Kelly Reay is excited to revisit Blood: A Scientific Romance running, Feb. 12-15 in University Theatre.
“ It’s a modern Canadian play by Meg Braem. Meg has a connection to Lethbridge because she was a professor at the University of Lethbridge around 2010,” Reay, said, adding he also has a personal connection to the play as he worked with Braem to put on the play in Calgary several years ago.

“ Filled with visceral imagery and haunting dialogue, Blood: A Scientific Romance is a captivating play featuring a rich cast of characters,”  according to a press release on the play. Guest director, Kelly Reay is doing double duty, as he is also directing New West Theatre’s March production of Dear Johnny Deere which runs March 4-14.

“Twin sisters Poubelle and Angelique are bonded in both biology and shared tragedy after a car accident leaves them orphaned along a prairie highway in a pool of blood. But the young twins are brought home with Dr. Glass after their remarkable recovery, and quickly find themselves the subject of endless experiments. In a quest to study Poubelle and Angelique’s undeniable bond, Dr Glass’ questionable practices are soon scrutinized by a young doctor who might be the twins’ only hope for a normal life,” according to the press release.

The small cast features Daylin Chase, Jessica Syratt as the twins Poubelle and  Angelique Patrick Lynn as the young doctor Dr.Max and Paul Vanhoutteghem as Dr. Glass.
Reay was drawn to the play because  of the writing.

“It explores a lot of ethical issues about research,” he said.

Once upon a time, surprisingly, election ads were honest, dare we say positive. The infamous Daisy ad changed all that in 1964.
 So it is all the more relevant as  the U.S. kicks election season into gear.

Playgoers of Lethbridge explore  the effects of media and negative advertising in their production of Sean Devine’s 2017 play “Daisy,” running  Feb. 19-22 in the Sterndale Bennett Theatre.
 “Daisy” is departure from Playgoers of Lethbridge’s usual fare of light, bright comedies and dinner theatres  in that is explores more subject matter and is a lot more tech intensive.
“The Daisy ad changed political ads. The Daisy ad was like a hard punch to the gut versus blah, blah , blah, political speech, blah blah blah,” noted Playgoers of Lethbridge veteran Allen Gibson, who plays Bernbach ad agency boss Bill Bernbach.

“I’ve spent most of my life in advertising, so it was an ideal part for me,” Gibson continued, describing his character as ambitious and confident.
“ The agency DDB (Doyle Dane Bernbach) was struggling  and neededto  improve their reputation in 1964 and that all changed with the Daisy ad. Today they’re worth over $3 billion. I didn’t study the character, but I did study their ads because you can see them on the internet,” he said, noting the parallels between 1964 and today.
“ Back then, if you didn’t understand the power of television, you weren’t going to win election. Today if you don’t understand the power of social media, you’re not going to win,” he observed, adding he is glad to be back on stage with Playgoers.

“It’s an interesting change from the Odd Couple (in which he played Manolo, in Playgoers’ 2013 production of the show).

 The cast includes a lot of new faces to Playgoers of Lethbridge, though familiar for fans of Shakespeare in the Park and The University of Lethbridge Drama program.
Cole Fetting, Megan Fennell and Trevor Loman were all part of Shakespeare in the park’s previous production of McBeth. Fetting and Loman was also part of the University of Lethbridge’s fall production of Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus.
 Loman  is excited to play a different character in Sid Myers, Doyle Dane Bernbach’s art director.
“I’ve really enjoyed researching the ’60s– a decade long before i was born,” Loman said.
“Sid is very sensitive, He knows getting to work for the president is a really big deal,” he said.

The University of Lethbridge Opera Workshop and Lethbridge Symphony Orchestra plus special guests Vox Musical collaborate for this year’s production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s comic opera the Gondoliers.
The show runs Jan 31 and Feb. 1 at Southminster United Church.

“ It’s one of their funniest,” enthused assistant director Megan Wittig, who was part of  their first full scale collaboration of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” in 2012, has been on stage with them before and backstage for several other productions.

“ It’s a full show with costumes and a big set,” Wittig enthused.

“ There’s eight leads in this production where there’s usually only four. But we have so many talented singers, so we’re happy to do this production this year,” Wittig said, noting there is a cast of close to 30 performers, most of whom are veterans of the annual collaborations.

“ And there’s a smaller orchestra, because Gilbert and Sullivan always wrote for a smaller orchestra,” she continued.