Anchor Struck

Big doin’s on the island last weekend.  Theatre Quadra gifted us with a jaunty presentation

of Little Shop of Horrors at the community centre.  Jude and I saw all three performances:

two as ticket takers, one as civilians.  Each one brimmed with energy.

I guess that’s unavoidable when you have a witty script with bouncy tunes, a terrific band,

an enthusiastic cast, and sharp production and direction.  Every one delivered, and that’s

good, because otherwise they would have been overshadowed by the biggest star of the

show, the redoubtable Audrey II.

That’s the malevolent plant from outer space that started out in a gallon pot and ended up

charging the delighted audience.  Its plan for conquering earth depended on fresh human

blood and flesh. Beyond that requirement, it wasn’t picky. It ate a sadistic dentist saturated

with nitrous oxide, a grizzled old curmudgeon, the delectable Audrey I, even its geeky

caretaker.

Here’s Audrey before it started causing trouble.

Here it is causing trouble.

And here it is after the shows with our friend and neighbour George, who provided its voice

and rocked some great songs.

George is usually a nattier dresser than that, but he was still in costume from playing a wino

early in the play.  One of his co-drunks was played by friend-of-the-blog Lois.

On her better days, Lois is one of the

Community Custodians of Heriot Bay

Inn, which is — as Lois termed it  —

the island’s living room.  Here’s the

original post, which describes the

wonderful time we had at the HBI

last Christmas.

It was immense fun being part of the action.  We arrived two hours before the start of the first

show Friday to help set up chairs.  The energy in the room was vibrant and kept building until

the curtain went up.  The audience was overflowing and ready for a good time.

They got it.  The cast was spot on in their performances.  Even the inevitable glitches and

goofs were fun.  Jude and I fared well as ticket takers, except for one jerk who threw down

a ferry schedule and disappeared into the crowd.

Our service earned us an invitation to the cast party, which I was really hoping for because

I’ve never been to one that wasn’t an absolute blast.  After we struck set and transported

Audrey II to storage (I hope it has solid security), we feasted on ham, dolma, pot stickers,

sauted morel mushrooms and much more.

Regrettably, we had to leave way too soon to put the chickens away. We took our leave from

our lovely and gracious host Gloria.  When she invited us at the show, she was sporting a

moustache and goatee, part of her costume as a manly construction worker.  I’m glad that

didn’t put us off.  Besides the table groaning from the weight of all that food, she had added

some touches that continued the humour of the play, such as:

One of the early incarnations of Audrey II was also there.

We were kidding George/Audrey II after one of the performances.  I asked him how he could

justify eating all those people.

He responded, “they taste just like chicken.”