With opening night less than a week away, the acting talent behind the upcoming Princess Bride production is gearing up to pull off the inconceivable!
After months of rehearsals, scripts are gone, facial expressions are fixed, swords are up and kinks are being worked out.
Im getting pretty excited, said Maclean Falkins, who plays Inigo Montoya. Weve put a lot of work into it. The costumes, I know, are going to be great and its awesome to be involved in something Ive loved since I was young I would watch the movie forever.
Its such statements that remind the main characters that peoples infatuation with the movie will likely create some lofty expectations.
The biggest challenge is doing the parts honour in this environment where everybody knows those characters, especially the guys and girls that have seen the film many, many times, said Randy Marohn, who plays Vizzini and Miracle Max.
They are expecting Vizzini to be Vizzini and they are expecting Max to be Max, so Im trying to stay as close as I can to Wallace Shawns portrayal of Vizzini and Billy Crystals portrayal of Max.
For Marohn, that means understanding the role that each character plays and how theyre different.
Im trying to tap into my inner child and just pretend, he said. Its all about just pretending who I am and playing that part.
Every actor has different methods to her or his madness, and various techniques aimed at becoming the characters he or she plays.
Darcy Kirkpatrick, who plays Westley the first crush of every girl born in the 80s said he reads the script over and over again. In fact, hes read The Princess Bride script about 80 times.
What I do is I read the script over and over and over and over and over again, he said.
I try doing the lines a number of different ways I do it jumping up and down, I do it playing with a balloon, I do it walking around in the living room.
But it doesnt end there. Kirkpatrick says he continuously tries out silly things that wont usually work.
But then one thing will work and sound pretty good, he said. So its worthwhile and this way I develop a character by picking out the parts that feel right when Im being silly.
The comical nature of the play is in line with Kirkpatricks silly tactics and hes hoping the audience will get on board with the comical atmosphere right away.
I love doing theatre when the audience is right there and you can feel their energy it really helps to get your emotions going, he said.
Especially with comedy, if you get response right away and you know the audience is into it, you tend to vamp it up a bit.
For Kirkpatrick, whos been involved with two other Between Shifts productions, a good response from the audience is what its all about.
When you feel that instant feedback and theyre laughing and theyre following you and you can feel that their eyes are on you and the energys there theres nothing like that, thats just the best feeling in the world.
Squamish native Megan Fletcher drives in from Vancouver twice a week to be part of the play and was thrilled when director Carla Fuhre approached her about playing the role of Buttercup.
I was so excited, said Fletcher. Its one of my favourite movies and Ive never heard of it being adapted for stage before.
While most of the roles are somewhat comical, Buttercup is one character who isnt kidding around.
I will never love again and I will never doubt again are only two of her more resounding lines that are guaranteed to make the audience smile, but Buttercup must remain strong and resolved.
Buttercup is a really strong character so I feel like thats something I play up, said Fletcher. Shes one of the only female characters in the whole cast, so I think its important to give her a strong presence so she doesnt just fade into the background.
She admits, though, that sometimes its hard to keep a straight face.
Even though I know some of her lines are funny, in her mind shes serious, she said.
Whereas everybody elses lines are just hilarious and theyre just cracking me up all the time, so I have to try so hard to maintain that serious front its been a challenge but a fun challenge and hard, for sure.
The production runs March 10 to 12 and 17 to 19 at the Brackendale Art Gallery (BAG), with all performances beginning at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available at the BAG, the Adventure Centre, Republic Bikes and Billies Bouquet.
This is one of the biggest productions Ive been a part of as far as the costuming and the people involved and the sword fighting, Kirkpatrick said.
Its just the whole vibe everyone in town is talking about it and theyve heard about it and theyre excited about seeing it.
