Director is Dead Serious

Ashley Plomp is directing her first play, and it is a bloody tough job.  

The play is New Vintage Theatre’s upcoming production, Dead Serious, by Vancouver playwright Doug Greenall, and it is rife with all sorts of character complications, intricate fight scenes and blood. Lots and lots of blood. But that’s what Ashley gets for directing one of the most fantastic and frightening murder mysteries ever written.

She’s up for it.

“It’s exciting, because I get to play all of the parts in my mind, like a puzzle, instead of just one.”

First produced at Vancouver’s Arts Club in 1989, Doug Greenall’s Dead Serious is a classic, a murder mystery set at a family-run lakeside resort, The Blackfly Lodge. The main characters are an unusual brother (played by actor Adam Weaver) and sister (Bailey Strand) who continue to play a secret childhood game they call ‘The Game’ into their teenage years, something only they know about.

After ‘The Game’ takes a serious turn one night, the sister, Tracey, stops playing. She grows more remote, deciding it is time for her to seek out the friendship of others and avoid her family. Her brother, Seymour, feels hurt, and retreats into his own world, but now and then tries to lure her back into the excitement they had felt as kids.

Where is their mother while all this is going on? Eve (played by Leah McMullen) has problems of her own as she struggles to beat a prescription drug addiction with the help of a handsome and hypnotic spiritualist named Ted (Doug Brown). Ted not only helps Eve with her addiction, he becomes her lover, and, much to the kids’ protestations, decides to move in. 

This is not a happy family unit, it is one full of dark secrets and lies. 

There will be murder. 

Add into the mix Grant (Peter MacLeod) and Ralph (James Szabo), two hunky, but shady summer staffers who both have a crush on Tracey, and you have the makings of a seriously thrilling thriller.

Vernon native Director Ashley Plomp is already known to Okanagan audiences for acting. She has worked steadily as an actress since graduating from Grant MacEwan’s Theatre Arts program. She has been in everything from Oleanna to The Graduate, and is a regular fixture in local television ads. She is charming, captivating, and lovely inside and out. As she is not your stereotypical ‘Wes Craven’ (a crafter of thrills and chills), I asked her why she chose this particular play to direct.

“I chose Dead Serious because after having a hand in the casting of it through the New Vintage Free Play Reading Series and reading the stage directions myself, I felt the thrill of this mysterious play. I accepted the opportunity because I knew it would be a challenge, which is exciting, but also because I find a good mystery or thriller story performed on stage to be a beast of its own.”

As New Vintage Theatre Artistic Director, my job is to pick our shows and assign directors to be part of our season. I first saw Dead Serious in Calgary in the 90s, and remember the ‘edge of my seat’ feeling. I was curious to know what Ashley Plomp thinks will be the appeal of this play to local audiences.

“It’s a great play to get you into the Halloween spirit. It’s thrilling, creepy, and hopefully will leave you a little less trusting of people. I’ve really enjoyed my experience directing this show, but am extremely fortunate to have an amazingly talented cast and crew, and the constant support of New Vintage Theatre.”

For my part, I have stayed away from rehearsals and have been working on the production from afar. This gives my new directors the freedom to explore and do their own thing without the interference of someone seasoned and bossy who just can’t help but offer a suggestion or two. Guilty!

But my absenteeism is also by design. It has been almost 25 years since I first saw this play, and I can’t wait for the thrill of being on the edge of my seat once more. If you love a fantastic murder mystery, horror, or thriller, you really should join me.  

It’s going to be good, very scary, fun. 

I’m serious.

Dead Serious

October 23 & 24 @ 7 p.m.

October 29 & 30 @ 7 p.m.

October 27 @ 1 p.m. Scary High School Matinee / Warning: language, violence.

Tickets are $25, or $80 for groups of four. Call Creekside Theatre 250.766.5669.   

For more information, check out www.newvintage.ca

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.