A Swash-buckling start
to the Nanaimo Theatre Group’s
Season
The year is 1625 and 18 year old D’Artagnan de Beaugency is
leaving home, his head filled with thoughts of honour and glory, with hopes of
becoming a musketeer. Based on the classic novel by Alexandre Dumas and adapted
for the stage by Tony and Olivier award winning playwright Ken Ludwig, The
Three Musketeers is the Nanaimo Theatre Group’s season opener. Ludwig
describes the 750 page novel as “like reading the best and longest comic book in
the world” and his adaptation for the theatre has retained this sense of playful
good fun. Although the script is fast paced and very funny the underlying themes
of the play couldn’t be more serious - life, death, love, hatred, honour and
betrayal.
Needless to say the play is significantly shorter than the
novel but Ludwig has managed to capture the essence of the story and the spirit
of the writing. All of the well-known characters such as D’Artagnan, Athos,
Porthos, Aramis, Milady and Cardinal Richelieu play a central role in the stage
production but Ludwig also added a new character, D’Artagnan’s sister
Sabine.
One of the main challenges of mounting a production of this
nature is the vast amount of physical theatre demanded by the script. Besides
the obvious need sword play there is kicking, biting, stabbing, punching and all
other manners of stage combat. The actors and directors have been working
diligently with fight coordinator Chris Buechler since early July to bring all
of this action to life.
The Nanaimo production is co-directed by Shannon Reimer and
David Bigelow, produced by Sheila Coultish and stars James Dean, Scott Britney,
Jimmy Kwas, Daniel Kingshott, Sheridan Collyer-Valens, Derek Carter and Sarah
Thomson. Audience members can expect a lively and entertaining production that
will make them laugh out loud and possibly shed a tear. While adults can fully
expect to enjoy this show, it also offers a great opportunity to introduce
teenagers to the magic of theatre.
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