Valentine’s Day dinner is served – and there’s a performance to go with it.
Backus Community Center will open its doors Feb. 13 for “Room to Act,” a dinner theater-type event hosted by the local theater group, the Borealis Bards.
“One of our members introduced us to a delightful collection of short love-themed scripts,” said Beth Lowthian, the group’s founder. “We found them intriguing and something we wanted to perform. A dinner theater seemed the perfect venue to offer them. And if the theme is love, then Valentine’s Day seemed perfectly fitting.”
The evening begins at 5:30 p.m. with a cash bar followed by dinner at 6 on the Backus stage. After the meal, there will be a total of three performances held in different rooms throughout the first floor of the handicapped-accessible community center. Half of the audience, Lowthian said, will move to one room, the other half to a second room.
“Each room will offer a collection of short plays that share a theme of love and relationship,” she said. “At the end of each collection, the audiences switch rooms.”
The Room to Act event concludes with participants returning to the stage for dessert and a final collection of dramatic readings and performances carrying on the theme of love.
“The evening offers a fun twist to a dinner theater due to the fact the audience travels to the performers rather than the other way around,” Lowthian said. “Attendees will enjoy seeing their friends and neighbors act in these light-hearted and funny skits.”
Laughter, Lowthian continued, is guaranteed. She said many of the pieces are by playwrite Christopher Durang, known for works of outrageous and often absurd comedy. In addition, many scripts were written by the performers.
“This is truly a community theater group,” she said. “All actors and backstage support are locals.”
Admission to the Feb. 13 performance and dinner is $30 and can be purchased in advance at the Backus office and City Drug until Feb. 11. Space is limited, Lowithian noted. Proceeds from the event will go toward supporting Backus Community Center programs.
