The Merry Widows will be performed at the Basement Theatre through August. Photo: Supplied.
Wagga theatre director Craig Dixon has gathered a merry band of ‘widows’ for the Wagga School of Arts Community Theatre’s (SoACT) latest production and said the audience was in for a treat.
“We think we have a really special show coming together just quietly, and we’re really excited to show it to the community,” he said.
“It’s a very character-based show and a lot of the pleasure is in the interaction between the women.”
The Merry Widows by Melbourne playwright Cenarth Fox, centres on the journey of four widows as they navigate life, loss and friendship.
Kate, Ruby, Joan, and Siobhan live in the same group of units where they have become close friends, meeting every week for a yarn over a coffee.
The merry band is disrupted by the arrival of a mysterious new widow, Phillipa, whose hidden agenda threatens the harmonious friendships.
“It’s very funny in parts, it’s very poignant in parts, and it has a little bit of a mystery to it as well,” he said.
“It’s also a good show for us because it’s got five strong women characters in it, and we have a lot of talented actresses in the School of Arts so it’s an opportunity to show off some of the talent that we have.
“There’s very few scenes which don’t have all of the cast together on stage at the same time, so it’s been a real pleasure just getting the cast together and listening to them interact with each other in character.”
Rehearsals are underway for Wagga’s production of The Merry Widows. Photo: Supplied.
The show features SoACT veterans Jo Darby, Rebecca Huxtable, Marg Davies and Lynden Clarke along with newcomer Claire Cheshire who plays the outsider, Phillipa.
After directing several one-act plays, Craig is enjoying sinking his teeth into a longer two-act production.
“It’s definitely been an exciting experience, certainly a challenge at times, but I’ve been lucky to have a really good cast to work with that have embraced it with enthusiasm,” Craig said.
“We have a good mix of seasoned performers and new talent and they are all really talented people.”
Despite a recent shake-up in The School of Arts’ leadership with president Bob Hitchens stepping down in December along with veteran member Fay Walters, Craig said the organisation was in good shape.
Reflecting on the year so far, Craig said the recent Ten x 10 Playfest at the Basement Theatre was a hit.
“It was a giant success this year and we’re just really happy with it how it went,” he said.
“We had several new directors participate along with some new members and we also had several local works performed, which is great to see, because we always get submissions from playwrights from all across the world.
“It’s exciting because we keep the details about who was submitting the plays hidden from the assessors to avoid bias, so we’re very happy that they actually selected several local writers.”
The Merry Widows will premiere on Sunday 4 August at 1 pm at Wagga’s Basement Theatre with five more shows across the following three Sundays.
You can find out more and book your tickets on the SoACT website.
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