The tag-line for White Rock-based Peninsula Productions, since it was founded in 2010, has been "extraordinary performances." The not-for-profit company's record for providing quality theatre has been upheld recently by such outstanding productions as this summer's and earlier, the dramas and and the held-over curling comedy hit , directed by seasoned stage and screen actor Robert Moloney. Now Moloney, in his new role as artistic director of Peninsula Productions, has taken a pragmatic approach to choosing a new 2024-2025 season that promises to maintain, and possibly improve on, an already high standard.
His formula for the season of staged readings at the company's intimate black-box theatre in Centennial Park (adjacent to the Peace Arch Curling Club) has been to select plays that are both challenging and relatable, he told . "These are plays that challenge us to take a look at ourselves and think about our lives," said Moloney, who is also co-founder of the thriving White Rock Actors Studio school with his wife, actor Julie Lynn Mortensen. "They're plays I know that will work – I wanted to start with things I'm confident with, either that I've seen or that I've performed in myself," he said.
Also providing a venue for intimate musical performances, Peninsula will be presenting the already sold-out series of concerts with post-modern classical trio Crimson Crescendo (which debuts on Sept 29) and another sure winner – (Dec. 14, 2 p.m.
and 7 p.m.) featuring award-winning Elvis tribute artist Ben Klein.
"He's one of the world's best Elvis tribute artists, and he's going to be doing a show of all of Elvis' favourite Christmas songs and gospel songs – and the black-box space is going to be fully decorated, as usual, with our concerts," enthused Moloney. The staged reading series gets off to a strong start Oct. 3 and 4 at 7 p.
m. and Oct. 5 and 6 at 2 p.
m. with Francois Archambault's . It's a a savagely satirical critique of present social norms in which protagonists Peter and Mary work long hours, investing money for a retirement they'll likely never enjoy, and squandering the rest of their income on material things that bring them no joy.
They want to break out of the pattern by taking more time for themselves to grow and develop, to bring a child into the world and deepen the bonds with their friends – but will society let them? "I did it at Ruby Slippers Theatre – it's a brutally funny, sharp piece about modern life and how it can be unfulfilling," said Moloney. "It's about how status and things and money don't fill the spiritual hole in our lives – something that's become all the worse with the rise of social media, where people are posting the most perfect images of their lives, but not posting when they have a cold or have had a fight with their wife." In November (dates still to be determined), Peninsula will present Kevin Kerr's .
It's in keeping with the company's Remembrance tradition of presenting a war-themed play, but with a difference. deals with Canadian veterans returning from the First World War, but also another kind of war – the struggle against a world-wide pandemic, in this case the Spanish Flu, which ultimately resulted in more deaths than the blood shed on the battlefields of 1914-18. "It won the Governor General's Award for drama, and I was lucky enough to be in the premiere production of that by Touchstone Theatre at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre," Moloney said.
"It's a very timely play, what with our recent experience with COVID-19 – and it's beautifully written, funny, heartbreaking and touching at the same time." by famed playwright John Patrick Shanley (set for February), tells the story of the romance of Anthony and Rosemary, neighbours in rural Ireland nearing middle age. Rosemary has set her sights on Anthony, an introverted farmer, and determines that he will be her love, no matter what the cost.
"I'm really excited about that play," Moloney said. "There are few writers better than Shanley, and we have a great group already assembled to do it." And in by Canadian playwright Daniel McIvor (scheduled for May), three sisters in their 30s return home to Cape Breton to be with their mother, who is nearing the end of her life.
"It's a beautiful play in which you find out the history of the family through the conversations between them, and despite the conflicts you see how they reconcile the differences between them." Waiting in the wings is a show that Moloney hopes to present in the summer of 2025 in a full-staged version, the comedy by Keith Stevenson (arrangements are still being finalized at press time). It's a quirky piece set in a run-down motel in West Virginia, where Mitchell, a man down on his luck, becomes embroiled in a situation with a mysterious, but affable, hillbilly named J.
D. – and his memorable neighbours, the combative Flip, meth addict Marlene and her volatile boyfriend Tommy. "It's a hilarious, long one-act play – I acted in it in a production in the West End, in London," Moloney said.
"A great flat-out comedy that's going to leave people feeling elated – and that they shouldn't take their lives too seriously." For more details of the season, and tickets to all Peninsula Productions presentations, visit the website at.
