Anton Chekhov may have written in the 1800’s, but his themes are timeless, so Richard Epp is looking forward to directing Chekhov’s 1895’s play “ The Seagull” in the David Spinks Theatre, Feb. 15-19.
“I’ve  directed the other three major Chekhov plays that are still performed ( Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters and the Cherry Orchard,) so now, with ‘The Seagull’ it  will be my fourth and all of them,” said Epp who also plays the supporting role of Dr. Dorn.

“I have had a special interest in Chekhov’s works ever since I played  Uncle Vanya. He has a way of putting real life characters on stage so it feels like you are watching real life . It’s absolute genius,” Epp said, noting the 12 member cast features a  variety of both students and University of Lethbridge faculty members and  alumni  to properly convey the age difference between the characters.

“ In Chekhov’s plays  there is generally a large age difference. Because you have younger characters who are learning from the older characters, having actors (of a wide range of ages) is almost a necessity. You really get a sense of the age difference here, ” he continued.

The Seagull explores the complex relationships and conflicts of an eccentric collection of characters visiting a sprawling country estate. Early on, it is apparent that playwright Konstantin loves his mother Irina, but is jealous of her fame as an actress and depressed about his own lack of success. He is also furious with the celebrated young writer, Trigorin, who is living with Irina and seems to have captured the attention of Nina, the girl he adores. From the moment Konstantin’s play is presented to family and friends, everything begins to go wrong.

“It’s a play about writers and ambition and a life in the arts,” Epp summarized adding that is one of the timeless themes in the play. It also allows him to work with former colleague Dr. Brian Tyson again in a Chekhov play.
“He used to write reviews for the Herald and he’s a retired  University of Lethbridge professor. And I worked with him in ‘the Cherry Orchard.’ So it’s great to have him in the cast,” Epp continued.
“I play Dr.  Dorn. It’s a supporting role, a character who looks after the old man, played by Dr. Brian Tyson,” Epp added, noting it has been an interesting experience  to both act and perform in the play.

How do you keep track of 14 different characters inside your head? Just ask actor Adam Beauchesne, who does just that in New West Theatre’s  presentation of Calgary playwright Doug Curtis’ one man show “Confessions of a Paperboy,” March 3-12 at the Sterndale Bennett Theatre.

“The biggest challenge is differentiating between them all,” Beauchesne said adding  there are a lot of times the characters have conversations with each other, so he must remain conscious of that. He has been rehearsing the play for two weeks, which is a lot to put into  a short period of time.

“Because there is  a 60-year old war vet who is a lot of fun to play and a distraught housewife  and a couple more female characters, but the  most fun to play is Chris, the 10-year-old narrator. That is challenging because I’m 24 and have to think back to what it was like to be 10.  And it is a fun to play a really smart 10-year-old,” said Beauchesne, who is earned his BFA  at the University of Lethbridge and performed in  the Kiwanis  Music and Arts Festival for 10 years. He now lives in Vancouver where is has appeared in television shows like Fringe  on Fox and an upcoming film.

“We’re excited he could come back home for this show,” said director Nicholas Hanson.

You’ve seen him on the Comedy Channel, and may have caught him in B.C during the Black Jack tour last fall, now catch Montreal born, Los Angeles based comedian Mike MacDonald  live at Average Joes when the Black Jack Comedy Tour returns, Feb. 5.

MacDonald (not the same Mike MacDonald as the former Doobie Brothers crooner)  has performed at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal and hosted both the Gemini Awards and Just For Laughs 10th Anniversary Special as well as performed all over North America.

“I prefer people go home happy. I don’t want 15-20 people to go home happy except for the one I nailed,” said MacDonald of his easygoing attitude towards hecklers, relating the story of a lady in the front row of a New Years Yuk Yuk’s Comedy Club show in Calgary, who yelled out the punch line to one of his bits.

“ She said ‘I heard that before.’ I told her, you don’t do that — yell out the punch line to a bit. Some people may not have heard it before. But it’s safe to sit in the front row of one of my shows. Some comedians  depend on hecklers for a good show, but I don’t,” he said adding , like he did in this case, he’d rather come up with a brand new bit on the spot  off the top of his head.

“So that’s what I did. And I said ‘I’ll bet you never saw that one coming, that’s because it’s brand new,’” he laughed adding his routines are constantly changing.

“ I have a bit about remote controls. But sometimes I’ll come up with a new line and I can’t wait to use it. If a promoter wants an hour of comedy, that’s what he’ll get. But if I use two minutes of a new bit, it means another two minutes will have to go,” he said adding he enjoyed the first edition of the Blackfoot Comedy Tour with organizer and comedian Matt Billon, which took them all over British Columbia for 20 shows in 21 days.

“He organized it all. When he called me about this, all I had to do was say yes,” MacDonald said.

“The first tour was great. People were very appreciative. Some of the clubs we played had never had live entertainment of any kind before. And it opened a lot of doors for the future,” he said.
“And Matt is perfect. He organizes everything. If everyone in the business was as  enjoyable to work with, things would be  so much easier,” he continued.