The Buchanan Black Box Players are known for their comedies and this year was no exception, but Animal Farm is a different kind of comedy.
Virtually all the characters were animals, the four-legged kind, as denoted in the play which was presented each evening from April 14, 15 and 16.
Adapted from George Orwell’s book, written in 1945, the play tells what happens when the ill-treated animals on Manor Farm rebel and take over the operation led by the smartest animals, the pigs, and how things change after that hope-filled beginning. The original script was written as a parody of the Russian Revolution and the Stalinist era that followed.
Bob Edwards, the director, said it is amazing how familiar some of those themes may seem in today’s political scene.
“Actors, singing coaches, and friends have been hard at it since the beginning of the year to bring this story to you in this different form – a style new to BBBP as well,” said Edwards.
The play begins with Ernie Kozak as the narrator. Logan Statchuk plays Mr. Jones, a farmer.
Among the other major roles were: Morley Leung as Old Major, a stud boar; Clifford Sorestad as Boxer, a cart horse; Adore Koops as Clover, a motherly mare; Laura Chartrand as Muriel, a white goat; Jeff Davis as Benjamin, an old donkey; Tammy Senholt as Mollie, a white mare; Steve Merriam as Snowball, an idealistic pig, and he played the part of Mr. Pilkington, a farmer; Steven Wyonzek as Napoleon, a practical pig and as Mr. Pilkington, a farmer; Joanne Kushneruk as Squealer, an opinionated pig; Val Edwards as Moses, Mr. Jones’ pet raven; Malcolm Broughton as Mr. Whymper, the animals’ agent; and Leslie Carlson as Minimus, a poetic pig.
Playing in the supporting roles (many played more than one role) were: Sharon Murray and Pat Leung as sheep; Sherry Lesser and Linda Humphries as cows; Dianne Fehr and Megan Tomilin as pigs; and Tomilin also played a cat and one of the hens. The other hen roles were played by Betty Tomilin, Val Edwards, Diane Fehr and Lorna Ratushniak. Ratushniak also played a puppy and Senholt played the other puppy. Nick Woloschuk played the bull and Malcolm Broughton played the farmer. Val Edwards played the pigeon.
Doing their part behind the scenes were: Les Carlson, Morley Leung and Jeff Davis, technical, lighting and sound; and preparing the stage sets were: Morley Leung, Steve Merriam, Chuck Fehr, Malcolm Broughton, Steven Wyonzek and Cliff Sorestad. In charge of painting, props, decorating and costuming were: Val Edwards, Sharon Murray, Pat Leung, Diana Fehr and Sandra Nordin. Val Edwards was one of the singing coaches while the other was Laura Chartrand. Sandra Nordin was the prompter. Marie Kupchinski was in charge of make-up and the backstage wardrobe. Looking after the raffle was Lorna Ratushniak, Laura Chartrand, Megan Tomilin and Logan Statchuk. The bartenders were: Wendy Norrish, Donna Norrish, Adam Kosar, John Gulutzan, Ron Sliva, Lawrence Kupchinski, Monica Kovacs and Leslie Carlson. Table seaters were Sharon Murray, Sandra Nordin, Tammy Senholt, Joanne Kushneruk, Laura Chartrand and Eleanor Sliva.
The BBBP have been one of the main supporters of the Buchanan Community Centre, averaging an annual donation of about $3,000, but this year the contribution is expected to be far greater because of a fundraising goal of more than $40,000 to re-roof the whole building, said Morley Leung, the president of the committee which manages the Community Centre.
Sandra Nordin, the BBBP treasurer, noted that the raffles that accompany the annual dinner theatre started as a means of covering the cost of extra table settings and decorating, but with the addition of the annual raffle for a handmade quilt by Sarah Carlson, the support has been overwhelming over the years. This year Carlson was unable to make a quilt for the raffle because of health concerns, but Jim Hrynkiw and the Buchanan Art Group stepped up and provided several handcrafted prizes.
A page in the program for the evening was a tribute to the “22 years of laughter with the Buchanan Black Box Players” listing the play and the director for each dinner theatre that began in 1993. The list includes: It’s Cold In Them Thar Hills directed by Val Edwards in 1993; Love & Work Enough directed by Betty Tomilin in 1994; Faith County directed by Val Edwards in 1996; Happily Ever After….Once Upon (Cinderella) directed by Dawn Myrfield in 1998; Grease directed by Pat Leung in 1999; Beverly Hillbillies directed by Val Edwards in 2000; MASH directed by Morley Leung in 2001; The Sting directed by Betty Tomilin in 2002; Skagway Sid (If This is The First Day of The Rest of My Life) directed by Bob Edwards in 2003; Plaza Suite directed by Pat Leung in 2004; Rumbo directed by Morley Leung in 2005; Paper Wheat directed by Betty Tomilin in 2006; The Mouse that Roared directed by Bob Edwards in 2007; Joseph & the Amazing Technicolour Dream Coat directed by Betty Tomilin in 2008; The Pink Panther Strikes Again directed by Sharon Murray and Pat Leung in 2009; Fawlty Towers directed by Pat Leung and Sharon Murray in 2010; The Producers directed by Betty Tomilin and Pat Leung in 2011; HumBug directed by Sharon Murray and Pat Leung in 2012; Arsenic & Old Lace directed by Pat Leung and Sharon Murray in 2013; Are You Being Served directed by Pat Leung and Sharon Murray in 2014; Spamalot directed by Betty Tomilin; and the list concludes with this year’s play Animal Farm directed by Bob Edwards.
This year the club’s executive includes: Tammy Senholt, president; Bob Edwards, vice-president; Val Edwards, secretary; Sandra Nordin, treasurer; Bob Edwards and Pat Leung, casting; Sharon Murray, props and costumes supervisor; Wendy Norrish, bar manager; Morley Leung, past president; and John Prietchuk, Sarah Carlson and Ben and Trish Shewchuk, honourary club members.
From its early beginnings as a local project, the dinner theatre has evolved to entice participation from a much larger area. Many of the regular actors come from the Canora, Preeceville and Invermay areas, but there have been many who come from much greater distances. A good example was during the 2015 production of Spamalot when the list included actors from Calgary.
The small-town dinner theatre has become an annual must-attend event.
