By Mary Moffat
Cornerstone Theatre Group wove its magic again this past weekend, with two dinner theatres April 26 and 27, and a matinee April 28, to the delight of theatre-goers.聽
A delightful comedy, set in a lakefront home, featured the story of two couples, both hired to house sit for a month.聽 While the first couple to arrive, Ivy and Phillip Julian (Denise Singleton and David Slykhuis) are older, and a little staid.
The second couple, Sunshine and River (Bryanne Forcier and Monte McNaughton), are young, vegan, new age and very free spirited.聽 Throw in Nelson Bombay, a quirky man training to be a game show contestant (Fred Perry) and his somewhat flirty, sexually frustrated wife, Joy (Bertha Isleifson); three sisters doing a renovation at the lake house and a mysterious PJ and you never know quite what might happen!
While all of the cast were fantastic, Kyle Bye stole the show as the mysterious PJ, aka Parker John, who sauntered about throughout the play, unobserved by the house sitters.聽 Since his hosts were convinced the feeding schedule they had been given was for a cat, PJ regularly found a wonderful bowl of tuna salad hidden around the house.聽 While the two couples learned to live with each other, there were definitely some tension between them, particularly amongst the gentlemen. Throw in a contractor, Mitzi Cheshire (Debbie Sorensen) and Amos (Craig Saville), her ex-husband with 鈥渂enefits鈥�, a sister, Noelle Cheshire (Laurie Fornwald), who belongs to an order that vows chastity, and a third sister, Onie Cheshire (Wendy McNaughton), who is very simple-minded, and you have a laugh-filled evening of entertainment.聽
While the homeowner, Joanna Birman (Candy Bye) along with Amos, are only on stage for a brief time, they play their parts to perfection.聽 With laughter, some grief, and intrigue, the cast and crew wend their way to a happy ending.聽
I would be remiss if I didn鈥檛 mention the wonderful meal prepared by Shelley and David Slykhuis, who donated their time and services to make the entire evening a successful fundraiser for the Cornerstone Theatre Group. 聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽
If you have yet to attend a production, I hope I have whetted your appetite to the point that you will be first in line for tickets to the next production.
