After a year’s hiatus, the Durham College and UOIT Drama Club is planning to stage a play.
But when exactly The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon will be performed has not been firmed up yet.
According to Sara Aldsworth, who is currently in charge of the Drama Club and the play, it will be performed in UP 1500 on a date to be announced.
The last play performed by the group was Superficial in 2016.
The cast of the Brothers Grimm Spectuaculathon includes Aldsworth, Emily Phillips, Christopher McGowan, Megan Graichen, Fynn Badgley, Trevor Nieuwohf, Alistair Macamare and Kailey Haskell. Jacob Neil is in charge of sound.
Written in 2007 by Don Zolidis, the premise is two narrators are trying to come up with a play combining all 209 of the stories published in Grimm’s Fairy Tales from the 19th century, and in the process they spoof the collection. The actors debate how the play should be written and choreographed, which is part of the actual live performance.
The play, billed as a raunchy comedy, includes everything from gore to mockery of today’s pop culture.
The play is currently in development and rehearsal, but the club has been in a struggle to get it done, in part because casting has been bumpy. According to Aldsworth, at one time there were 12 actors but three of them had school schedules that conflicted with rehearsal times. Despite the changes, the production has managed to move forward.
Last year, casting problems cancelled their planned play altogether. The club attempted to do an adaptation of the play Pure Nectar by Paul Howard Surridge but not enough people signed up for roles.
“I chose the [Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon] script because the problem with last year was we had a script where we needed four women and only three women auditioned. So we couldn’t fill the cast,” said Aldsworth. “With this script we actually only need five people, and lots ended up auditioning.”
Getting funding to properly promote the performance has been a bigger problem than casting, however. The club has not put up posters for the show. Aldsworth said getting enough posters to put around the whole campus is too expensive. They have Durham College’s TV monitors playing 10 seconds of an advertisement on hallway televisions, but nothing else. The Drama Club is looking for more people to help sponsor and advertise the play.
The stage production is bare bones.
“As for the sets, it’s very minimal,” said Neil. “We’re mostly just using black backdrops and the actors are going to be running on with contextual props and wigs. [The bare] background gives a lot more focus on the story, which is something that, with our cast of actors, definitely benefits the production.”
Tickets are available at the door. They are free, but with an optional $5 donation. Go to the UOIT/DC Drama Club! Facebook page for updates on the play’s production.
