“Enjoy life – you only have one chance at it.”
This was the theme running throughout the dinner theatre performance of the Buchanan Black Box Players (BBBP) production of Geezers, by Tommy Lee Johnston.
On April 26 to 28, the stage at the Buchanan Community Centre was transformed into a retirement home which was the setting for the play.
The synopsis explains some of the appeal of Geezers.
“The retirement home residents become a wise group of mentors who guide a new staff member along as they pass on their funny and heartwarming opinions about growth and wisdom, learning and loving, life and death and share their own past personal life experiences and escapades. It has been said that one needs to do something funny or out of character in life so he or she will have a good story to tell in old age and these seniors all have their own story to tell to each of us.”
Sharon Murray, director, said one of the main reasons she was attracted to the script of Geezers was that she had spent nearly 30 years working in a retirement home, and along the way, met a number of residents with fascinating stories. Calling on those experiences, she wrote in a number of story lines to accommodate the versatile cast.
Murray said Pat Leung filled a key role as assistant director, in addition to having a significant part in the drama. She played Emily, the dementia patient, who lived for watching TV commercials.
Murray said she and Leung, for the most part, gave the actors the freedom to explore the characters and bring out the characteristics that make them memorable and unique.
Murray commended her cast for the hard work and willingness to try new things.
The cast included Gina the nurse practitioner at the retirement home, played by Tammy Senholt. Jack, played by Darryl Goossen, was the introverted newcomer who was hired by Gina as her assistant. Initially Jack stated, “I don’t like people, cats and dogs.”
But after residents discover he is an aspiring playwright, they are drawn to him. Jack becomes a skilled interviewer and hears entertaining and sometimes emotional stories from the residents and even the staff.
Gina admits to him that she is an alcoholic, but hasn’t had a drink in about 15 years.
Ray the resident “sleepmaster” is played by Bob Edwards. At one point Gina is trying to lead Ray, who is half asleep, to his own room to sleep in his own bed.
He asks her, “Are we dancing?”
“No Ray, we’re going to bed.”
“That’s even better,” said Ray with a big smile.
“No Ray, you’re going to sleep,” said Gina.
Kate the former actress, played by Lisa St. Mars, was very excited for the opportunity to tell her life story to Jack when she found out he was an aspiring writer.
Neil the Air Force Veteran, played by Steve Merriam, was skeptical of a lot of things, but enjoyed practical jokes. He conspired with Kate and Ray to see if they could convince Jack that Ray had a heart attack.
Jenny, Emily’s visitor, was played by Sandra Nordin.
The “cameo” residents’ cast included Mary and Sally, delusional residents played by the versatile Lorna Ratushniak, who also played a blind resident.
John the resident Casanova, played by John Gulutzan, proposed to Mary, but then later couldn’t remember who he had proposed to, or what her answer was.
When Gina asked why he had done it, John responded, “You told me to get a hot momma and be cheerful.”
Gina replied, “No, you got it all wrong. I said, ‘You have a heart murmur, be careful.’”
Adore Sorestad played Adore, the resident people watcher.
Nick Woloschuk played Nick, the resident wanderer.
Val Edwards played Val, dementia resident No. 2.
Cliff Sorestad, Ernie Kozak and Malcolm Broughton played three resident pranksters.
Joanne Sadler played Joanne, the Maple Leaf Nurse’s Aide, and Morley Leung played Morley, from Maple Leaf Maintenance.
Rehearsals started in mid February, and Murray said the group had to overcome a number of obstacles along the way, including a blizzard and an ice storm.
A flu bug took down several cast members for a significant period of time.
One cast member suffered a broken ankle, but her part was re-written accordingly, and in the old show business tradition, “the show must go on.”
Murray estimated, including behind the scenes jobs such as lighting, sound, sets, bartenders and greeters, approximately 35 volunteers were involved in the production.
According to information from the program, Geezers is the 24th Buchanan Black Box Players production since 1993.
