Theatre Orangeville presents “I’m In Love With Your Sister”

By Constance Scrafield

The cast and crew at Theatre Orangeville are thrilled and excited to be the first to produce and perform the world premiere of “I'm In Love With Your Sister” by Norm Foster.

This brilliant show opens on May 1 and runs until May 18. What adds to the excitement is the cast themselves – Maria Dinn, Reid Janisse and Erin MacKinnon – each of whom has performed in several Foster plays and appeared here at Theatre Orangeville as well.

“I'm In Love With Your Sister,” so we were told collectively in an interview with the cast and the director of the piece, David Nairn, includes much humour, a life-changing and traumatic fork in the road and the unexpected – all comedy's favourite elements.

“It can take a heartbreak to realize what you are after hanging on to what's convenient,” was MacKinnon's comment, in the role of Louise.

Foster enjoys putting odd characters together to see what will happen. 

“His plays are more focused on the characters. His plays are character-driven,” said Nairn.

Nairn expressed his opinion humorously that the playwright gleans most of his dialogue from sitting in coffee shops, listening to people talk. Foster allows his highly original characters to show themselves, with Nairn saying, “That's the key to his success.”

This is true especially of his widely accepted talent for portraying women, getting inside how they really talk to each other has been the praise.

Hopefully we have all loved, and the comedy here is how things can resolve themselves.

Reid Janisse plays Kevin, an ordinary sort of chap, working a mundane sort of job whose life gets turned upside down when he is faced with a revelation. The three characters live in the same neighbourhood, not in a big city but a place with a small-town life.

Into this comes a broken heart and a burden for the audience to bear. 

Any time the audience comes into the theatre, they leave changed was Nairn's assertion. He insists that even to a small extent the experience in live theatre of being engaged in the stories of the characters is so meaningful that it continues to travel with us.

Maria Dinn's character, Patsy, was “in love with the wrong person,” as she put it. There is the element of wanting to change or bring out the best of a man. Yet, Patsy wants to celebrate Kevin's strengths – from that place, one makes the best connection.

I'm In Love With Your Sister is a play very carefully constructed. Foster's strength is to take those very real moments in our lives and as these thespians admitted, nothing is more truthful than heartbreak while a lot of comedy comes from it too.

The characters are “so real, so true” – there are lessons to be learned in this play, was the assessment, a reflection of who we are.

They are all very happy about doing this play as a world premiere.

Janisse explained the excitement of now a new play can be subject to changes by the author, anything is possible.

Seen as a privilege, it is always special to be the first cast for a play, they agreed. The premiere production of any play goes a long way to defining it for future performances and the responsibility that imposes is thrilling.

While he was writing this show, Norm Foster had a picture in his mind of how each of the characters would look physically. When Foster and Nairn began talking about the actors they wanted for this production, they considered the list of likely actors and thought of these very three people as exactly right. 

“We didn't even [hold] open auditions,” Nairn told the Citizen. “This is the dream team for this play. These world class actors in this world-class show,” he added, “and with [production manager] Beckie's creative dream team, is the ideal combination.”

He continued by offering a personal note: I'm In Love With Your Sister is the last play David Nairn will direct as artistic director of Theatre Orangeville.

Associate Artistic Director Jennifer Stewart moves into Nairn's position on July 1.

Since he began as artistic director in 1999, Nairn has programmed 25 shows by Norm Foster, three of which were musicals. Nairn directed 20 of those shows and acted in the other five. Eleven of the shows were world premieres.

I'm In Love With Your Sister runs from May 1 to May 18. 

For more information and to buy tickets go to www.theatreorangeville.ca or call the Box Office at its new number – 519-938-7584. You can purchase your tickets at Orangeville's Opera House (87 Broadway).