Chorus of Disapproval shows what can happen when people who are looking to pep up their lives are thrown together for extended periods of time.
No, the production staged by Red Deer College’s Theatre Studies is not about Survivor contestants. The comedy by British playwright Alan Ayckbourn is about amateur actors and how their intense camaraderie can lead to jealousies, affairs and other behind-the-scenes dramas.
As a one-time community actor turned professional thespian, director Jeff Page knows of what Ayckbourn writes. “I can bring a certain kind of insight into the restless emotionality that exists in people who work in the theatre,” he said with a smirk.
Escapism is one reason for stepping on stage, added Page. “It’s the idea of a bunch of people coming together to escape from domestic boredom or trouble by creating a different life for themselves.”
While the characters in Chorus of Disapproval are not above being spiteful or falling into messy love triangles, the play that opens on Thursday at the RDC Arts Centre is really about the sense of belonging that comes out of volunteering at a community theatre, added Page.
“It’s about finding a sense of joy and purpose.”
The comedy is set in Margaret Thatcher’s England in the mid-1980s. It follows a young widower, Guy Jones, as he joins an amateur operatic society in London that’s putting on The Beggar’s Opera.
Jones, whom Page describes as “a super nice guy,” originally lands a small role in the period production, written in 1728 by John Gay. But because he’s so darned accommodating, Jones rapidly progresses through the acting ranks to become the male lead — inspiring some jealousy among more seasoned cast members.
At the same time, Jones has romantic entanglements with several females, including Hannah Llewellyn, the wife of the community theatre director. This time, it’s not just a case of Jones being a hapless pawn, swept up by Hannah’s amorous attentions, said Page. “No, I think he wants the affair and in many ways, they are well suited.”
As Hollywood has often shown us, co-stars can fall hard for each other. While play-acting gives actors a false sense of intimacy, Page said.
“How long can you act like you’re in love with someone before you actually start feeling love?”
The difference between professional and amateur theatre is that the latter throws people together for a longer duration because rehearsals can only take place in the evenings. “Sometimes people can be together over six months,” said Page. This creates a bond that, once the play is over, can leave a giant void in the actors’ lives.
The veteran Edmonton actor and University of Alberta sessional theatre instructor who’s on a one-year contract at the college jumped at the chance to direct this comedy.
Not only is playwright Ayckbourn “super funny,” but he has a great sense of “putting the exact right characters together to make fireworks go off,” said Page.
He’s also a theatrical trickster, added the director, who only realized part way through rehearsals that many of the songs from The Beggar’s Opera were kept in Chorus of Disapproval because of parallel plot twists involving the community actors.
The cast of 13 second-year RDC students received some vocal coaching in order to pull off upper-middle-class Londoner accents.
Otherwise, Page said the only real challenge lay in getting the young actors to put their characters’ actions before their feelings.
“Emotions are secondary responses in human behaviour. We’re not looking to be emotional — that comes from when desires are met or not met,” said Page, who noted this is a primary rule all actors must learn.
“What characters are doing is more important than what they are feeling.”
lmichelin@www.reddeeradvocate.com