Adreanna Boucher from Off the Cuff Improv and Spark Theatre in Prince Albert is grateful to have served as the playwright from Last Sunday’s January show.
Last Sunday is put on by Saskatoon based theatre company, Sum Theatre. The theatre puts on a show on the Last Sunday of every month and features a rant, a musical act, a hot seat interview and a 10-minute play that is topical to whatever has gone on that month.
Boucher knew instantly that she wanted to write a play to do with the Jan. 6 Capitol riots in Washington. As it was still early in the month, she did have slight hesitancy wondering if something else big might happen.
She was sure about what she did not want to write about, however.
“I did not want to write about was COVID. I feel like people just needed a break from that,” she told the Herald in an interview.
Boucher ended up going with the Capitol riots and worked with playwright Yvette Nolan who was dramaturging the play.
Boucher watched the live stream of the show at Jam Street shared art space with friends from Spark Theatre. Everyone sat socially distanced and wore masks.
“They had a few laughs and that made me feel really good as soon as they laughed or went ‘ohhh’ when they picked up on things,” Boucher said. “This is the affect that I wanted it to have.”
She added it was also nerve wracking watching the show from a distance. Boucher explained it feels vulnerable to put something out into the world, especially when it hasn’t gone through the typical processes that a piece would.
“We wrote a play and performed it in three weeks,” Boucher said.
Typically, she said a piece would have a longer rehearsal period and there would be more rewriting and workshops going on with the piece.
Last fall, Sum Theatre announced they would include other theatre groups around the province in the fourth season of the Last Sunday. Boucher said January’s show was the first time someone from Prince Albert was included.
She added she’s grateful Sum Theatre included them.
“It’s a great way for theatre to come together and I know spark theatre is really grateful to be in partnership with sum theatre for this endeavour,” Boucher said.
Boucher added that one positive coming out of the pandemic is that with most shows going to live stream, it’s easier for other groups to connect and produce content together.
“Maybe we can’t have large audiences right now but we’re sure developing a large, province wide network of artists supporting each other,” Boucher said. “I just think that’s wonderful.”
