It may take place in a typical small-town Ontario setting, but the comedy mishaps in Stag & Doe – the second outing of the Capitol Theatre's Summer Series 2022 – make the story a virtual telenovela.
Stag & Doe is the first Canadian play onstage at the Capitol in more than a decade, and one of the most-produced plays in the last decade. Written by Mark Crawford in 2013, it showcases the conflict between two couples who both need their small-town community hall for a special event.
Bonnie and Brad have reserved the premises for their pre-wedding Stag and Doe party. Mandy and Rob were to have their wedding elsewhere in a tent, but it blew away. Both events are on the same day, and Bonnie and Brad agree the wedding party can take place in the hall until 9 p.m., and then they take over with their Stag and Doe.
Unfortunately, the wedding's caterer loses all his helpers when all are arrested on drug (and other) charges. Dinner runs catastrophically late.
The tone is set in one simple exchange.
Mandy bitterly sips vodka in the kitchen as she hustles the lone caterer along with the dinner. Bonnie and her friend Dee charge in, party supplies in hand.
“Your little party will have to wait,” Mandy said.
“No-no-no-no-no!” Bonnie protests.
Director Jamie Robinson was interviewed the day after the show had been staged just for the Capitol volunteers, and he was clearly delighted.
“It's a cast of amazing, unique actors,” Robinson said.
He recalled the initial cast read-through.
“I felt like the play was ready to go,” he said.
The beautiful way cast members mesh as if they were long-time friends is all the more remarkable when you consider that auditions were held a few months ago on Zoom.
“You just get a vibe for who will fit together,” he said.
Robinson is thrilled with the set, the little community-hall kitchen that is the scene of the conflict. It's every community-hall kitchen you've seen through the '70s, '80s and '90s, right down to the Bingo posters on the bulletin board. The sounds of the DJ out in the main hall float through the door, “your typical wedding play list,” Robinson said.
You'll look at it all, he predicts, “and you'll say, 'that looks just like our town.'”
That cast includes Janelle Hanna and Amir Haidar as the Stag and Doe couple, Rose Napoli and Stuart Hefford as the bridal couple, Genevieve Adam as Bonnie's close friend and Luke Marty as the harried caterer.
While this professional cast comes from as far away as Lebanon, there is a Cobourg resident among them – Genevieve Adam.
Adam describes her character as Bonnie's loyal friend who is covering up her own heartache, trying to move on after getting stood up at the altar seven years earlier.
She is thrilled to be working in this landmark theatre so close to home.
“I get to go home to my kids in Cobourg every night,” she said.
And she is familiar with the Capitol's history, opening 100 years ago, as a cinema, transitioning into a great theatre and, like so many others, struggling to get past COVID.
“I have been lucky enough to work in all kinds of places,” she said.
Adam grew up on the west coast and has worked in Toronto and the United Kingdom, as well as doing TV work. You may have seen her in the new Star Trek: Strange New Worlds series, episode 4 (Memento Mori), where the Gorns are coming back and everyone is evacuating. There's a little redheaded girl, and she plays the mother. You may also have seen her in the second season of The Handmaid's Tale, where she plays one of Serena's “wife” friends who stage a baby shower for her and join her in the ribbon ceremony.
But theatre work is her first love, she said.
“It's so exciting. You get to be there with the audience,” she said.
Though she has never been a bride in real life, Napoli agrees that it's fair to call Mandy a Bridezilla.
“And she gets more Bridezilla as the show goes on,” she added.
She first played Mandy eight years ago, and photos of her in her wedding gown went on Facebook. Her large Italian family saw it, thought it was from a real wedding and got very excited – then very deflated when they found out the truth.
“I think what we have really decided to focus on is to play the love,” said her on-stage husband Hefford.
“Circumstances fall apart, and that is where the comedy comes in. The ship's coming apart at the seams – you try to right the ship, but the ship won't co-operate.”
“Every bride wants her wedding to be perfect and big and beautiful and exciting,” Napoli said.
“Sometimes your special day can turn you into a monster – that's what has happened to this woman, and her poor husband is having to deal with the implications, so that sends him off the deep end.
“People getting drunk, people fighting. It's telenovella set in small-town Ontario,” she declared.
“We had a lot of oohs and aahs in the audience last night along with the laughter. You don't have to watch reality TV, Say Yes To The Dress, 90 Day Fiancee, even The Kardashians – come to the Capitol Theatre.”
Stag & Doe runs through July 30. Although the proof-of-vaccination requirement is no longer in effect, Managing Director Erin Peirce said, masking is still required.
The Capitol is located at 20 Queen St., Port Hope. For more information, or to get tickets, visit https://capitoltheatre.com
