After overcoming some challenges, and a hiatus partially due to COVID, Highlands East has its theatre company back.
The Loop Troupe Little Theatre will hit the stage once again with two shows on the Mother’s Day weekend, May 11-12.
“The future of the Loop Troupe Little Theatre group in Wilberforce had looked bleak,” spokesperson, Mary Barker, said.
Their most prominent member, Hilda Clark, had passed away, and so had their favourite videographer, Doug Stephen. Sound and lighting man, Dan Linkert, was killed in a tragic automobile accident. Some of their senior actors had retired to nursing homes, and many others had moved away during the pandemic.
It looked like “curtains” for the troupe, Barker said.
However, there was a little bit of money in the theatre group’s bank account that had to be dealt with. Treasurer, Gill Stephen, called a meeting in the spring of 2023. Barker said it was 30 years, almost to the month, after the inaugural troupe meeting in 1993.
Barker said Stephen told them to “use it or lose it. Resurrect the Loop Troupe or suggest some worthy organization to donate the money to.”
Barker added, “not that the group begrudged giving the money away, but they knew how hard all those former troupers had worked to accumulate the little nest egg to finance its next play. The group knew they could cultivate the passion and talent of the community once again to carry on the vision of the founding troupers.
“In quick order, the Loop Troupe was enthusiastically resurrected,” Barker said. She volunteered to spearhead the revival and other helpers jumped onboard.
Aiden Smith created a Facebook presence. Linda Ladd researched and recovered much of the troupe’s history, once thought to exist only in Clark’s head. Matt Barnett offered to transfer Stephen’s VHS performance to YouTube and stepped in to fill Linkert’s shoes as the sound and lighting person.
Barker said, “lots of people joined up, some wanting to act, others offering backstage help. There was even enthusiasm for cleaning out the old storage container that housed all the props and costumes.”
Skit-oodles May 11-12
While there is “tons of enthusiasm,” Barker said there isn’t much theatre experience, so they thought it best not to plunge into the deep end. For their first performance, they will wade in by performing a collection of short skits, followed by a 30-minute play directed by Jan Dahms.
“Everyone who expressed interest in acting has a part to perform without having to sink or swim,” Barker said.
She said rehearsals have been a lot of fun, and “there’s not a dry eye by the end of the evening.”
There will be two shows: Saturday, May 11 at 7 p.m., and Sunday, May 12, at 2 p.m., at the Lloyd Watson Centre in Wilberforce. Tickets are available at Agnew’s General Store, Wilberforce and at the door. Adults $10, youth (18 and under) $5. Bring your loonies for the snack bar as everything is $1.
“Those bucks will be used to replenish the little nest egg needed to finance the next play,” Barker said.
