“The window is someone out on a ledge,” explains Renee Larochelle, when she’s done shouting into it.
“It’s a rehearsal.”
Larochelle is playing a therapist named Sharon Freeman in a 100 Mile Performing Arts Society production of Office Hours, written by Canadian playwright Norm Foster.
On this night, several members of the cast have collected at director Marie Hooper’s home to rehearse the play’s sixth and final vignette. It’s a wild and funny scene in Hooper’s garage – where parts of the set are under construction and there’s a rehearsal room in the back – and where there’s as much laughter as cueing and prompting going on.
“It’s genius,” Hooper says of Foster’s play.
“It’s about different lives and how they intertwine with each other. The audience will get it, but they’ll get it at different times. There will be a lot of ‘Aha!’ moments.”
Office Hours has been called one of Foster’s funniest plays and features some pretty eccentric characters – an overweight jockey, a one-armed man, a sexually-frustrated therapist and a zealous Week-at-a-Glance salesman, to name a few.
The production is Larochelle’s fourth with the Performing Arts Society.
“Her needs are not being met,” she says of her character, the therapist.
“She’s fallen off the edge because finally she’s going to have her first ‘date’ in a year. ‘Wink, wink’ to what the date refers to.”
It’s Mike Thain’s first shot at acting, and he’s got quite a role to play.
“He’ll do anything to make the sale,” Thain says of his character, a Week-at-a-Glance salesman who interacts with Sharon Freeman in the final scene.
“Personally, I can sell, I work in a store. But I’m not your evangelistic, off the wall [type] like this guy.”
Thain says he had to learn quite a lot in a short amount of time.
“An experienced person could just pick it up … me, I need to work on it. It’s scary, but I’m enjoying it.”
Hooper likes where her cast is at about a month before opening day.
“I’m really thrilled. Every single vignette I’ve seen makes me laugh hysterically. I know they’re working really hard.”
The comedic route is a new one for the Performing Arts Society, who are known for big and elaborate musicals that take months to prepare for and plan, she says. This type of play is less time-consuming and less stressful to produce, but it still takes hours of rehearsal getting it right, she adds.
“I’m hoping this will add a bit more to the mix and give people a change and something else to look forward to.”
Cast members, new and experienced, say they feel like they’re part of a family.
Karen Smith is playing an overbearing mother. (It’s her son out on the ledge.)
“I never thought when I first started I would ever continue or do anything like this,” says Smith, who’s now doing her 14th production.
“I was so shy. For me, it’s been a really great growth experience.”
Says Hooper: “I think it’s great for people to push their boundaries and get over that fear of what’s going to happen. Also, we laugh hysterically through the whole entire process.”
Larochelle says auditioning for a play was on her “bucket list.”
“It was just to say I tried. I got a part and got the bug and I come out every year now and I enjoy it.”
This speaks to another consensus in the group – once someone joins, it’s rare they want to leave.
“They said it’s like being a junkie,” says Thain. “I’ll see.”
The show opens with a matinee performance at Martin Exeter Hall on Oct. 25, followed by matinee and evening shows on Oct. 26.
Tickets are $15 and on sale at Didi’s Boutique, Donex Pharmacy & Department Store, and Pharmasave in 100 Mile House.
