The Sidekick Players Club will begin a three-week run of Norm Foster’s Jenny’s House of Joy next week at the Tsawwassen Arts Centre.
Directed by Carroll Lefebvre and starring Sidekick favourites Lisa Gach (Natalie), Emile Greene (Jenny), Carol Jones (Clara), Kathryn Stewart (Frances) and Marcia Strang (Anita), it’s the second production of the theatre group’s 18th season.
Jenny’s House of Joy is the story of four women – Jenny, Francis, Anita and Natalie – who work in a brothel in Baxter Springs, Kansas in the late 1800s. It is a serious play with the Foster comic bent.
When the lights finally fade on this ingratiating little comedy, you’ll feel like you really know the feisty broads who bawl, brawl and genuinely break your heart.
Those who complain his comedies are too male-centered are in for a shock here. Although the audience will get to know Earl and Cecil and the other good old boys who visit Jenny Starbuck’s Baxter Springs brothel, it’s strictly through the eyes of the spirited women who walk them up that flight of stairs to three-buck heaven.
So when smart-mouthed old Frances, genteel little Anita and butter-wouldn’t-melt-in-her-mouth Natalie let fly with the caustic remarks about the fly-by-night bedmates who keep them up nights, the audience certainly take notice.
Along the way we learn a lot about these hard-workin’ gals and the way they bond between stints in Jenny’s upstairs rooms.
Jenny’s House of Joy opens Thursday, Jan. 22 and runs until Saturday, Feb. 7. There will be 8 p.m. performances on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays as well as 2 p.m. matinees on Sunday, Jan. 25 and Sunday, Feb. 1.
As seating is limited, early reservations are advised by calling 604-288-2415. Tickets are $18 for adults and $15 for seniors (60+). The play is not suitable for anyone under 16.
The box office only accepts cash or cheques.
