Mark Crawford (Photos by Melissa Kempf) “Stag and Doe” is a “laugh filled romp through the perils of prenuptial shenanigans”. It will cap off the varied and well-received summer 2014 line-up of plays at the Port Stanley Festival Theatre.
Theatre Manager Melissa Kempf acknowledges “tremendous support from our Season Subscribers as well as single ticket holders across London-Middlesex and Elgin County. It is encouraging to see the overwhelming response for musicals and newly scripted plays in addition to our traditional comedies and drama.”
Theatre Manager Melissa Kempf acknowledges “tremendous support from our Season Subscribers as well as single ticket holders across London-Middlesex and Elgin County. It is encouraging to see the overwhelming response for musicals and newly scripted plays in addition to our traditional comedies and drama.”
Those newly scripted plays have provided an added note of liveliness to this season. Back in July, Artistic Director Simon Joynes introduced Grant Tilly’s “Bingo Ladies” on opening night, noting that one of the theatre’s important goals was to encourage the development of new work. On that evening, Tilly was in the audience and there was a feeling of anticipation in the air as his play was premiered – he must have been pleased with the very enthusiastic response.
The final play of the season will give audiences the opportunity to see another newly scripted play, “Stag and Doe”, by Mark Crawford. It has had only one previous run, a recent successful outing at the Blyth Festival Theatre.
Though he is a seasoned actor, “Stag and Doe” is Mark’s first venture into writing, and for the performances in Port Stanley he will also take on one of the acting roles.
Likely there are many of us who attend plays and become absorbed in the action on the stage without giving too much thought to the creative process involved in writing the play, so as rehearsals were underway in Port Stanley, Mark’s offer to chat a bit about the play from the writer’s perspective was a welcome opportunity.
The final play of the season will give audiences the opportunity to see another newly scripted play, “Stag and Doe”, by Mark Crawford. It has had only one previous run, a recent successful outing at the Blyth Festival Theatre.
Though he is a seasoned actor, “Stag and Doe” is Mark’s first venture into writing, and for the performances in Port Stanley he will also take on one of the acting roles.
Likely there are many of us who attend plays and become absorbed in the action on the stage without giving too much thought to the creative process involved in writing the play, so as rehearsals were underway in Port Stanley, Mark’s offer to chat a bit about the play from the writer’s perspective was a welcome opportunity.
Matthew Gorman & Mark Crawford Mark grew up on a farm near Glencoe, Ontario and become interested in acting through doing plays at school and Sunday School. He says, “At a fairly young age, I also started to ask for tickets to the theatre for birthdays and Christmas.”
Mark credits the small rural high school setting and many really great teachers for nurturing his acting interests – they offered a lot of opportunity to do music, plays and art.
What prompted him to add playwriting to his acting career? Mark says, “I had always been interested in plays, not just as performance but also as pieces of writing. I have been working as an actor for many years now but always really loved the actual plays themselves. In the past, I had started writing but it would go nowhere – it took a while before I had a story to tell, something I wanted to share.”
Mark doesn’t mind that audiences are perhaps not thinking too much about the role of the writer in the creation. He says, “In a way you do all this work as a playwright for it to actually be invisible; it should just sound like people talking. It’s a bit of a funny thing – you hope as the writer you are not the star.”
As an actor and theatre goer who loves comedy, it was a natural choice for Mark’s first venture into writing. He says, “I think comedy is important; getting to go and sit in a room with other people and laugh together is a wonderful thing. It’s actually an important thing for a society to laugh together. I felt like an idea about a stag and doe and a wedding had potential for comedy – it’s something we all recognize.”
Seeing his play premiere at Blyth was an exciting experience for him. “It was nerve-racking but it was rewarding to see people respond, see a company of actors really sink their teeth into something that was previously just in your head.”
“Stag and Doe” will take on a new look in Port Stanley with Mark filling one of the acting roles, and a different cast, stage and director, Simon Joynes.
It’s an experience Mark is enjoying. “Simon Joynes has such a great sense of comedy and is really open to new ideas and to people trying different stuff in rehearsal. He is also a writer himself – it’s great having someone directing who understands and respects writing. And actors always bring themselves to the characters – it’s a different space and group of people, so it will feel different although we are telling the same story.”
Mark’s very serious mission of bringing us together to laugh is made possible by the commitment of theatres like PSFT to featuring new plays.
Says PSFT Artistic Director, Simon Joynes, "Because we try to develop new work that has a regional flavour it helps us to be something of a mirror for our audiences, and our hope is that by seeing stories on the stage that reflect their own reality, these audiences will be more engaged in the experience of watching live theatre ... it makes the whole process more relevant."
It’s a relevance that should keep present audiences coming back, and a new generation of audiences coming along to our intimate, live theatre by the lake.
As for this final play of 2014, Mark says ever so humbly, “I think I can say that it’s really funny and people have a good time at it. I hope people come out and join us.”
Stag and Doe plays August 20th to September 13th at the Port Stanley Festival Theatre. Find more information at www.portstanleytheatre.ca.
Mark credits the small rural high school setting and many really great teachers for nurturing his acting interests – they offered a lot of opportunity to do music, plays and art.
What prompted him to add playwriting to his acting career? Mark says, “I had always been interested in plays, not just as performance but also as pieces of writing. I have been working as an actor for many years now but always really loved the actual plays themselves. In the past, I had started writing but it would go nowhere – it took a while before I had a story to tell, something I wanted to share.”
Mark doesn’t mind that audiences are perhaps not thinking too much about the role of the writer in the creation. He says, “In a way you do all this work as a playwright for it to actually be invisible; it should just sound like people talking. It’s a bit of a funny thing – you hope as the writer you are not the star.”
As an actor and theatre goer who loves comedy, it was a natural choice for Mark’s first venture into writing. He says, “I think comedy is important; getting to go and sit in a room with other people and laugh together is a wonderful thing. It’s actually an important thing for a society to laugh together. I felt like an idea about a stag and doe and a wedding had potential for comedy – it’s something we all recognize.”
Seeing his play premiere at Blyth was an exciting experience for him. “It was nerve-racking but it was rewarding to see people respond, see a company of actors really sink their teeth into something that was previously just in your head.”
“Stag and Doe” will take on a new look in Port Stanley with Mark filling one of the acting roles, and a different cast, stage and director, Simon Joynes.
It’s an experience Mark is enjoying. “Simon Joynes has such a great sense of comedy and is really open to new ideas and to people trying different stuff in rehearsal. He is also a writer himself – it’s great having someone directing who understands and respects writing. And actors always bring themselves to the characters – it’s a different space and group of people, so it will feel different although we are telling the same story.”
Mark’s very serious mission of bringing us together to laugh is made possible by the commitment of theatres like PSFT to featuring new plays.
Says PSFT Artistic Director, Simon Joynes, "Because we try to develop new work that has a regional flavour it helps us to be something of a mirror for our audiences, and our hope is that by seeing stories on the stage that reflect their own reality, these audiences will be more engaged in the experience of watching live theatre ... it makes the whole process more relevant."
It’s a relevance that should keep present audiences coming back, and a new generation of audiences coming along to our intimate, live theatre by the lake.
As for this final play of 2014, Mark says ever so humbly, “I think I can say that it’s really funny and people have a good time at it. I hope people come out and join us.”
Stag and Doe plays August 20th to September 13th at the Port Stanley Festival Theatre. Find more information at www.portstanleytheatre.ca.
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