Off-Broadway smash hit comes to local theatre

 

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Ask a woman about a personal triumph or tragedy in her life, and chances are she’ll remember the clothing she was wearing at the time. That’s the basic premise of SOAP’s next comedy, Love, Loss , and What I Wore by sisters Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron and based on the best-selling  picture-book memoir by Ilene Beckerman. The Ephron sisters are noted for their quick-witted rom com films, When Harry Met Sally, Julie and Julia, Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail.

But the play is not about  “fashion”, far from it.  It’s  about memory and relationships, about emotions and how old emotions can be relived through items of clothing  hanging in a woman’s closet. The result is a funny,  poignant, and ultimately uplifting collection of stories, all of them true.

Jen Jensen directs a cast of five women (Linda Lobb, Christine Rothwell, Penelope Johnson, Robin Stille , and Tracey Granger) who reminisce their way through a series of monologues, dialogues, and rapid fire vignettes. Assuming a variety of characters and voices, the women recall touchstone moments in a woman’s life, told through her clothing: a childhood dress, the embarrassment of  fitting a first bra,  a prom gown and the beau who went with it, the pain and sexiness of high heeled shoes, finding the right dress to marry the one you love, why women adore black, and the love-hate relationship with a purse.  Scenes vary from serious to sexy to just plain silly.

Tying the 28 scenes together is Gingy (Linda Lobb),  a straight-talking senior who uses tongue-in-cheek humour to retell her life story through her clothes. On the way, she inspires four other women to join in with anecdotes of their own, following a roughly chronological format from childhood, through loves and losses,  to career and motherhood, and on to the golden years.

The show is especially recommended as a hilarious evening out for moms and daughters, sisters, and women’s groups.

Hint for guys: Valentine’s Day is coming up and a pair of tickets to Love, Loss, and What I Wore could be just the “ticket” for your own romance! And if she wants to drag you along instead of her girlfriend, be flattered!

While the estrogen level may be high onstage, the show promises to be both an eye-opener and a source of amusement for men. What do women really do in the department store change-room?  What is she really thinking when standing in front of the closet for minutes on end? Why do women wear boots year-round? Why is what she wears  so important to her anyway? The show reveals many of women’s secret fears and private joys, using clothing as a metaphor for memory.   Women may laugh with the characters, while  men laugh at them, but laughter is guaranteed for both genders!

Love, Loss and What I Wore will be produced on consecutive weekends in March:

March 1  & 2 at Summerland Centre Stage
March 8 & 9 at the Osoyoos Minitheatre
March 15 & 16 at the Oliver Seniors Centre 
 

Tickets go on sale Monday January 28.   Adults $18 and  Seniors(65+) /Students $15. Visit Sundance Video (Oliver), Your Dollar Store with More (Osoyoos), Dragon’s Den (Penticton) or The Sweet Tooth (Summerland) to purchase yours.

For more information, contact SOAP @ telus.net or the producer at 250-498-3597.

Women invited to audition for SOAP’s “Love Loss and What I Wore”

The laughter has barely died down from SOAP’s comedy The Long Weekend, but the local theatre group is set for more comedy with their next production, Love Loss and What I Wore, by Nora and Delia Ephron,  based on the 1995 book of the same name by Ilene Beckerman.

The production will be staged in early to mid March 2012, and will be directed by Jen Jensen, assistant director for  The Long Weekend.

Nora Ephron is an Oscar-nominated screenplay writer best known for When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle, so this play mixes  laughs and heart-tugging tears.  Love Loss, and What I Wore is presented in “readers’ theatre” style with a cast of five women speaking directly to the audience as well as each other, in a series of monologues and dialogues. The cast discusses women’s relationships with their wardrobe at critical moments of a woman’s  life.

Clothing becomes a metaphor for women’s experiences:  wardrobe malfunctions, puberty’s relationship with personal wardrobe, first date outfits, lucky underwear, prom dresses, favorite boots, irreplaceable shirts, the detested, disorganized purse, and experiences in the dressing room. The recollections about the clothing prompt the women’s memories about their mothers, boyfriends, husbands, ex-husbands, sisters and grandchildren.

In 2009, the show was produced Off-Broadway. The production won the 2010 Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience as well as the 2010 Broadway.com Audience Award for Favorite New Off-Broadway Play. The show has been produced on six continents and more than eight countries.

SOAP’s auditions run Sunday November 18 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Osoyoos Art Gallery, 8713 Main Street, Osoyoos    and Monday November 19 from 7 – 9 p.m. at the Quail’s Nest Arts Centre, 5840 Airport Street, Oliver.  The audition is open to women of all ages – the cast represents women from young adulthood to senior years.  New actors are encouraged to try out.  Call 498-1954 or soap @ telus.net for more information.

Women invited to audition for SOAP's "Love Loss and What I Wore"

The laughter has barely died down from SOAP’s comedy The Long Weekend, but the local theatre group is set for more comedy with their next production, Love Loss and What I Wore, by Nora and Delia Ephron,  based on the 1995 book of the same name by Ilene Beckerman.

The production will be staged in early to mid March 2012, and will be directed by Jen Jensen, assistant director for  The Long Weekend.

Nora Ephron is an Oscar-nominated screenplay writer best known for When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle, so this play mixes  laughs and heart-tugging tears.  Love Loss, and What I Wore is presented in “readers’ theatre” style with a cast of five women speaking directly to the audience as well as each other, in a series of monologues and dialogues. The cast discusses women’s relationships with their wardrobe at critical moments of a woman’s  life.

Clothing becomes a metaphor for women’s experiences:  wardrobe malfunctions, puberty’s relationship with personal wardrobe, first date outfits, lucky underwear, prom dresses, favorite boots, irreplaceable shirts, the detested, disorganized purse, and experiences in the dressing room. The recollections about the clothing prompt the women’s memories about their mothers, boyfriends, husbands, ex-husbands, sisters and grandchildren.

In 2009, the show was produced Off-Broadway. The production won the 2010 Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience as well as the 2010 Broadway.com Audience Award for Favorite New Off-Broadway Play. The show has been produced on six continents and more than eight countries.

SOAP’s auditions run Sunday November 18 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Osoyoos Art Gallery, 8713 Main Street, Osoyoos    and Monday November 19 from 7 – 9 p.m. at the Quail’s Nest Arts Centre, 5840 Airport Street, Oliver.  The audition is open to women of all ages – the cast represents women from young adulthood to senior years.  New actors are encouraged to try out.  Call 498-1954 or soap @ telus.net for more information.