The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen's Guild Dramatic Society Murder Mystery
by David McGillivray and Walter Zerlin Jr.
directed by Matt Salton
Thurs.-Sat., Sept. 7-23, 7:30 p.m.
The Davies Foundation Auditorium
52 Church St., Kingston, ON
Every drama group has experienced the horrors of what can go wrong on opening night, and the ladies of the Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen's Guild Dramatic Society are no different, with the possible exception that almost everything that could happen does!
The scenery collapses, cues are missed, lines forgotten, and the sound effects take on a strange note at times, as the ladies present their ambitious evening's entertainment with the cunning whodunit, Murder At Checkmate Manor.
In mismatched costumes, the British ladies fumble everything from their lines to the props, managing along the way to leave out a few scenes (which they decide the audience doesn't really need to see anyway). Meanwhile the stage crew, despite regular prompting from the cast, misses lighting cues and throws in miscellaneous sound cues and effects apparently at random, while struggling to keep at least most of the set standing up, though not always right way up.
 Left to right: Oscar Cadeau, Rob Bruce, Krista Berg, Sandy Turcotte, Liane Wintle |
And just in case the audience should get bored there's a Film and Fashion Show and Murder Mystery Quiz, complete with a Prize!
David McGillivray and Walter Zerlin Jr. wrote a series of Farndale plays, including The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen's Guild Dramatic Society Production of a Christmas Carol (produced by Domino Theatre in 2000), similarly disastrous renderings of Macbeth and The Mikado, and even one called They Came from Mars and Landed Outside the Farndale Avenue Church.
Cast |
|
| Gordon/Inspector O'Reilly | Robert Bruce |
| Felicity/Pawn/Colonel King | Liane Wintle |
| Audrey/Lady Doreen Bishop/Violet Bishop/Mrs.King/Joan Bishop | Krista Berg |
| Mrs. Reece/Clarissa Rook/Regine/Patricia Bishop/Letitia Bishop/Mr. Goodbody | Sandy Turcotte |
| Thelma/Daphne Bishop/Rose Bishop | Oscar Cadeau |
Production Crew |
|
| Producers | James Gow Scott Arsenault |
| Director | Matt Salton |
| Stage Manager | Angie Roberts |
| Asst. Stage Managers | Bridget Overvelde Corrin Lewis |
| Set Design | James Gow |
| Lighting Design & Operation | Vishmayaa Jeyamoorthy |
| Sound Design & Operation | Kim Coffman Dressel |
| Assistant Sound/Lighting Operator: | James Leslie |
| Costume Design | Krista Berg |
| Assistant Costumer | Marly Berg-Cox |
| Props | William Carroll |
| Set Dressing | Matt Salton |
| Choreographer | Kay Kenny |
| Assistant Casting | Julia Raftery |
| Set Construction | Bob Brooks Grant Buckler John Corrigan James Gow Lorna Jodoin Doug McNichol |
| Set Painting | Lorna Jodoin |
| Lobby Photography | Claudia Wade |
| Archival Photography | Grant Buckler |
| Poster Design | Katie Flower-Smith |
| Lobby Art Curator | Karen Peperkorn |
| Front of House Co-ordinator | Steve Powell |