SUNDRE — Members of Peak Theatre Players are crossing their fingers for the chance to try Take 2 of a play they started rehearsing last fall.
The group initially planned to perform their production of Mom’s Gift around the holiday period, said president Jason Bird.
“We were going to do one this winter when we were allowed to be together,” Bird said during a phone interview.
But they were forced to hold off when the provincial government introduced measures to curb a rising tide of COVID-19 cases just before Christmastime.
“We were all pretty disappointed, because we were geared up, ready to go,” said Bird. “We’re going to try the same play, and hopefully do it this spring."
However, those plans essentially hinge entirely on whether indoor gathering restrictions are sufficiently relaxed, he said.
Under the public health measures outlined in the provincial government’s Steps 1 and 2 of the economic relaunch strategy, indoor gatherings are limited to 10 people.
While there had been some anticipation in recent weeks that the government might announce Step 3, which would include easements for auditoria, a recent daily increase in case counts prompted the province to delay the move.
So, although Bird said the theatre group hopes to host a Mother’s Day performance in early May, that will depend on whether public health protocols allow.
Under the current rules, they would only be able to rehearse with a maximum of 10 people while donning masks and maintaining physical distancing. That might be suitable for table reads, he said, but for dress rehearsals and of course actual performances, it “just doesn’t work for us.”
When the pandemic was first declared more than a year ago, the group was also forced to cancel its production of a play called Be Here Now.
“We just had auditions for it and had one rehearsal, and then that was it. We had to shut ’er down," he said.
That’s pretty well why the group is holding off for now until they have a better idea of what’s happening with regards to the restrictions, he said.
While Bird has some backup dates in June that the show could be scheduled for, he said “that’s pretty much the cutoff.”
Asked whether pursuing a virtual performance was a possibility, he said the group had over the holidays done an online production of A Christmas Carol directed by Brian Bailey.
That show went off with a measure of success, but it wasn’t without its own limitations, he said.
“There’s nothing like a live audience, you know. That’s what you feed off of, and that’s what kind of makes it — that’s what gets the energy going. It came off really well,” he said about the Christmas production. “But a live audience is just where it’s at.”
