Malaspina’s Theatre’s opening production, SlugFest, promises to delight and disgust audience members.
The musical comedy is set in a dystopian Vancouver Island community where slug slime is discovered to be the miracle medicine. The protagonist, eco-warrior Samantha, is intent on saving the slugs from being harvested. She knows that slugs hold an important place in the coastal ecology, and she makes a compelling argument that threatens the deal the village has made with a large corporation. Disguised as an eco-celebrity, the President of the Corporation arrives in the village, determined to silence opposition and reap slug harvest profits.
Familiar stereotypes abound in this hysterical melodrama – hero and heroine, villain and sidekick, stalwart RCMP Officer – and audiences are encouraged to boo, hiss, and cheer as “big pharma” and “the greens” face-off with slapstick and rhetoric, gumboots and buckets.
The production offers a valuable learning experience for VIU theatre students in their partnership with Other Guys Theatre Company to allow the students to learn along-side members of BC’s professional actors, directors, and musicians.
Ross Desprez, a VIU theatre professor, wrote and directs the play, accompanied with music by Desprez and collaborator Tobin Stokes. SlugFest features choreography by Heather-Elayne Day, lighting by Gerald King, set by Dale Schulz and costumes by Crystal Hansen. The VIU band is rehearsed by Robyn Fortunat and conducted by Gregory Bush.
Performances will be at VIU’s Malaspina Theatre (building 310) through the end of October and into the beginning of November.
October 23: 7:30pm
October 24: 7:30pm
October 25: 7:30pm
October 26: 2:00pm, 7:30pm
October 30: 7:30pm
October 31: 7:30pm
November 1: 7:30pm
November 2: 7:30pm
Tickets are $12 for students, $15 for adults.
