Some thoughts about The Ladies Foursome by its Director, Richard Elichuk
My first experience with the show was the inaugural production at the Upper Canada Playhouse in Morrisburg. It had the usual combination of comedic, sometimes raunchy, scenes and some that were more “meaty ”- very typical of Norm Foster plays. I loved both the play and production and when OLT asked me to direct it I was delighted.
I made the decision to cast actors even if they had no golfing experience. I found one woman who is an excellent golfer and three others who were eager to learn how to swing a club. They are the perfect cast. At the auditions I had them read some of the spicy bits as any sign of discomfort would transmit to the audience. We are having fun and lots of laughs with all the scenes both “naughty and nice”. The next problem was finding clubs and bags as well as golf shoes and gloves. They are hitting pretend balls so the audience won’t have to duck flying missiles. I was able to get some of what I needed from the wife of a dear friend who had passed on and left a garage full of equipment. I could borrow what I needed but had to promise that the stuff was NEVER to be returned. Also, God bless the Salvation Army and Value Village!
This is one of the most complicated plays I’ve ever directed – on a par with Noises Off. There are 18 regular holes and the 19th where golfers relax with a beverage, tell lies, and make excuses for all their bad shots. So there are 19 entrances and exits, four “lines” on each side of the stage where they can do this with assigned order of entrance and exit. This is for each hole. Then they have to park their clubs in designated spots. You can do the math about the number of combinations. Even though I was a math teacher, there won’t be a test. We will have stage hands with flip sheets on either side of the stage with all this info. We know that St. Genesius, the patron saint of all things theatrical will be looking down on us.
Putting this production on the boards is a lot of work but what makes it all worthwhile is having fun at each rehearsal with a cast and crew that like each other, and knowing that we are going to have a terrific production.
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Tickets to The Ladies Foursome, opening September 18th, are now available through our box office at 613-233-8948 or online: https://tickets.ottawalittletheatre.com/