By Emily Stewart
Two heartfelt comedies about families, relationships and unconditional love will take the stage during the St. Marys Community Players’ (SMCP) 51st season in 2025.
SMCP announced on Nov. 19 that Over the River and Through the Woods and Hilda’s Yard will be the productions for their upcoming season. The two productions will explore family, relationships and unconditional love.
"It probably speaks to where people's mindsets are at the moment – love and community and openness – and that's kind of what we want," said Jake Petrie, head of SMCP’s reading committee.
Petrie made six recommendations to the board of directors before the two productions were picked. Over the River and Through the Woods, by John DiPietro, is about a single American-Italian man whose grandparents pressure him to settle down and get married, and set him up on blind dates convincing him to stay instead of leaving town for his dream job. Petrie said it was one of the best scripts he and the committee read this year.
“It really stood out to us head and shoulders above a lot of the other things that we reviewed,” he said. “It's very well written. It's funny but heartfelt. I think there's something in it for everyone."
Over the River and Through the Woods will have its run in spring 2025 from April 24 to May 10.
In the fall, between Oct. 15 and Nov. 2, SMCP will present Hilda’s Yard by community theatre favourite Norm Foster. The Foster comedy will introduce the Fluck family, which navigates life as the adult children move back home.
“They're fun characters and it's a fun story,” Petrie said. “But again, it has a certain level of heartfelt; that next layer that just goes beyond being funny."
The SMCP just had a successful return to St. Marys town hall with their fall production, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Due to renovations, the SMCP held their spring productions in Riverwalk Commons, which featured Colleen Neuman’s Bothered and Riverview Tape #23 as well as Foster’s My Narrator and Death of Me. Both of the 2025 productions will be held at the town hall theatre. Petrie said the committee is happy to have larger productions back in the town hall.
“Riverwalk was a really nice alternative when Town Hall Theatre was under construction,” Petrie said. “But there's no place like home."
More information about the upcoming season, including how to get involved in either production, can be found online by visiting stmaryscommunityplayers.ca.
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