Upcoming WCT production The Fiancée promises mile-a-minute laughs

WCT play a barrel of laughs

The goal of the creative team behind Western Canada Theatre’s upcoming production is to have audiences leaving its whirlwind, mile-a-minute comedy in stitches.

Set during the end of the second world war, The Fiancée follows a woman named Lucy who has an inability to say no. Alongside her sister, she tries to juggle the same-day return of three different soldiers she’s engaged to.

Local acting product Jake Kopytko plays one of those men, Dick — a fitting name, according to Kopytko.

“Within the show he, I would say, is maybe the sort of stereotypical leading man kind of archetype,” he told Castanet.

“That way of life for him is challenged by the sisters and it’s very fun to play with, but he has a lovely arc of kind of being a Dick, because it's in the name, and he has a nice kind of reprieve by the end of it.”

Kopytko said it’s those character flaws that makes Holly Lewis’ script relatable for audiences. Lewis is WCT’s former artistic director.

“I think anyone coming to see it will relate to someone in a positive, and perhaps even a negative way, seeing what flaws resonate with them,” he said.

Director Cameron Grant said much of the humour of the show comes from the odd and chaotic situations the sisters find themselves in as they get swept up in their own lies, as well as the zany characters that agitate the circumstances.

While the comedy is snappy and fast-paced, Grant said it’s also good-spirited.

“The jokes are not only funny but they’re not made at the expense of people, especially their race or their genders or their sexualities,” he said.

“There are times where the characters actually use those attributes to empower themselves and to push the comedy even further, so it’s a comedy that you feel comfortable laughing at and along with.”

Both Kopytko and Grant said the play also has a heartwarming core.

“I think every time you watch a comedy, ideally all of that laughter opens us up to something else, right? It opens us up to empathy for the world,” he said.

The Fiancée will debut at the Sagebrush Theatre on Feb. 19 and will run until March 1.