Thank you Bowen for supporting theatre on the island and dropping in on the sixth annual production of the Bowen Shakespeare Winter Festival. And for expressing your appreciation for the skill and enthusiasm of the sixteen-strong cast of this year’s Much Ado About Nothing.
Thanks to stage manager Maureen Sawasy as always for running the performances and rehearsals. Thanks to the wondrous Shirley Wrinch for her awesome costumes and to Shirley and Nadine Hindle for tucking the actors into them. And thanks to Emily Angus for helping Shirley. Ian Davidson’s lighting and front-of-house skills were as fine-tuned and sure as ever. Trevor Tunnacliffe’s musical creations and performances were a marvel to behold. Tanya Voormeij-de Zwart conjured up the poster and tickets with her usual creative serenity. Actor Frazer Elliott volunteers for everything including the design and production of the programs and, with the other actors, putting together and taking apart the stage and set. Pete Ryan of Ryan Metalworks continues to support the festival, this year creating scary-looking halberds for the Watchmen. Jon Ritchie produced the sound, Rosalind Leggatt made masks and Sue Ritchie produced intermission cookies in biblical proportions. Cates Hill Chapel provided its lovely space and furnishings with its usual encouragement and generosity, and thanks to Island Pacific School for the actor’s dressing-room. And many thanks to the volunteers and staff of the Bowen Island Public Library for their time and patience in handling ticket sales.
For those of you in the audience who were seated behind the first couple of rows, there may be relief coming one fine day in the form of a space with seating that will allow everyone to have an unobstructed view. Thanks to efficient retractable raked seating technology, performance events would be one of the many possible uses of one part of the proposed island community centre, municipal hall complex. You’ll have a chance to vote on this proposal in the May referendum.
Graham Ritchie
