The Glitter Girls - next as Caledon Town Hall Players

Written By CONSTANCE SCRAFIELD

Don't you just love how a comic playwright will place the characters in an impossible (usually moral) situation and then, poke fun at them trying to sort it out? Mark Dunn has done just that with his new play, The Glitter Girls, coming up next at the Caledon Town Hall Players' theatre in Caledon Village, opening Feb. 14 and running on the weekends to Feb. 23.

The foundation of the “comedy with heart,” as co-director, Gord Gardiner, calls it, is that one member of a club of ladies tells them that she is dying and that she wants to leave her fortune to one of them. Then, she places the burden of deciding which one of them will inherit the money on them. What ensues is the unpredictable stories and sub stories amongst the ladies and the men in their lives in this delicate decision making. While the opportunities for humour are wide, there is the underlying heart of the matter as well.

Directing the play, “along with Melinda Briell” Mr. Gardiner commented, “I like the fact that it does have heart. So many comedies these days just have joke. Audiences get to have some serious moments in this.” 

He added, “Why glitter? They're the silver tiaras glittery; they hold meetings and wear their tiaras.” 

He commented, “Rehearsals are coming along very well; in my opinion we're a little ahead of where we need to be at this point, with just two weeks to go.”

It is not the usual thing for there to be two directors of a play with CTHP but this time around, Mr Gardiner told the Citizen, “It's not really needed for two people to direct. It's something we spoke about, to do a play together and, fortunately, we could get this one. There're some very touching parts.

“There are differences directing on your own,” in community theatre, “everything is on your shoulders. You have to take care that everything gets done. Usually, the producer gets someone to do that but, with community theatre, the director has to approve all the stuff. For this play, I've been dealing with the behind the scenes stuff.

“Melinda and I talk all the time. We're very fortunate that very few of our decisions have conflicted and then we just talk it out. We're friends before and we will remain friends after.”

Ms Briell is an experienced actress, who has also directed a play in Caledon. They both live in Brampton and can carpool the drive up Hwy 10 to the theatre, which is situated in Caledon Village, only 20 minutes from Mr. Gardiner's home.

His own involvement with this theatre group came as a result of “many years ago, I received an email from an old friend [doing a play here]. They had lost one of their male leads and would I be interested. I said yes.

“I have been involved in theatre for 40 years this year,” he said. “For me, nothing beats the energy of the live theatre. You can watch all the theatre on line or on television, but just get within even a couple of actors on the stage and that's a thrill for me and to be one of those actors, that is just the best for me. Actually, I'll be appearing in Caledon's next show, The Tuesday Morning War.”

 He told us that there are a lot of reasons the theatre's committee members chose what they chose: farce, comedy then satire. 

He said, “They always make sure the ratio men to women is thought out. You can't always get men to come. This play has eight women.” 

“Come and see it,” he advised, “it's a comedy with heart– laugh, feel a pull at your heart strings.”

Evening performances at 8:15 pm are from Thursday, Feb. 14 through Sat 16th and on Friday, Feb. 22 and Saturday 23, with a matinee as well on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 2:15pm.

The Valentine's treat is online tickets for two for one price on February 14 only, quote their promotional code GLITTER.