of Stories in the Dark and The Wind in the Willows, both animal-based shows - and I wanted to do something that didn’t require complicated animal costumes.”

Belinda said she was thoroughly enjoying her first directing experience.

“I like to be very organised, so from the outset I made sure I had a timetable and deadlines,” she said.

“For example, I knew I needed to have the first and second acts blocked by certain specific times and to make sure I stuck to that.”

Belinda admitted that it was stressful trying to get all cast members at rehearsals at the right time.

“That is a challenge that everyone faces, whether they are children or adults,” she said.

Trying to juggle her normal full-time day job made it hard, Belinda said.

“But I am pretty organised at work. Time management is one of the things I have to do.”

The show opens on October 23, so Belinda still has quite a lot of rehearsal time in the theatre.

She is now at the stage of full runs-through of act one with books down.

Act two is still in the blocking stage, but Belinda expects to have that finished by the end of the month, after which she will have the whole of September and three-quarters of October for full runs, tech rehearsals and costuming.

Bay Theatre Players presents three and sometimes four productions each year, encompassing a broad range of comedy, drama, farce, and musicals. 

 Every other year  we engage our Youth Theatre Group in a musical production and/or variety show.