Take a trip to Mesa
from the MEDICINE HAT NEWS Mar 22, 2006
Fut in the Hat is taking theatre goers on a trip to Arizona.The theatre company’s latest production, Mesa, is the story of a man named Paul who agrees to drive his wife’s 93-year-old grandfather, Bud, to his retirement trailer in Mesa, Ariz.“It’s about his search for himself,” director Karen Cunningham said of Paul’s journey. “He’s kind of lost his inner self and travelling with this old man he starts to find out who he is.”Due to the old man’s age, Bud expects this to be his last trip to Arizona. His reflections on life help Paul’s quest for life’s answers.“There’s a lot of poingancy there.”There’s humour, too.“You can imagine taking a 93-year-old man on a trip, he ends up having some experiences he hadn’t expected.”Those experiences teach him a great deal.“Inside that old husk there is still a human being inside with feeligns and needs,” Cunningham said.And not only do those experiences teach him about Bud, but about himself, too.The play has been described by those who have seen it as “charming,” the director said.Written by Calgarian Doug Curtis, the play stars Grant Bray as Bud and Mike Waskalik as Paul. While the actors may be familiar to local theatre lovers, Cunningham said the play’s set calls for something different.“It’s the most simple set I’ve ever seen.”The primary elements of the set are two lawnchairs, Cunningham said, noting the play calls for it to be that way. The lawnchairs are used as props for the seats of the car, beds in a hotel and, of course, as lawnchairs at Bud’s holiday spot.The theatre company hopes to use a projector to cast images up on the backdrop to add context to the scenes.Mesa will be staged in the Black Box theatre in the Cultural Centre on March 23-25 at 7:30 p.m., and March 25-26 with 2 p.m. matinees. Tea and cookies will be served at the matinees.Tickets are $15 plus GST and available at The Esplanade box office, online at www.tixx.ca or by phoning 502-8777. Tickets for opening night are already sold out.
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