Radio Suspense Theatre, with County twist and shenanigans, hits the stage this month

A comical and touching tribute to the golden era of radio comes to life County-style this month.

The curtain will rise for actors from the Prince Edward Community Theatre (PECT) and A Theatre Club (ATC) for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic.

ACT was formed by Philip Knox during the pandemic in a bid to continue entertaining people who were at home by recording radio plays to be broadcast on 99.3 County FM.

Last winter, hopeful the pandemic was nearing a manageable level, Knox approached PECT with the proposal to join forces with ATC with the play Radio Suspense Theatre, written by Steve Cleberg.

When ATC recorded the Radio Suspense mysteries last year, Knox imagined them full-length and live on stage and worked with Cleberg on a new version – which not only added several scenes of backstage shenanigans, but wove the actors’ back stories through the action of the radio plays.

Along the way, the script became “the County version” as locales and characters became Picton and PEC-based.

While the performance celebrates a return to stage following two years of the pandemic, In March 2020, Cheryl Singer, president of PECT says it also celebrates another time.

“Theatre lights around the world went dark. More than two years later, the lights are slowly coming back up and we couldn’t be happier. We are also taking you back to another time of celebration. It’s 1945, war is over and again, it is time to celebrate. Sit back and watch the magic of radio theatre take place right on stage. Listen and watch the shenanigans unfold with music, drama and comedy too.”

The PECT is a non-profit group founded in June of 2008, dedicated to providing live community theatre in Prince Edward County. Its volunteers are from the community and have a mutual love and passion for the arts.

The ensemble will welcome the return of Skippy Sawyer as a war hero. A romance between Skippy and Judy, the new girl, begins to develop. In the meantime, a strange woman in a cowboy hat and a raincoat is looking for the GM, Allen Burns. He goes missing and then the company has a mystery of its own as they present two new mystery thrillers.

Murder in Focus tells the story of a young newlywed who is caught up in a bizarre set of circumstances when she is confronted by her old boyfriend and the news that the infamous “Camera Casanova” has escaped from prison. Are the similarities between the escaped criminal and her new husband too close for comfort?

The second mystery thriller of the evening follows a famous actor who abandons his Regent Theatre role as a serial killer in The Picton Strangler to assume the role for real.

Prince Edward Community Theatre and A Theatre Club present Radio Suspense Theatre live on stage at The Regent May 27-29.  It’s comedy, mystery and radio studio shenanigans – fun for the whole family:

Friday May 27 at 7:30pm
Saturday May 28 at 2 pm
Saturday May 29 at 7:30pm
Sunday May 29 at 2 pm

Tickets $30.50 available online at theregenttheatre.org, or in person at the box office – open Tues, Wed, Thurs from noon – 4pm

Cast in order of appearance
L. Jaye Snyder – Buddy Carlson, the sound effects person
Lenni Stewart – Lauren McNair, the singer
Sid Wells – Allen Burns, the Director
Kim Kennedy – Sylvia Jarvis, an actress
Becky Mulridge – Judy Baxter, the new girl
Susan Mitchell – Lois Lange, an actress
Roxanne Mackenzie – Lana Lane, an actress
Paul Massey – Morty Sparks, an actor
Bruce Adema – Richard Dunlap, the Announcer
Peter Coy – Cecil Featherworth, the British actor
Michael Cuddy – Eddie Dumphy, an actor
Lesley Snyder – The Raincoat Lady
Ben Thornton – Skippy Sawyer, an actor
Gerry Stewart – Julian Fiske, an actor
Dash Thornton – A Flaky Cop