Tempers erupt at latest Caledon Townhall Players performance

May 12, 2017 · 0 Comments

By Bill Rea
Anyone who’s been in the workforce for any length of time knows colleagues can sometimes get on each other’s nerves.
Combine that stress with the pressures placed on those who have to perform regularly on TV, and throw in a few extra complications, and there’s room for plenty of laughs and a few tears.
That’s what the Caledon Townhall Players (CTHP) are currently exploring in their production of Point of Viewing, a comedy by Todd McGinnis.
Directed by Melinda Briell and produced by Kim Blacklock, the play deals with three women, Tabitha, Raquel and Sincerity (played respectively by Monique Bourgeois, Laura McGowan and Blacklock) who co-host a popular daytime TV talkshow. It’s time for the 10th anniversary show, but the pre-recorded broadcast has been destroyed because of a technical glitch. That means they are going to have to do it live, and none of them are really up to that task. Tabitha arrives at the studio after a party, and is dealing with a hangover, and the other two have a few choice barbs to send each other’s way.
“You’re on those diet pills again, aren’t you?” Sincerity snaps at Raquel at one point.
The hapless floor director Brad (Mahaffey Khan) is slowly being driven out of his mind by the bickering and the ill-equipped studio.
Add to that concerns about memos, the future of the show, who might be on their way out, and concerns about possible back-stabbing, and the first act is filled with wild antics, complete with pithy dialogue and some pretty unusual costumes.
The second act is a little more serious, as they go live with the show, welcoming a frequent guest Dr. D (Brian Molleur), who slowly gets confused as the three women take shots at each other, while Brad desperately waves the cue cards, trying to get everyone back on the script. Although the chaos continues, there’s some exploration of the fears and apprehensions, not to mention 10 years of baggage the women have been carrying.
Stage managed by Kay Lyons and Chuck Blacklock, the result is a sometimes hilarious, at other times poignant romp through human relationships.
With five parts, the cast in this play is smaller than what audiences at CTHP might be used to, but that too allows for more exploration into the various relationships.
The only set, built and decorated by the Blacklocks, is the TV studio, laid out with the appropriate furnishings, and complete with the customary blue wall.
Performances of Point of Viewing are scheduled for tomorrow (Friday) night and Saturday, with both matinee and dinner theatre performance planned for Saturday.
For more information, go to www.caledontownhallplayers.com

The cast of the Caledon Townhall Players’ production of Point of Viewing consists of Brian Molleur, Kim Blacklock, Laura McGowan, Monique Bourgeois and Mahaffey Khan.