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Many performers agreed that it’s the people that kept the Regina Little Theatre’s stage alive for 100 years.
The theatre recently passed its 100 year anniversary, with the crew of stage lovers first meeting on May 21, 1926.
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“It’s a place where I found a lot of the found family that I have over the last 20 years,” said Bryce Schlamp, a performer and director with the group.
Schlamp said he’s enjoyed all of his roles around the theatre, which have included sitting in the director’s chair, performing on the stage and manning the sound booth.
He said theatre has always been able to adapt to global events over the last century. Schlamp said he remembers hoisting a puppet over a Zoom video connectiong during one of the plays performed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Regina Little Theatre performs ‘Dungeon Crawl’ over Zoom during its 2019-2020 season. (Regina Little Theatre/ Submitted)
“When you’re isolating, you’re in your house. You’re kind of stuck,” he said. “It was nice to have that ability to connect.”
The Regina Little Theatre has provided plenty of opportunities for newer performers try out the stage over the years. Some of its entertainers, like Tatiana Maslany, John Vernon and Shirley Douglas, moved on to get their big breaks in Hollywood.
Dean Gurnsey, a newer member to the stage group, said the theatre bug bit him hard when he joined.
“My wife says I’ve made her a theatre widow, but she understands my need for this,” he said. “And it is a need. It’s not a want anymore. It’s a need.”
Dean Gurnsey stands in the prop storage room at the Regina Little Theatre’s practice stage. (Gillian Massie/ 980 CJME)
The theatre celebrated its 100 year anniversary with a play-writing competition, and the winning entry was performed at its 100th anniversary gala.
John Chaput, the theatre’s president, said the group was surprised and proud to see 32 entries.
The winning production was a comedy by Marion Young titled Stolen Holiday, about a woman who gets locked out of her house and goes on a journey meeting with different people to help her get back inside.
“It was just a very nice, touching human interaction story,” Chaput said.
The company also performed Augustin MacHugh’s Officer 666, a melodramatic farce which was the first play that ever hit the Regina Little Theatre stage, to help commemorate its 100th season.
The original cast of the Regina Little Theatre’s production of ‘Officer 666’ in 1927. (Regina Little Theatre/Submitted)
Chaput said he first began performing with the group in 1985. He said many entertainers have watched generations of their own families on the stage.
“It’s a wonderful, eclectic group of people of all sorts, and they’re all dedicated to putting on a good show and pleasing the audience,” he said.
The Regina Little Theatre relies purely relies on volunteers, which is something Chaput said he takes immense pride in.
Performers working in the Regina Little Theatre’s rehearsal space. (Gillian Massie/980 CJME)
“Everyone in it does it primarily because of a love of theatre,” he said. “But others are just here because they want to be involved in something that really matters and is worthwhile.”
Chaput said there’s a feeling of great satisfaction among Regina Little Theatre performers, knowing that productions have continued for a century.
“People who’ve done the work before us, whom we kept trying to build on, we’ve done right by them and proved worthy of the whole enterprise of everyone who’s been involved for the whole century,” he said.
