The true value of community theatre — Another in our series: “Life in our little town of Summerland”

A guest blog by James Fofonoff

I just returned home from the dress rehearsal of Summerland Singers and Players latest live theatre production: We are performing six shows of “It’s A Wonderful Life”—a radio play. As the cast debriefed with Director, Linda Guebert. I shared some thoughts on the value of community theatre from my perspective as a long  time front-of-house volunteer.

Putting together a show is like baking. Unless you have all the right ingredients, the final product will likely not turn out how you had hoped it would—even worse, it might not happen at all. When we put on a show there are a sequence of events that have to happen, and it is these “ingredients” that are crucial to a show (or for  your cake) to become a reality.

Firstly, someone comes to a meeting with an idea for a play. Great! That’s a start.

Then we all want to read it and get a sense if this is a good idea for our group. Secondly, once we all agree to proceed further, we then have to ask all the usual questions: Who will direct? Who will act? Who will be stage manager, the producer, the set designer, and prop coordinator? Who will direct the music,  organize the front-of-house, and who will coordinate promotions and advertising?

Then there’s the theatre or performance space itself. Where can we perform the show? What are the technical (lighting and sound) and space preparation costs? How much are the performance royalties? (Some shows can cost hundreds of dollars per show.)

It can take months for all of these factors to be determined, and if we cannot fill more than a couple of these rolls then usually we scrap the idea, reluctantly.

That is why, after my experience this past following our dress rehearsal, where I witnessed a group of people who have brought together their specific contributions, I am absolutely amazed and proud of their efforts. Some of them may be on stage for their very first time while others are “longer in the tooth” and are keen to take the neophytes under their wings. After months of planning, rehearsing and all the other organizing that takes place, here we are today. This is your quintessential, “putting all our ducks in a row” event, creating a theatrical piece of art that audiences will undoubtedly love.

The Summerland Singers and Players have been in existence in this community for close to 115 years. We have archival material that suggests that there were thespians such as ourselves who have been performing on local stages since 1910.

A complete listing of productions can be found here. (Sorry, it’s hard to read, black on black; someone needs to fix this.) Past performances include works from international authors such as W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, Noel Coward, C S. Lewis, and Charles Dickens, along with local authors, including:

1913  — The Mikado
1924  — HMS Pinafore
1940  —Ways and Means
1952  — Pride and Prejudice
1985  — The Great KVR Calamity
1993  — Blithe Spirit
1998  — The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe
2000  — The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
2002  — The York Nativity Play
2004  — Nunsense
2008  — Jack and the Beanstalk
2012, 2013 – A Christmas Carol, Dramatic Reading
2018, 2019 – Murder on the Rails, with Kettle Valley Railway
New original scripts are currently in production

How could you not feel an overwhelming sense of nostalgia and pride to know that we continue to offer this art form to our community. Our present show itself is fun—it’s funny, it’s a lovely story that ends well, and it’s well presented. It speaks to life, love and community, and to our community of Summerland. As part of the production and hosting team, it’s so much fun to work together, on public performative art.

Please consider volunteering for a future production. One of our actors in It’s a Wonderful Life performs for the very first time. Who knows, our next emerging star could be you! As Gilbert and Sullivan penned: “Never say never; well, hardly ever.”

So come on out, and support community theatre. Tickets and information are available here. Enjoy the show.