David Robertson is bringing a two-act multimedia comedy production to Ladner’s Genesis Theatre later this month.
Remote Control, billed as a spoof on TV broadcasting, will feature live actors onstage as well as another 13 actors who appear in DVD segments on large screens, Robertson explains.
The premise of the play pits “six resolute and technically savvy souls” at Peppercorn Community Television up against Lancaster Broadcasting, a large New York company that is expanding its empire into Canada.
The Peppercorn crew learns Lancaster has designs on shutting down its recently acquired local community television stations and “vow to hoax, spoof and lambaste their new head office in whatever way they can.”
That involves creating fake news stories, including one about a flying bathtub race and another involving a lost cosmonaut.
The Peppercorn team also eventually add an artificial intelligence called Darwin into the mix.
“After a while you begin to wonder, well, who’s spoofing who about what,” says Robertson, a North Delta resident, “and where is this going?”
The entire play is set in the interior of the Peppercorn Community Television station, he notes.
Robertson says the idea for the story came about while producing a real community television production for Delta Cable in the 1990s.
Remote Control runs from Jan. 24 to Feb. 4 at Genesis Theatre, 5005-45th Ave., Ladner. Regular ticket prices are $29, $39 and $49. Visit remotecontroltheplay.com for show times, tickets and discount information.
The production will also be staged around the Lower Mainland with dates scheduled at four other theatres.
