"Hey! Why am I here? I don't even care about that local cultural $#1][. They make me think an' stuff. Shows with real people innem... boooring."
Okay. Fair enough. Thanks for stopping by. You may go back to your Transformer videos now.
Oh, still here? Good. Very good. In that case: Welcome! Can you help us go to the provincial amateur theatre festival?
"Your hobby? Your problem."
Sure, normally speaking that's true of course. But this is different. You don't often get the chance to go to the provincials as a humble local theatre group. The Mercury Players in Duncan have been around since 1999. This is their first time.
"Well, just go then. It's only provincial."
A province in Canada is the size of several countries. Thrown together. Kamloops is 500 kms from where we are. With a large body of water in between.
"Ok, so is 2000 all you need?"
No. More like 5000. We have to bring our own set, costumes, crew, pay our own fees for, accomodation, van rental, ferry tickets, etc. It adds up. The prize money we got is 1000. That doesn't even pay for the participation fees. Some prize, huh?
"Can I not go to one of the fundraisers directly?"
Sure, that is preferable even. But if you can't go, or only have a few bucks to spare, you can donate them here. With your name attached or anonymous, as you please.
"Alright, so what's your story?"
The Cowichan Valley's Mercury Players theatre group won the local Theatre Festival in May with their performance of Kiss the Moon, Kiss the Sun. We want to take this to the next level and compete against 5 other winning theatre groups from all over British Columbia.
The competition is called Destination Mainstage (http://theatrebc.org/destination-mainstage/) and it would mean that The Mercury Players travel to Kamloops to perform on Thursday, July 9 in front of a large audience and be adjudicated. Participation in the festival for at least 3 days is mandatory.
We need your help to make this possible and put the Cowichan Valley amateur theatre scene on the map. Your money will solely go towards covering the costs of our participation and travel.
"Do you even stand a chance?"
Yes, we do! Kiss the Moon, Kiss the Sun is a fantastic play by the very popular Canadian Playwright Norm Foster. The play is a contemporary, very accessible dramedy about "common people" who face extraordinary challenges. It's very funny, very touching and extremely entertaining. We have so far performed 8 shows in the Cowichan Valley and received standing ovations every single time. We had rave reviews in the local newspapers (http://www.bclocalnews.com/entertainment/282218...) and won not only Best Production, but also Best Actor and Best Actress as well as Best Supporting Actor (Michael Terides) at the festival in May.
"So it's about winning?"
Not primarily, no. It's about participation, learning and exchange, to be able to present an even better program in the Cowichan Valley in the years to come. Winning a prize would be the icing on the cake.
"So what do I do?"
If you would like to see the show locally, there are still 3 opportunities to do so, one in the Duncan Mercury Theatre on Friday, June 26th and two in The Ladysmith Little Theatre on July 3 and 4 - http://ladysmiththeatre.ca/index.php/tickets/ki.... Tickets are 20 dollars, which will already help us a lot to reach our goal (this is our main fundraiser), but if you want to offer more support, please donate via this site. Hope to see you there! Or in Kamloops on July 9. Now THAT would be cool!
Another GREAT fundraiser option is our Meet&Greet with Tapas&Wine at the Old Firehouse Winebar at the Duncan square on Sunday, June 28 at 4:00 pm. I'm especially looking forward to this one. See the Perks for details.
Marinus Vesseur can be reached at mvesseur@gmail.com or 778 356 0202
The Mercury Players are a charitable organization and can issue donation receipts for tax purposes. Its running president is Jim Cleough.
The actors that are in the cast of Kiss the Moon, Kiss the Sun are:
Breann Landry as Holly
Marinus Vesseur as Robert
Rose Bunting as Claire
Bruce Bunting as Dr. Andrews
Alex Gallacher as Simon
Alex and Marinus are also the directors
http://www.cowichanvalleycitizen.com/arts-enter...
Kiss the Moon, Kiss the Sun was originally produced Theatre Orangeville in
Orangeville, Ontario, in September, 2001.
Kiss the Moon, Kiss the Sun is staged by arrangement with Pam Winter, Gary
Goddard Agency, www.garygoddardagency.com
