Caledon Townhall Players to present Dilemmas with Dinner

April 19, 2018 · 0 Comments

Written By Constance Scrafield

When you are an ambitious young woman, with eyes on the future, you invite the boss and his lady for dinner, with all the trimmings and a caterer as jazzy as yourself, and you think how impressed he will be with your versatility and give you a promotion. Right? I mean – what could go wrong?
For an evening of laughs, be sure to catch the upcoming farce by Robin Roberts, Dilemmas with Dinner, opening May 3, 4 and 5 and running the following weekend on May 11 and 12 at the Caledon Town Hall Theatre.
Director Stephanie Baird was kind enough to tell about the terrific cast of this fun spin on the ambitions and disasters that can beset us.

Ms. Baird, herself, studied film and production, following which she went in with a friend, to make a “new media” web series.

“This new media is now more mainstream,” she commented. “People are streaming programs. You don’t need to have a million dollars to produce something. Now it’s accessible [at the lowest cost]. You can just shoot something on your iPhone and put it online. You have to just keep doing it.”
She remarked, “CBC has web content now. The web series that I worked was more money.”

Although Ms. Baird lives in Toronto, her home town is Erin and she wanted to make her directing debut in her own home area.

Talking about the plot behind the farce, she said: “It’s all very last-minute; the husband comes home and he doesn’t know it’s happening. Then, they find out that the caterer is the boss’s ex-daughter-in-law and they hate each other. Trying to arrange it so that they’re not in the room at the same time – it’s really funny.”

That is only the beginning. Once again, comedy demands good timing and this is a big part of the rehearsals, as players for the CTHP know full well – Caledon loves comedy.

Ms. Baird began the role call of the cast. “It’s an eight-person cast, half new people and half regulars. People move around in community theatre. They hear about a director or a play they’d like to do – so, they audition.”

When they get their parts, those people are prepared to travel distances and exhibit determined loyalty.

“It’s great how each of these actors fits so naturally into their characters. Litisha Perez plays the role of the business woman having the dinner party, Brooke. She’s very dynamic and she captures that controlled chaos very well.”

Brooke’s husband in the play, Donny, is acted by Ms. Baird’s actual husband, Brad Finch.

“He’s a ‘farcist’,” she informed us. “He’s got tens of credits under his belt and they are all farces. The two of them hold the stage really well. Litisha won a THEA Award for her role in Hit Man Blue.”

Brooke’s boss, Will, played by Joe Rose, so Ms. Baird explained, “is pompous – he thinks he’s a big man but he has a habit of misusing big words: [he misuses] necrophilia, for example. It really throws you into a loop.

“His wife, Louise, the role Jeanette Massicotte performs, is a bit of an air head. People will all relate to some of her dialogue.”

The challenging part of Max, “the teen ager living with his dad, who is very clumsy but very endearing is actually played by a teenager, who really pulls it off. He’s so refreshing, people will fall in love with him – he’s constantly messing up.” It is teen-aged Braiden Murphy who takes on this exacting role.

The caterer, Caren, is performed by another young actor, Ashley Long. She is somewhat murderous and scary. She and Will and Louise, the boss and his wife, “are enemies and they can’t be in the same room.” Problems ensue with hilarious consequences.

Sabrina Valleau gives Julia, sophisticated and calm in turbulence. She is Brooke’s assistant, there to make the whole run smoothly. Along with her boyfriend, Steven, Noah Clauser in the part, they find themselves in the “eye of the storm” and take it upon themselves to take care of Will and Louise.

“Noah is young too – 18 years He was in Hit Man Blues, so regular audience members will be delighted to see him again.

“He is wise beyond his years,” Ms. Baird noted. “Everyone is so talented. This is a very funny play.”

Dilemmas with Dinner is on from Thursday, May 3 to Saturday, May 12. The roast beef dinner served at nearby Knox United Church, is schedule for Saturday. May 5.

Call the Box Office at 519-927-5460 for tickets and information.