Husbands, children, egos and occupations are tossed in the wind when they decide to form a band and take it on the road. Join in the laughter, fun and total chaos with River Hill Players‘ production of Carol Sinclair’s Idyll Gossip, Friday and Saturday evening at Strathspey Place in Mabou.
“The play centres around five women who are mostly alone and struggling to get by and to get through life,” says director Tom Ryan. “They decide to start a band but find it difficult to land any local gigs, so they come up with some pretty innovative ways to overcome that.”
Chlory MacLean is Wanda, a shopkeeper of groceries and dried goods while Bertha MacLean plays Donna, a single woman and a fish plant worker. Anyone who saw the Inverness Idol competition a few years ago knows these ladies have great voices. Port Hood’s Nancy Hilton plays Agnes, an older lady who lives on the streets. April MacDonald is Henny, a substitute teacher with a dark secret, and River Hill co-founder Cindy O’Neill plays Bets, a fisherman’s wife who’s left alone while he’s away at sea.
“The River Hill Players been rehearsing for a couple of months now, and the girls are all fired up and doing a great job with the drama and the music,” says Ryan. “I’m very pleased, and we’ve been having a lot of fun as well with this production. There’s a lot of buzz going around now, and we’re all really looking forward to bringing this show to the stage.”
“It’s a very interesting plot, and it promises to be a lot of fun,” says Ryan. “Keegan Campbell and Mike Murdock are also doing a bang-up job creating music for the show.”
Campbell just played Soldier in the John Archie and Nellie production last week at Strathspey Place, and he is remembered for many River Hill roles including Van Morrison in The Last Waltz 35th Anniversary Tribute last December. Murdock was the horn player with “The Band” in that production as well.
“Idyll Gossip is a great little musical comedy that takes place in rural Nova Scotia, so it’s a very fitting play for us here in rural Inverness County,” says Ryan.
The River Hill Players is a community theatre group that has been showcasing the musical and theatrical talents of Inverness County since 2006. Doing an average of four shows per year, the Players have gained recognition for their professionalism.
See Idyll Gossip at Strathspey Place on May 4th and 5th at 7:30 pm. Tickets are available by calling the Strathspey Place box office at 945-5300.
