June 2005

Tumbleweed and the Great Outdoors

In high school Shakespeare’s plays were something I looked forward to. I’m not really sure why. It’s not that I truly understood the words and the structure of the foreign language Shakespeare wrote in, or for that matter, what the plays were about. Today, my understanding of Shakespeare’s plays has greatly improved and I can enjoy the plays for the deeper and more symbolic universal meanings contained within them. It is this love of Shakespeare that attracted me to an advertisement for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a delightful Shakespearian play. It turned out that the theatre production company was one I had not previously heard of, Tumbleweed Theatre Company.

The Tumbleweed Theatre Company makes its home in Brooks, not too far from our fair city. In February of 2004, Brian Crumblehulme, Rob Brown and Michael Glynn Macdonald started the company, which has thus far performed three productions, Neil Simon’s The Good Doctor, Charles Ludlum’s The Mystery of Irma Vep and Trade Wars (an adaptation of Aristophanes classic Greek comedy Lysistrata). The goal is to maintain three main productions with smaller more intimate shows spread throughout the year. Macdonald says the non-profit company, ”is made up of local talent from all over the town and county that range in age from early teens to sixty plus and in experience from novice to semi-professional.” Funds are raised through box office sales, programme advertising and various charitable events. “We do this because we love to do it and feel that there is support here for us to showcase our creativity,” says Brown.

21 cast members and numerous back-stage personnel make up their largest, and first outdoor, production, William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Macdonald would love to see this first Shakespeare in the park production “culminate and grow into an annual festival, A Little Bard on the Prairie.”

Rain or shine, depending weather severity, A Midsummer Night’s Dream runs Fridays and Saturdays on July 22, 23, 29 & 30 at 7pm, at Evergreen Park, Brooks, for approximately two hours, including a 15-minute intermission. Remember to bring bleacher blankets and seat cushions.

In addition, on July 23 the Brooks Public Library, in partnership with Tumbleweed Theatre, is putting on their 2nd annual Medieval Fair from 10 am to 4 pm. “We feel this is an excellent opportunity to spend the day in Brooks, visit our museum, check out the fair, grab a bite to eat and then see the show,” says Crumblehulme.

To reserve tickets or for information on A Midsummer Night’s Dream, or any future production, contact Michael Glynn Macdonald at (403) 362-0358 or e-mail mandwmacdonald@shaw.ca. If you, or your non-profit group, have an upcoming event or questions for me? Please e-mail BeKean@telusplanet.net