P.E.I. theatre still going strong at end of summer

Much of the theatre on the Island is starting to wind down along with summer, but that's not the case for the popular Feast Dinner Theatre.

The long-standing company is getting ready for a late summer offering, with shows beginning this week in Summerside and Charlottetown.

Don Groom of Summerside founded the Feast, and along with artistic director Sherri-Lee Darrach, dropped by CBC's Mainstreet to tell host Karen Mair about the new production, and the company's success with the food and theatre combo.

"I started this, this is our 38th year," said Groom. "It's an innovation on something I saw in 1976. The first show was called The Governor's Feast, it developed from that, that was a traditional,1800s kind of thing. The bottom line with these shows is people come and have a good time. They're fun."

Over the years, the Feast has also become a training ground for lots of fine young talent, actors and musicians.

"One of the things I'm most proud of in my life is that the 500 or so actors that have been in this show over the years, a lot of them have gone on in that profession acting, television, radio," said Groom.

"The host of As It Happens (Jeff Douglas), he was in the Feast. Cookie Rankin. Mike Ross (of the Charlottetown Festival's popular Spoon River). The list goes on and on and on. Since we've started we've been in 22 locations across Canada."

Improv format

The shows starting this week are a bit different for the audience and the cast.

"This is a different format than the Feast Dinner Theatre," explained Groom. "The difference is there's no story line in this, it is a series of sketches and skits, music, improv, and again it's comedy, it's just great fun."

Darrach said they've chosen some of the best talents from the Feast for this production, ones what have to be multi-talented, and quick on their feet to pick up on audience cues.

"This is my favourite format, because as a performer, I love being in the spot where it's 'What's going to happen next?' I don't even know sometimes," said Darrach. "What I love about this show is that it can be a little audience-based in the sense that the information that the audience suggests, we can use throughout the show."

There will be lots of music from the best singers and players they have, lots of laughs from the quickest wits, and good food too.

"In Summerside, we do a three-course meal during the show, in Charlottetown, we do an Italian buffet," Darrach announced.

The production, called After Dark, opens Wednesday, Aug. 31 in Summerside at the Brothers Two, and opens at the Rodd Charlottetown Hotel on Friday, Sept. 2.

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