The Paper Bag Players are getting ready to perform Buying the Moose at home, on April 21 at the Painted Hand Casino, but it’s not the first time they’re performing the play. The group performed at TheatreFest in Weyburn.
Director Teresa Weber is proud of what the group accomplished during the Weyburn trip. Whether it was the cast or crew, she was happy with how well everything worked.
“It all came together. It was the best performance we’ve done, best dress rehearsal, best everything... If that’s the show that we have at the [Painted Hand] Casino, look out!”
This year, the group didn’t bring home any trophies, but one actor brought back a scholarship. Dexter Deugau won the Mary Ellen Burgess Memorial Scholarship, a $500 bursary that goes to an actor continuing their education in the arts and theatre. Deugau will be attending the Rosebud School of the Arts in Rosebud, AB. He noted that the rest of the group put together the application without him knowing.
“It was just really surprising to get anything at all,” said Degau.
But now the attention turns to home, performing the play for a hometown crowd. The play, Buying the Moose by Michael G. Wilmot, focuses on two couples in a ‘classic battle of the sexes,’ beginning with a blow-up in one of the relationships.
“Everything women think about men, everything men think about women, it’s in this play in a hilarious form.”
The group typically picks a play that would be fun for a ladies’ night for their spring performance, but Weber says that it’s something where the laughs aren’t limited to one gender.
Actor Bailey Lemke says for her, it’s how the group works together that makes the play work.
“My favorite part of the whole play is our chemistry together, and how well we work on stage together. Including lights and sound, and director, all of it.”
Tickets for the matinee are $20, while the dinner theatre is $50. Tickets can be found at paperbagplayers.com.
