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LFT covers The Birds and the Bees

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Have you ever made big plans only to have them go awry?

You're not alone.

The same thing has happened to each character in the Lighthouse Festival Theatre's 2018 season-opening comedy, The Birds and the Bees.

Written by Mark Crawford and directed by Matthew Gorman, the show follows Sarah, a turkey farmer who recently left her husband and has moved back home to live with her mother Gail.

Gail is a beekeeper who can't figure out why her bees are dropping dead.

The audience is also introduced to Earl, Gail's neighbour/farm tenant (and ladies man), as well as Ben, an athletic master's student, who is studying bee colonies and is about to get a life lesson in pollination.

“For me, it's sort of a play about making the best of situations you hadn't planned for – I have a whole monologue about it,” said Jeff Dingle, who plays Ben. “Outside of the comedy and it being a fun show ... I think all four characters find themselves in a situation where it's like 'this is not how life was supposed to go' but without giving things away, they learn to work with what life has given them.”

Karen Wood, who plays Gail, said Crawford does a nice job presenting issues to the audience without taking sides.

“He just leaves us thinking that we'll get through - there's no definitive answer and we just have to keep going in the best way we know how and there's hope for the future,” Wood explained.

“At my age, that's what I've gleaned from life now – there's no reason to give up and that's what he's saying.”

Longtime Lighthouse fans will recall Wood, a resident of Niagara-on-the-Lake, who starred as Ida in 'Summer Garden' 25 years ago. Summer Garden was based on the former Summer Garden Dance Hall with characters formulated around Port Dover's various residents.

“That was just a magical summer for me,” she said. “I was young and really just had the greatest time. It was just so neat to do that show and meet people from the town and have them come up and tell you their stories. We had a terrific cast of people, we all – men and women - shared one dressing room and we were just like a family.”

The Birds and the Bees also stars Lighthouse newcomer William Vickers as Earl and Lisa Norton playing Sarah. Norton was part of the LFT's presentation of 'Stag and Doe' in 2015.

Each character in the show, said Dingle, is easily identifiable.

“I see a lot of my mom in Gail, I see a lot of my sister in Sarah, I see a lot of my dad and my mom's boyfriend in Earl,” he explained. “I think it's such a great story with relatable characters that anyone can identify with.”

In fact, Dingle was able to see himself in Ben and auditioned specifically for the role.

“The last couple things I've done have been Shakespeare, which is great, but it was just so refreshing to find a character that could be me in another life – like if I hadn't gone down the arts path and gone into science and biology and become connected with that,” he said. It's refreshing to play something that's in your element.”

The Birds and the Bees runs from May 30 to June 16. Tickets are available at the box office (247 Main St. Port Dover), by calling 1-888-779-7703 or by logging onto lighthousetheatre.com..

jrobinson@postmedia.com

 

 

 

 

 

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