Family dysfunction is a common theme in theatrical work, just look at Tracy Lett’s August: Osage County or anything by Shakespeare.
For Powerhouse Theatre’s Cara Nunn, the complexities that occur around familial relations is what drew her to uncover four short plays that will be part of the Theatre on the Edge festival, taking place in Salmon Arm later this month.
But first the plays will be previewed, under the title Parental Guidance, at Vernon’s Powerhouse Theatre.
“I wanted to put an entry in the Theatre on the Edge, which is sort of like a Fringe Festival and is for small-act plays, but I found out too late about it last year to enter,” said Nunn. “This year we were committed to do it.”
The four plays in Parental Guidance each speak to a different age of family life.
Infant Mortality, written by Craig Pospisil and directed by Sandy Behan, is about infancy; Animal by Olivier Hailey, directed by Sarah McLean, is about childhood; Unpublished Letters by Jonathan C. Levine, also directed by Behan, is about adulthood; American Dream Revisited, also by Pospisil and directed by Nunn, is about the elderly.
“These are unusual plays that I found over the years. I like the twists in them. I find it fascinating the dynamics and the social impact that creates those dynamics between families,” said Nunn.
Nunn became interested in theatre while in high school.
Since joining Vernon’s community theatre in 2011, she has not only acted in Powerhouse’s regular season (including this past year’s Waiting in the Wings), she has designed sets and produced.
For Parental Guidance, she is not only directing for the first time, she will deliver the monologue in the one-woman play Animal.
Oh, and she is also the set designer for all four plays.
“The concept is to be minimalist, with half an hour to set up, one hour to perform, and half an hour to get off the stage. We’ll have about two minutes to switch scenes before the next play starts. It’s minimal, so it focusses on the acting,” said Nunn.
Sarah (Scotty) McLean is not only directing a play, she is mentoring the new directors, while several new actors to Powerhouse will be on stage.
They include Destiny MacWatters, who has only worked backstage before, Sheila Mandreck, Pattie Mallett, Greg Hesford, Dan Toolsie and Travis Dubois (the latter two have appeared in the directors showcase one-act festival at Powerhouse).
Nunn’s daughters, Maia and Sara, are also taking on roles while Powerhouse vets Jean Given and Debra Bob are starring together.
“We also have a new crew member, Taiyo Nishihara, and some who are expanding their roles,” said Nunn.
After the Powerhouse preview, the crew heads to the Shuswap Theatre in Salmon Arm to set up for the Theatre on the Edge Festival.
“We will get to set up our lights and special effects ahead of time,” said Nunn.
“It’s a nice lineup at the festival with seven-to-eight different companies from Kamloops to Kelowna. It will be a nice mix of plays for audiences to see something different.”
Parental Guidance previews at the Powerhouse Theatre July 16 at 2 and 7:30 p.m. and July 17 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $12 at the Ticket Seller (250-549-7469, ticketseller.ca) or at the door.
The Theatre on the Edge Festival runs July 22-24 at the Shuswap Theatre. Visit shuswaptheatre.com for more information.