The well-used Riverside Theatre has been abuzz with activity over the past few weeks. Thanks to an ingenuitive and ambitious group of youth who have hit town with a vengeance, the theatre has a summer of fun in store for everyone. Three weekends in a row a play will be performed. After the three weeks, a new play will be performed. For nine weeks, River Road Theatre will produce three plays each as colourful and unique as the actors who appear on stage.
“I Love You, You’re Perfect Now Change” is the first play in the series. It premiered on June 17 to a good crowd. Five actors have pulled off this feat from start to finish including the creation of the production company River Road Theatre which was the brilliant brainstorm of locally grown actor Chelsea Turner. Turner made some wise decisions along the way not the least of which was her decision to reel in fellow actors and friends to complete the package.
This group of enthusiastic thespians, have been in the theatre world for a while. It only takes a few minutes of the play to pass before the audience knows...really knows that they are in for a treat. From the first scene that bursts forth full of high energy, music and humour, the crowd gets hooked. Fresh-faced Chelsea Turner, spunky Heather Motut and expressive Rachel Hart took on their roles as the many different faces of womanhood with gusto. It was obvious they had rehearsed hard to perfect their on stage female ensemble because all three ladies bounced from character to character with flawless ease. Ditto goes for Marcus Stusek and Benjamin Wardle. Stusek and Wardle tagged team their male sharacters with the necessary manly charm to convince the audience they not only knew what they were doing, but were good at it.
This powerful team had plenty of stage presence. They sang their way through the musical with finesse that had the crowd laughing one minute and empathizing the next. Talent and passion for theatre combined to make this version of I Love You, You’re Perfect Now Change a tantalizing treat for those who attended and a teaser for what is yet to come. For those who have yet to see this first play, don’t wait. Turner, Hart, Motut, Wardle and Stusek came to perform and perform they did. . This play threw out a big hook and caught a lot of fans...fans who will be back for Play 2(Barefoot in the Park) and Play 3 (The 39 Steps).
“We started learning this play three weeks ago,” stated Turner and besides my family who have been really supportive, my brother Logan who has helped with set building and the sound, and Mom and Dad who are giving us all a place to stay, it has been mostly the five of us. Word-of-mouth is going to be huge in making our summer theatre a success. We have had a lot of fun so far and hope our audience has some summer fun with us too.”