It was 2008 and I was sitting in a gynecologist’s waiting room awaiting a pre-op appointment. As I looked around the sweltering, packed little room, it dawned on me that every person in there was facing some sort of traumatic, life-changing situation. There were women who were pregnant, women who were hoping to be pregnant, and women who had just finished being pregnant and were adapting to life as exhausted new mothers. Others were probably desperately hoping to NOT be pregnant, ever. There were people like me, facing scary surgery. And then there were a few scattered and uncomfortable men, the guys who loved and supported these women.
It was 2008 and I was sitting in a gynecologist’s waiting room awaiting a pre-op appointment. As I looked around the sweltering, packed little room, it dawned on me that every person in there was facing some sort of traumatic, life-changing situation. There were women who were pregnant, women who were hoping to be pregnant, and women who had just finished being pregnant and were adapting to life as exhausted new mothers. Others were probably desperately hoping to NOT be pregnant, ever. There were people like me, facing scary surgery. And then there were a few scattered and uncomfortable men, the guys who loved and supported these women.
And that’s how it came about, three years later, that the Prairie Players will be presenting First Church of Gynecology and Obstetrics at the annual ACT Festival in Winkler’s PW Enns Centennial Concert Hall, May 13-15. The play is only 15 minutes long, but it’s a great fit for the weekend’s theme: Mother of All ACT Festivals.
You know what they say about mama bears. Get between her and her cub and she’ll bite right through you. That’s what moms are like. Don’t mess with their babies. Writing and directing a play and then throwing it onto a stage for the world to see and critique feels much like putting your baby on display and giving others free rein to call it the ugliest child they ever laid eyes on.
At some point in the rehearsal process, your baby is turning into an awkward adolescent and you inevitably find yourself thinking “who wrote this cheesy piece of crap?” But of course, no one else is allowed to say that. Then it all starts to come together and turns into something you’re proud to call your offspring.
It’s been my privilege to work with talented local actors Vicki Hooke, Kevin Hamm, Melissa Draycott, Ember Rodgers, Natasha Klassen, Barb Knott, Terry Tully, Liz Driedger, Danica Turcotte, and with our technical helper Chris Kitchen. If you’d like to see this play, the public is welcome at any of the festival performances in Winkler. Check out the host group’s website for more information: www.flatlandstheatre.com. Our performance will be May 15, at 10:45 a.m.
Or, if you really can’t make it to Winkler, you could check out our dress rehearsal at the William Glesby Centre on May 10, at
8 p.m. Admission is free. Use the backstage (green) door. It’s 15 minutes of your life you’ll never get back. We’re hoping you’ll consider them well spent.
Happy Mother’s Day!
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