Like usual, Cow Patti Theatre heads straight down the road towards a playful, heartfelt comedy. Where they lead, surely the audience will follow and nothing is short of that trail with their latest production, The Ladies Foursome, continuing on its run until March 29th.
The Ladies Foursome, written by playwright Norm Foster, is staged at The Lacombe Golf and Country Club. Dinner is at 6:45 p.m. The show begins at 8:15 p.m. There are also brunch shows on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.
As the second show of the season and my first viewing of a Cow Patti dinner theatre production, I was encouraged by the accessible content, which came through shiningly under the direction of guest and veteran director Jesse Collins.
The story is a full-filled triumph of four ladies golfing, from tee-off to the 18th hole.
Essentially, three females who previously play a round of golf once a week for the past 14 years, play a round the day after the funeral of one of their regular golf partners.
The trio is joined by a fourth woman, another old friend of their deceased friend who they don’t know much about, but she knows many secrets of the ladies.
No topic was truly off limits for the ladies as they took on the challenging course and each other. There were some surprises and confessions that came to the surface, which truly tested of bonds of their friendships.
As the ladies continue through the course, they learned more than enough about each other and along the journey, themselves.
AnnaMarie Lea plays the part of Margot, Michelle Leblanc as Tate, Debra Hale as Connie and Allison Lawrence stars as Dory.
To start, the acting from the four cast members is no less than powerful. Lea is excellent as the crude, hard as nails businesswoman, who avoids showing vulnerability or her true colours at all costs. It was interesting to watch her evolve throughout the play, eventually showing her nuances and empathy for the other women and revealing her weakness - that perhaps she isn’t as successful in every aspect of her life as she thought.
As Tate, LeBlanc also appears quite strong. Tate is ultimately a push over and comes off as a bored housewife who has delusions about what her life is and where it should be heading. She is the most likeable and transparent of the foursome.
Meanwhile, Hale plays Connie to the ‘T’ as a jaded man chaser. She likes to be challenged and similar to Margot, she eventually shows she has, like all other human beings, some weaknesses.
Then there is the fourth wheel, the enigmatic Dory who the other three women have never met before and do not know much about. For the most part, she appeared to always have ulterior motive up her sleeve, other than developing a friendship with the other three women. In the end we learned, all she wanted was to be accepted by the trio.
Where the heart of The Ladies Foursome lies is in relationships.
The plays showcases the true impact of friendships. How through thick and thin, our friends will be there for us no matter what. Whether we hid a secret from them, want to change careers, start a new relationship or venture off into new territory, they are there by our side for all of the decisions and indecision.
For those who expect a light-hearted comedy with some meat on its bones, this is exactly the story for you.
For those looking for something uniquely conceived from the female perspective, The Ladies Foursome may not measure up.
Foster is a master of accessible comedy, but writes from a male perspective, which from the cast, comes off as crass or too straight forward. Women are a lot more secretive and underhanded at their jabs then the in-your-face humour presented in The Ladies Foursome.
For Collins and his team, including stage manager Asha Sanders, it’s obvious a lot of hard work has been funnelled into every aspect of the production, with a true commitment to authenticity and sharing in the human condition.
For more information about The Ladies Foursome or Cow Patti Theatre visit www.cowpatti.com. For tickets contact the box office at 403-782-3956 or 403-304-6329.