News and event information for Williams Lake, BC - as it happens.

By LeRae Haynes

‘The Clumsy Custard Horror Show and Ice Cream Clone Review’ opens tomorrow night: a light-hearted comedic fantasy by the Williams Lake Studio Theatre that includes things like Dacron, Poly and Ester, a 400-lb meatloaf, adorable pink-garbed royal guards, a banana bag, a swashbuckling knight in Puss-in-Boots footwear, an evil-but-handsome royal advisor, cue cards for missing romantic memories and valiant arachnophobia.

(Sharon Hoffman, Kalysta Szauer and Becky Strickland are three of the talented stage performers in the ‘Custard’ production.)   

Sandy Alaric is a long-time director who has been involved with theatre for 40 years and directing for 30. She said that this is a ‘re-introduction’ to directing for her and that she picked this play to pitch to the selection committee because she felt that its rollicking hilarity that appeals to all ages is something that people need right now.   

“One of the things that ‘sold’ it is that it’s so much fun---it has no deep social or political message,” she said. “People can come out and laugh and enjoy and go home feeling good.”

She said that ‘The Clumsy Custard Horror Show and Ice Cream Clone Review’ is like ‘Shrek’--a comic fantasy that delights and entertains kids, with an undercurrent of humor that adults find irresistible. She said there’s something for everyone.

This play will surprise you from the very first moment: it doesn’t start gently and build from there. It starts with a ‘bang’ that incorporates a missing person with a slight tweak of sarcasm. The action of this play extends beyond the edge of the stage and innocent bystanders will not remain complacent for long.   

The warm and effervescent ‘narrator’ swirls on to the stage, with leaves in her hair and hula-style story-telling hands, following by a three-horned wild creature with a British accent, a droll, flute playing usher, a princess teen fraught with frustration, a quick temper and a stunning singing voice.

Brace yourself for the two evil goof-ball, spell-casting, fractious, opportunist, groveling wangdoodle clones whose cringing and ‘whinging’ provide a ‘cherry-on-top’ layer of hilarity to the play.

You’ll find a king embracing his vapidity, a pretty blonde head in a box who sings like an angel, a scorpion casserole and grasshoppers and square dancing and undergarments in the same sentence.

There is also a high-octane, unforgettable conversation between a reluctant scullery maid and an itinerant raisin washer.

The play opens Wednesday, February 22 at 8pm, and will run Wednesdays through Saturdays this week and next. Tickets are available at About Face Photography.

| More...