New Vintage is saying to Kelowna: We Should Know Each Other in their full production of Super 8, a play by Alberta playwrights Mark C. Hopkins and Charles Netto.
The play, which won APN play of the year award in 2011, tells the story of two strangers, Angie and Will, who meet on Aug. 8, 2008 at the first Super 8 Motel in North America. What unfolds is a remarkable, unforgettable evening that has delighted audiences throughout Alberta and charmed those who previewed this production at The Vibrant Vine in January.
“I chose Super 8 as the play to launch our season because it reflects all that I hope for New Vintage Theatre. It is first and foremost about the need for connection and what magic can happen when two entirely different individuals find each other, if only for one day. That is what can happen in a really great play, we all share in an experience together that is one of a kind,” said artistic director Bonnie Gratz.
Hot off the stage from the much lauded play, Venus In Fur, Dorothy Dalba remounts her role in this production joining her in the play is the equally busy and talented Doug Brown of Shaw TV. New Vintage has had a busy June as well with their popular production of Calendar Girls and their presentation The Hub Arts’ Collective’s play, God of Carnage.
For this play, audiences can expect a unique theatre experience as the team at New Vintage works hard to recreate a real Super 8 Bar experience and will host “We Should Know Each Other” after parties following each performance.
We Should Know Each Other (WSKEO) is a movement started by Super 8’s playwright Mark Hopkins who is from Calgary. Hopkins decided in 2008 he didn’t know any of the neighbours so he should host a We Should Know Each Other party. He set up his house with name tags, beverages, a bowl of chips and waited for complete strangers to show up. At first there was a smattering of people, one party only one person came, but now over 1,600 people have visited Mark’s living room and—119 parties later—the WSKEO movement has grown to have some city-wide events that thousands attend and has spread to other locales including Toronto, Halifax and Edmonton.
Hopkins has become renowned internationally and has been a featured speaker at TED-x, on CBC radio and has been written about in Maclean’s.
Now New Vintage Theatre invites Kelowna to be a part of the very first official We Should Know Each Other parties and to see Hopkins & Netto’s marvelous gem of a play.
“It is a thrill to have the British Columbia premiere of this play and to launch We Should Know Each Other here. We know this can be as big here as it has been in other locations,” said Gratz.
Next up for New Vintage is Rebecca, the classic melodrama at Kelowna Community Theatre, running October 3-6.
Super 8 runs July 17-20 at The Black Box Theatre at the back of the KelownaCommunity Theatre. Shows are nightly at 7:30pm and there is a matinee on July 20 @ 2:30pm.
