The Drowning Girls, from left, Stephanie Lokinger, Adreanna Boucher, and Cara Stelmaschuk, emerge from their bathtubs (Submitted photo/Spark Theatre)

By Glenn Hicks

back under the lights

Live theatre returns to EA Rawlinson with The Drowning Girls

Mar 24, 2021 | 12:00 PM

Spark Theatre community drama group in Prince Albert is set to go on stage this week for only the second time during this pandemic.

Things will be markedly different at the EA Rawlinson Centre: the trio of actors will wear face shields and there can be only 30 people in the audience because of COVID-19 regulations, although there will be livestream options. But just getting back on stage is a huge step for the performers and crew.

“Oh, it’s so good for all of us as far as our mental health is concerned,” Spark Theatre’s Cara Stelmaschuk told paNOW leading up to opening night. “We’ve all been dying to see a play, help out on a play. Having that is like having sunshine for us theatre dorks.”

The last time the group was in action was for their Spark Ignition 24-hour competition in October.

Starting Thursday night, Stelmaschuk joins fellow actors Stephanie Lokinger and Adreanna Boucher for the play The Drowning Girls by Beth Graham, Daniela Vlaskalic and Charlie Tomlinson. The three characters have two things in common: they are married to George Joseph Smith, and they are dead. Surfacing from the bathtubs they were drowned in, the three breathless brides gather evidence against their womanizing, murderous husband by reliving the shocking events leading up to their deaths.

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During final rehearsals this week, Stelmaschuk said while they have recently received special see-through face shields from Ted Matheson Men’s Wear, they had previously been wearing cloth masks. That forced them to be more accentuated with their body language.

“We got into the habit of over-emphasizing with our eyes and making sure the person talking was the person moving on stage, so everyone knew who was doing the talking. But now we’ve moved to the clear masks it has completely changed the show,” she explained.

She admits the trio laughed when the sort of faces they had been pulling under the cloth masks were revealed under the new clear face shields, especially during the play’s lighter moments.

“But it helps with that emphasis because we don’t just play the one character. We all take turns playing the husband for example… so we make sure our physicality is really different for each character.”

Stelmaschuk expects all four shows to be sold out for live audiences but two of them are also being offered as livestreams, on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m.

Booking options can be found here.

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glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @princealbertnow