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Century Church presents Jack of Diamonds

February 17, 2022   ·   0 Comments

By Constance Scrafield

For a second go-round in 2022, Century Church is bringing us its next production, Jack of Diamonds, opening March 6 and running during the weekends until March 20.

In a conversation with the play’s director Peter King, the ins and outs of this comedy by Marcia Kash and Douglas E. Hughes left us with as little give-aways as possible.

By way of minimal explanation, he said, “Jack retires as one of those guys whom we’ve all seen on TV and wants to buy your jewellery. His commercials were roundly hated by most people but he was successful.”

The synopsis continues that Jack’s retirement lands him into a “pretty upscale retirement home,” where mostly ladies reside and where Jack is particularly involved with three of them. Needs must: a key character is Nurse Harper, described as tough and caustic. All is well until a financial crisis hits.

“They were doing well until they weren’t because of finances,” said Mr. King.

Somewhere within the plot lurks an unrevealed villain and we are encouraged to go and see the play to discover the truth of the crime. What can be known is that Jack is very experienced about diamonds and his expertise is needed and in demand to save them.

“He’s not a bad guy but the commercials were terrible,” the Director said lightly. “It’s very funny and a lot of things are in it that our audiences will like. Our audiences do like comedies.”

This is the first time Mr. King has sat in the director’s chair and he is finding it fun and a challenge. Three years ago, he did take one of the directors’ courses offered by Neville Worsnop, having come to the point of: are you interested? and Can I do it?

Neville Worsnop, British actor and director, along with his wife, Jo Phenix co-founded this community theatre 20 years ago. Although community theatre can be difficult [financially], because of how well Century Church has been operated in the last 20 years, it is healthy, as Mr. King confirmed, while keeping in mind that it is a non-profit organization. Peter King is now President of the Board of Directors for the theatre.

He told the Citizen, “Jo and Neville have done everything because there was no one to do the work. Neville is still directing; they are very much involved. Now more people are coming forward.”

Back to Jack: “We’ve been rehearsing for quite a while and what I do now is stay out of the way and let them run the scene. We’ve been quite innovative how to do things on stage – Erin Montgomery [actor in the play], she is wonderful.

As with the first show since the Covid outbreak, the protocols still apply and everyone involved is vaccinated. In the audience space within the little theatre, 40 people were the approximate number allowed by the number of seats.

He said, “We make it safe.”

Auditions are held at the theatre and still in line with Covid protocols, they know how many can be handled at one time. They ask people to call and say they are coming and when they reach a certain number, they close the bookings, do the auditions and begin again with another audition session. 

He explained, “Normally, we get them to read parts of the play; we get three people to come up and read the various parts together. If they want to see [the script] before they go on, I’ll send it to them. Cold readings show if they can read; if they can put the emphasis correctly. We encourage anybody to come to auditions.”

Century Church is one of the few community theatres that produces Pantomimes and there are two coming up this year. That is when young people come. Dick Whittington and his Cat is up first in May and later, Beauty and the Beast is the next Panto, in September.

Auditions are interesting for there are a number of people coming for a number of reasons: to all those who have ever acted before or anybody who wants to come; young people can audition for the pantomimes. The Theatre is affiliated with ACT-CO.

“Anybody is welcome to come. Some give an idea of the character they want to play and others say, ‘You put me where you want me.’”

He encouraged, “…anyone [BIPOC]. Race is not related – these characters could have been anybody in the population. I would love to go out and encourage people to come.”

Century Church Theatre’s 20^th anniversary was in 2019. Early on, the church let them rehearse in the basement. At the time, the group were producing plays in Erin. Once the church was deconsecrated, the committee that owned it let the theatre group produce plays in the church itself.

“The gentleman [whose name is not released] that bought it encouraged us to keep doing theatre there and we take good care of the building,” said Mr. King.

The Century Church is sometimes offered to other people for other uses. Entertainer, Bob Milne comes once a year. For his Sunday show, he has tea in the basement [set up for the purpose] with members of the audience. Bob Milne has been coming to Century Church for 18 years with his wonderful rag time.

Peter King was effusive about the Century Church Theatre – the upcoming play, Jack of Diamonds and auditions for the Pantomimes to come, “Everybody here is a volunteer. Please come to the auditions. Come and be part of the group; we would love to see you.” 

For more information about show times and to book tickets go to the website www.centurychurchtheatre.com or call 519-855-4586.

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