Old Love

by Norm Foster
directed by Jen Jensen

Run Dates: February 2 to February 10, 2018

Cast and Characters

Back Row (L-R)

Jeff Smith plays ARTHUR, Bud's former boss and Molly's recently deceased husband, as well as and ARTHUR JR, their grown son.
Tracey Henderson is back with SOAP, playing KITTY, Young Bud's wife.
Patrick Turner returns to the stage after a 4-year hiatus to play YOUNG BUD, a younger, flashback version of the Older Bud.
Clem Jones has been helping SOAP behind the scenes and appears on the SOAP stage for his first time as OLDER BUD, a retired salesman.

Front Row (L-R)

Sarah Wilkie is making her first SOAP Theatre appearance as YOUNG MOLLY, a younger flashback version of Older Mollie and wife of Arthur.
Chelsea Cameron-Horner will appear as KENDRA, Arthur Jr's wife.
Lyn Kaulback is also appearing for the first time with SOAP, playing OLDER MOLLIE, recently widowed wife of Arthur.

Norm Foster

(born February 14, 1949) Norm Foster is considered to be Canada's most produced playwright. Foster discovered his talents as a playwright in Fredericton, New Brunswick, while he was working as host of a popular morning radio show. He accompanied a friend to an audition, and landed his first acting job, as Elwood P. Dowd in Harvey, without ever having even seeing a play. Intrigued with the theatre, he set his pen to paper and wrote his first play titled Sinners.

In 1983 and 1984 Theatre New Brunswick mounted the first professional productions of Sinners and Foster’s next play The Melville Boys. In the years following, TNB introduced My Darling Judith (1987), The Affections of May (1990), The Motor Trade (1991), Wrong for Each Other (1992), and Office Hours (1996).

Foster has had more than fifty plays produced on professional stages. Other well-known plays include The Love List, The Long Weekend; Bedtime Stories; Kiss the Moon, Kiss the Sun; Storm Warning; Skin Flick; Outlaw; Hilda's Yard; On A First Name Basis; Old Love; Mending Fences and Here on the Flight Path.

Frequently compared to American playwright Neil Simon, Foster pens plays that are known for their humour, accessibility, and insight into the everyday tribulations of life. Foster's work is frequently produced by theatre groups across North America, and as far away from his home in Canada as Canberra, Australia.

In December or 2016, Mr. Foster was named an Officer in The Order of Canada.

Behind the Scenes

Producer ------------------------------------------------------------ Nathan Linders
Director -------------------------------------------------------------------- Jen Jensen
Stage Manager -------------------------------------------------- Jackie Brockholm
Set Construction------------------------------------------------ Roger Richardson
Props and Stage Hand ------------------------------------------- Connie Mythen
Costume Design ---------------------------------------------- Bernice Myllyniemi
Dresser ------------------------------------------------------------- Linda Nunweiller
Hair & Make-up------------------------------------------------------- Lisa Gludovatz
Set Dressing--------------------------------------- Andrea Gunnlaughson Furlan
Prompter ------------------------------------------------------------- Denny Kaulback
Lighting Design & Operator ------------------------------------ Diane Gludovatz
Sound Design ----------------------------------------------------- Jackie Brockholm
Sound Operator ---------------------------------------------------------- Chris Wilkie
Marketing and Media -------------------------------------------------- Aimee Grice
Concession ----------------------------------Sandy Gregson and Louise Szalay

Synopsis

Norm Foster's Old Love is a story of courtship, rekindled romance and the indomitability of hope. Bud’s first monologue, sets the story:

BUD:

"This is the story of my pursuit of a good woman. And I don’t mean just any good woman, because I know there are millions of good women out there. I’m sure there are some here right now. But, I have a particular woman in mind. Her name is Molly.

"I first met Molly twenty-five years ago. We met only three times, very briefly, over the course of the next three years. We were both married back then. Me to my wife Kitty, and Molly to Arthur Graham, the owner of the company I worked for. Eventually Arthur Graham sold the company and I didn’t see Molly again, but, she would always come back to me. Sometimes in a dream. Sometimes while I was just sitting at home going over the monthly bills. Or sometimes when I was driving over a long distance. Her face would suddenly pop into my mind at these times and I would wonder how she was doing."

This charming two-act may feature a fairly straightforward plot line but the production can be a pure gem.

So what’s it about? It’s a romantic comedy, with touches of personal drama, spanning three decades, over which time a smitten Bud Mitchell meets (on several occasions) and falls hopelessly in love with his boss’s wife Molly Graham. The tone of those meetings is comic, with the setting usually an after-hours business social event.

Other than the socially awkward employee’s well-hidden infatuation with the always inebriated object of his desire, the action amounts to little more than a few shared words, all of which are promptly forgotten and lost by the outwardly and inwardly bored Molly in a haze of alcoholic indifference. Each subsequent time their paths meet, she has no idea of who he is and the fact they already know each other.