The Lampman Community Theatre was back once again this past weekend.
The guests had a chance to enjoy a hilarious play, Poker Nights at the Legion, written by Lampman’s Maureen Ulrich. And almost 250 people enjoyed the fast-paced, fun-loving performance in a good company.
The 90-minute play, consisting of two acts, told a story of one of the Legion’s fundraisers.
“It’s a comedy. Just an excuse for people to put on some crazy costumes and sing some songs and do a bit of dancing,” said Ulrich.
A meal was served during Dec. 14 performance and two previous nights guests could enjoy some cocktails prior to the performance.
There were 17 people involved on stage and it was a bit tricky to ensure that everything went smoothly due to some special aspects of the building.
“The Legion has a very small stage, so a lot of it is just the logistic of getting them on stage and being able to be seen by the audience,” said Ulrich.
The cast was drawn from Estevan, Arcola and Lampman. The actors involved with the play this year were Sandy Handrieder, Cherilyn Gress, Diane Fornwald, Doris Trobert, James Trobert, Ed Fieber, Stephanie Gress, Glenn Gress, Tamara Franklin, Cornelia Michaelsen, Laurie Fornwald, Riller Lay-Street, Calvin Christensen, Auldene Craig, Jamie Johnson, Lindsay Johnson and Damyen Seeman.
Most of the cast members participate in the Lampman’s Community Theatre from year to year, but there were a few new actors joining the group this time.
“Cornelia Michaelsen is a local farmer’s wife. She is actually from Switzerland, so it’s kind of fun for her to fit into the community this way. But it is the cast that predominantly we worked with a lot over the last 20 years,” said Ulrich.
All actors are not professionals, but in some cases, it was impossible to tell the difference.
“I’ve got a couple of really, really strong performers,” said Ulrich.
She wrote the play last year but wasn’t able to put it together due to personal reasons. So it was resurrected this year and with a few adjustments turned into a big hit.
“We like to refer to current events throughout the script, so we had to change a few things. But this is the third in a series of plays. We did Storm Stayed at the Legion, and then we did Ladies Night,” explained Ulrich.
The public just loved the performance.
“We had such a great response. The actors had to wait for the laughter to subside so they could go on with their lines. It was a really, really fun show for both the cast and the audience,” said Ulrich.
She’s been participating in the community theatre on and off since 1997, and this hobby wouldn't let her go.
“I thought it would be my last year doing this just because it does take up a lot of time, too much of rehearsals. But it’s just too much fun to do, so I’m sure we’ll be back in two years with another script,” said Ulrich.
The cast started practising in the middle of October and met once a week until the middle of November when they switched to two rehearsals a week.
Actors usually come up with their costumes themselves and also exchange some pieces to enhance each other’s characters.
All the proceeds went towards keeping the Royal Canadian Legion’s Lampman branch running. They’ve done a lot of renovations over the last couple of years, and the place looks fantastic now.
“If people haven’t been to the Legion lately, they should come and check it out,” said Ulrich.
