The Pender Solstice Theatre Society was founded in 1991, so next year we will be celebrating its 30th anniversary. And in anticipation of the event, we have gathered recollections from some past and present members that we will be posting on a regular basis throughout the summer. If you have a story or a memory of Solstice, don’t be shy in sharing, we would love to hear from you too, please email us at: [email protected] or reach out to us on facebook. Here a few stories that have been shared already:
Helen Lemon-Moore reminisces. “Back in 1999 in Goodnight Desdemona, Good Morning Juliet, Steeve Larouche went out for a smoke and a pee during intermission, and for some reason, the hall doors were locked, and he couldn’t get back in. Someone called “Where’s Steeve? He should be at stage left and he isn’t.” Suddenly, there was a pounding on the door at the bottom of the stairs, and we found him locked out and in a panic. He rushed up the stairs and walked in stage with his heart beating frantically but just in time for his cue, and the audience didn’t suspect a thing!
Joyce Davis recollects that “In Goodnight Desdemona we had an amazing, well-rehearsed and choreographed sword fight between Sheila Jordan as Constance and Kim Davis as Othello with real but dull swords. Kim was supposed to slice low in an attempt to cut off Sheila’s legs and she was to jump over his sword. However, during one performance they were not in sync, and Kim hit her with full force on the leg. Sheila completed the scene, then as soon as she was out of the audience’s view, limped off in pain and collapsed on the stairs. She was in agony, but when her cue came, she got back on stage as if nothing had happened. What an actress and what a bruise!
Barb Pender remembers Treasure Island, Solstice’s first-ever production in 1991. “Michele Marsden and I had a sword fight down the centre aisle in the audience and to flashing lights no less. And there was a vivid death scene on the steps. And also the birthday cake scene in Crimes of the Heart was memorable because the audience sang happy birthday to me instead of Lenny on my 60th birthday. I was playing a 30-year-old, and stuffing humongous pieces of cake into my mouth when it happened.”
Keith Smith recalls that some of the best laughs occurred during rehearsals when tears were literally rolling down people’s faces.
And some of the most notable moments on stage came from the Pantos such as the audience response whenever Cinderella did her dress transformation and Wren Wilde’s face as she basked in the tidal wave of sound. Then there were Helen Lemon-Moore’s ad-lib magic spells when the Pumpkin coach wouldn’t open. When Keith and Rob Dill were the ugly sisters, crowds of men lined up at the end of the play to have their photos taken with them, and Keith claims he got three marriage proposals from that gig alone.
Barry and Clare Mathias remember In the production of Dracula, there was a scene where Kim Davis had to land a punch, but on the second night he was somewhat over-zealous and what nobody realized was that Barry’s very realistic collapse was due to his being knocked unconscious for a short time.
Steeve Larouche recalls: in Don’t Dress For Dinner my character was having a hard day and I was with fellow actor Greg Lucas. In the scene, I was to drink 3 tumblers of booze as I spill my guts out to him. Each of us had no idea the booze was real and straight up. I never eat before a performance as usual but holy crap I wish I’d had that night. I made it through the scene, but the slur was real. Thank God I sweat the booze out from the hot lights.
