HARRISTON – A murder mystery is at the heart of a period comedy set to hit the boards at the Harriston Town Hall Theatre in May.
Death Among the Delphiniums, by Canadian playwright Camille Atibe, is the latest offering from the Grey Wellington Theatre Guild.
Set in the British countryside in 1948, the play is described by the distributor, Canadian Play Outlet, as “in the style of Agatha Christie, but a lot more tongue-in-cheek.”
The action is centred at the home of Lady Florence Andering-Ffyffe and her daughter, Enid.
Their planned weekend with guests is disrupted with the discovery of a body.
Once the local constabulary gets involved, everyone on the grounds is a suspect and the clues and comedy start to flow.
“This play has it all – period costumes, gorgeous sets, fast-paced mystery, absurd drama and laughter. All the ingredients for a fun night out at your local theatre, and more,” said director Megan Raftis.
The play features a cast of nine local actors including: Shania Dirstein of Mount Forest, Kelsey Huber of Conn, Jennifer Creamer of Drayton, Peggy Raftis and Bob Harron of Harriston and Listowel residents Jen Courtney, Matthew Schlauch, Brent Jemmett and Jeff Wood.
“The great part of community theatre is the community aspect of it – we’ve got a mixed cast of veteran actors and a few making their first foray on stage, and it’s been amazing to watch them work together on a pretty complex theatrical production.
“There’s so much support in our guild, for the actors, and the show, from the incredibly hardworking crew and our volunteer board and from the community at large. We are looking forward to showing the fruits of all this labour to our audience,” the director added.
Death Among the Delphiniums runs May 2, 3, 9 and 10 at 7:30 p.m., with Sunday matinees on May 4 and 11 at 2 p.m.
The show will be staged at the fully-accessible Harriston Town Hall Theatre, located at 68 Elora Street South in Harriston.
Tickets, $20, are available at Harriston Home Hardware and Walsh’s IDA in Mount Forest, through Eventbrite at greywellingtontheatre.com or call 519-338-2778 or email gwtheatreguild@gmail.com.
