Chilliwack – It was a victorious weekend for the Chilliwack Players Guild’s production of Beth Graham’s The Gravitational Pull of Bernice Trimble, chosen as Best Production from among six productions in the Fraser Valley Zone Theatre Festival. The Chilliwack show will now represent the Fraser Valley at the Provincial Mainstage Festival in early July in Chilliwack. The Players Guild production also won several major individual awards at the Zone Festival, held in Langley this past week.
Along with the Outstanding Production Award, sending it to the Provincial finals, the Outstanding Set Design award went to Graham Archer and TJ MacPherson, Outstanding Props and Set Decoration award was presented to Graham and Debra Archer, and Krysandra Wilson received the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Female Role award.
The production was Directed by TJ MacPherson and was Produced by Debra Archer. A strong and experienced crew, led by Stage Manager Trisha Knight-Good, will now prepare the production for its next challenge: competing in the Theatre BC’s Provincial Mainstage Festival, which will take place at the Chilliwack Cultural Centre, July 1 to 6. The theatre festival will feature six Zone Festival winning plays representing the best in community theatre from around BC. Tickets for these shows can be purchased through the Cultural Centre website (www.chilliwackculturalcentre.ca).
The Festival also features a series of workshops presented in partnership with the Arts Club Theatre from Vancouver. Information about the Festival can be found on the Theatre BC website (www.theatrebc.org) or on the Theatre BC’s Mainstage Festival Facebook page.
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Backgrounder
PLAY: The Gravitational Pull of Bernice Trimble is about the tricky nature of family dynamics, and the effects of mental illness seen through the eyes of a young woman who’s searching for her own feelings amidst the whirlwind emotions of her family. Iris Trimble is trying to hold it all together. She may very well fly off the face of the earth if she doesn’t hang on to the kitchen counter. At least that’s how she feels after her mother, Bernice, a lively, recently widowed fifty-five-year-old breaks the news that she has early onset Alzheimer’s. In an effort to cope with the stress, Iris makes her mother’s famous Everything-That-Is-Bad-For-You casserole, a childhood favourite. Her siblings, on the other hand, are on opposite sides of the spectrum: Sara, the eldest, irately calls for a second opinion, while Peter, the youngest, seems completely unfazed. As for Bernice, she’s still as vivacious as ever, always up for a good laugh, and, most of all, ready to finally put herself first.https://playersguild.ca/productions/the-gravitational-pull-of-bernice-trimble/
AUTHOR: https://www.canadiantheatre.com/dict.pl?term=Graham%2C%20Beth
CHILLIWACK PLAYERS GUILD: The CPG was officially formed in 1932 as Chilliwack Little Theatre and has been producing theatre ever since. The Guild produced over 80 productions in the former Chilliwack Arts Centre; …Bernice Trimble will be the 42nd Guild production staged in the Chilliwack Cultural Centre. As well, The Guild has hosted several Zone Festivals at the Centre, as well as the Mainstage Festival in 2016. This will be the 10th appearance at a Provincial Mainstage Festival for the Guild. More info at www.playersguild.ca
THEATRE BC: THEATRE BC has served as the parent association for community theatre in the province since 1932. Its aims are to promote and encourage the development of community theatre by providing leadership as well as opportunities for participation, education and sharing in the enjoyment of diverse theatre experiences. Theatre BC divides the province into 10 geographical Zones, each incorporating the community theatre groups within the region. An annual adjudicated theatre festival is held within each Zone in the spring, with the winning production going on to the Provincial MAINSTAGE Festival in July.
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