The Brighton Barn Theatre is ready and anxious to finally get its 2022 anniversary season underway next month.
Delayed two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Brighton community theatre troupe will finally debut its production of Deliver Us from Mama at the barn theatre stage (96 Young St.) within the Proctor Park Conservation Area, starting on June 10.
The comedic production is the summer offering as part of the 20th anniversary season at the Brighton Barn Theatre, which started in earnest providing community theatre back in 2002.
Doug Phelan, who serves as both the director and a principal actor in Deliver Us from Mama, said it’s almost like time stood still on the production, as auditions were completed in the fall of 2019 and the cast
started rehearsals in January of 2020 and were about a month away from the start of performances before the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic shut everything down.
“The play we’re going to be putting on next month was actually the one we were going to put on two years ago. Most of the same actors are still a part of it. So, it’s good to get things going again,” said Phelan, adding only three members were lost from the original cast following the two-year hiatus.
A good comedy has always worked well with Brighton audiences and comedies by California playwrights Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten have worked particularly well, noted Phelan. He’s directed five previous productions from these playwrights — all which have received favourable responses from local theatre-goers.
Deliver Us from Mama, said Phelan, is a particularly ambitious production as it requires numerous set changes. And, while there are three principal actors in the play, the cast is rounded out by seven other actors who play 25 other roles in the play.
“There are lots of costume changes and there are almost as many stage crew moving stuff around as there is actors on the stage,” explained Phelan.
The ‘Mama’ in Deliver Us from Mama is of the meddlesome variety, said Phelan. She arranges for her son’s pregnant wife to travel to Birmingham, Alabama while she spends time with her son in California. When she’s about to deliver a baby, however, a zany road trip across the bottom of the U.S. to Alabama ensues, including stops in such locales as Roswell, New Mexico, in Louisiana during Mardi Gras, and Texas.
“There is a heck of a wedding scene that I’m sure some people will relate to. If it’s going to go wrong, it’s there,” said Phelan with a laugh about one particularly hilarious scene in the play.
The Brighton Barn Theatre has come a long way since the barn was built back in 2002, said Phelan, who’s been along for the ride every year of the community theatre troupe’s existence. Deliver Us from Mama represents the 51st production at the theatre, although the venue has produced numerous Christmas variety show and musical presentations within those 20 years of operation.
“It’s been a busy spot,” said Phelan.
Deliver Us From Mama is on stage on for evening performances June 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 25 at 7:30 p.m. Matinee performances on June 12, 19, 25 and 26 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at the Barn box office (SOHO’s Proctor House Museum) from 1 to 4 p.m. approximately three weeks prior to each show or by calling 613-475-2144 where you can leave your ticket information on the answering machine.
