​Cast excited to take to the stage in Kincardine Theatre Guild's "Taking Care of the Browns"

The four-member cast is excited to take to the stage in the Kincardine Theatre Guild's production of "Taking Care of the Browns" which opens Thursday, Feb. 12, at the Kincardine Arts Centre.

Written by Peter Paylor of Orillia, the play has a heavy Canadian theme and is more like a television situation comedy than a theatre show.

Matt Harvey plays Danny, while Robin Rintoul plays his wife, Susan, Colin Catalan is their neighbour, Bernie, and Elaina Ravell is Janet, the daughter of Harvey and Irene Brown whose ashes are displayed in two urns on the coffee table throughout the show.

Harvey of Kincardine is delighted to be back on stage after a seven-year hiatus.

"I read the script and I thought this was a nice, light-hearted comedy for the dead of winter," he said. "It's also by a Canadian playwright so that's good."

In the play, he and Susan answer an ad for the sale of a pick-up truck, but when they meet with the Browns' daughter, Janet, they end up getting stuck with her parents' urns for safe-keeping.

"There's a lot of talking in this show," said Harvey, "a lot of monologues and soliloquies. In fact, we end up doing a lot of talking to the urns."

While he's thrilled to be back with the theatre guild, he was initially concerned about his capacity to memorize lines. But he was happy at how quickly he was off-script, and that has boosted his confidence.

"I didn't realize how much I'd missed being on stage," said Harvey. "It's fun working with new people and all the students who are running the lights and sound."

He plans to continue with the theatre guild, on stage or behind the scenes.

Rintoul of Underwood was in last year's production of “Love, Loss, and What I Wore" on the theatre guild stage. 

She saw the audition notice and read the play.

"It's pretty funny and I thought it would be fun to do," she said. "Susan is funny but she doesn't really mean to be. She's a nice person but she resents being a nice person."

Rintoul said it's been an interesting drive to get to the arts centre for rehearsals in January, with the blustery winter weather and closed roads. "But it's been worth it. I love the director (Jaki Mayer Duggan) and the cast and crew. Everyone's a lot of fun to work with."

Catalan of Kincardine was in the theatre guild production of "Gibson and Sons" two years ago. He joked that he might be making a career out of playing an anxious loser who is talking to dead people.

"My mom saw the audition notice, so I came to try out and I got the part of the neighbour, Bernie," said Catalan. "He's very animated so I'm having a lot of fun with it. He's kind of a mess but not too much. Then he gets involved with Janet and he's 100 per cent a mess. But in the end, a big change happens and he has to get his life together. It's a very interesting arc to go through."

Ravell of Kincardine performed in "Nested" with the theatre guild, and in "Newsies" with Kincardine District Senior School. In this play, she is Janet, the daughter of the Browns.

"I've wanted to get back into theatre," said Ravell. "I saw that Jaki (Mayer Duggan) was directing and she's terrific so I auditioned and got the part. It's a great character. She's shy and anxious and I can relate to that. But she can be teasing, especially with Bernie."

Mayer Duggan said she was asked to read this play about a year ago and loved it because it was so funny. "It's really all about the urns. Everyone focuses on them."

She said the main challenge for this show has been the inclement weather and road closures during rehearsals. As for the play, the scene changes are a bit tricky, she said. Plus, there's an imaginary television at the front and the actors focus on it when the blue light is on.

"We're at the point where we need an audience," she said.

"Taking Care of the Browns" runs Feb. 12-13 and 19-20 at 7 p.m.; and Feb. 14-15 and 21-22 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $25 each; available on-line at tproontario.ticketpro.ca/en/pages/1675586421 or in person (cash only) at the Victoria Park Gallery in downtown Kincardine.

The show is scheduled to be part of the Western Ontario Drama League Festival, slated for May in Hanover.