While curlers are busy tuning up their brooms and polishing their sliders in advance of another season on the pebbled ice, another team is showing a “Hurry Hard” attitude in preparation for another winter venture – the return of the seasonal dinner theatre in Annaheim.
This year’s curling themed production is “Hurry Hard” by playwright Kristen Da Silva, an uproarious look at the rocks and rings reality of keeping a team together.
“It has a lot to do with curling and a lot to do with curlers,” says Steve Patton, one of the actors in the play. “It’s a funny play with a couple of twists and turns we’re not ready to give away just yet.”
The challenge of mounting a play about curling without hosting a dinner on a sheet of ice is surmounted by the fact that some of the comedy happens off the ice. Just like in the big leagues, the off-season shuffling and player swapping lies at the heart of the complication. Those deals are often struck in the curling club lounges, where on any given day, more drama unfolds than on the ice surface.
“I think everybody has some connection to curling,” Patton says. “They either curl themselves or know somebody who does, and so people can relate to a lot of the story.”
Community theatre is exactly that, a full-on community effort with volunteers prepping and serving the meal for the dinner portion, while others decorate the hall, chip in with set design and wrangle props. That’s in addition to the five cast members, technical person and the director.
Like a Grand Slam curling event, the tickets go on sale early, and they’re bound to move fast. Tickets go on sale on October 24 at 5:30 pm at the Annaheim Hall. Doors open for the sale at 5:00 pm that day. Alternatively, you can call 306-227-9073 to purchase your tickets.
Following October 24, you can call Leslie at 306-227-9073. But remember, those seats are going to go fast for each of the three shows on December 5, 6 and 7. The event is a 19+ age show with tickets $60 each.
Curling fan or not, the Annaheim Hall is the centre for some great dinner theatre entertainment with “Hurry Hard,” on the first weekend of December.