Jamie Williams is happy to be back at Lighthouse Festival for his first time as a director at the theatre. He’s starred on the Lighthouse stage in Skin Flick (Byron Hobbs); Melville Boys (Lee); and Baskerville (Dr. Watson). He’s directed at a number of theatres, including productions at the Foster Festival & the Upper Canada Playhouse. Jamie has recently been brought on board with the the team at The Foster Festival as their Artistic Associate, and is also thrilled to be starring with his wife Melanie Janzen (who is currently starring as Suzanne in Where You Are in Port Colborne) in the upcoming production of The View from Here, which he wrote, at Theatre Orangeville this coming fall, Oct 11th-29th. We chatted with him about what it’s like to direct a play that has never been produced before and what a daily routine of a theatre director looks like.

Lighthouse Festival (LF): When did you become interested in working as a director, and what influenced your decision to pursue this career?

Jamie Williams (JW): After some time in the business as an actor, which I have been primarily for the majority of my career, you certainly begin to develop thoughts on how you might do things. Especially when you have done a number of different productions of the same play which I have several times. But honestly the first time I seriously considered directing was when I had written my first play “It’s Your Funeral”. The opportunity came up and I thought “I’ve been living with these characters for a couple of years now, I’ve worked and reworked the logic, been envisioning the action of the piece since I set fingers to keyboard, so if there was ever a play I’d direct…” And I took the opportunity. It was a great experience, exciting in a whole new way from acting and writing, and I fell in love with the process. Since then I’ve had the great privilege of directing a number of Norm Foster’s shows and hope to continue doing so.

(LF): Describe your daily routine as a theatre director?

(JW): I don’t know that I have a routine per se, and maybe as I gain more experience one will certainly develop, but outside of the hours in rehearsal I like to arrive early and look forward over what we’re working on and write my thoughts, notes and general goals for the day down. Spending time in the rehearsal space when its quiet definitely opens me to new ideas dropping in, working through challenges that are yet unresolved. The most effective tool I have, and whether it is set in a routine or not, is writing out and through my thoughts and ideas alongside revisiting the script. All the answers are ultimately in the script after all. And at the end of the day I tend to review and again write down the next steps we need to consider the next day. Honestly, regardless of my routine or homework, the real work accomplished, and strides made, are in the rehearsal hall with the actors. It’s a collaborative art form and a director’s process can only be facilitated with the actors and vice versa.

(LF): What are the challenges of directing a play that has never been produced before?

(JW): No frame of reference. If a show has been produced and you’ve seen it before, or been in it, you have a starting point based on what you thought worked or didn’t work in that prior production. A new piece is a blank canvas which is exciting but daunting. However, the script, a good script, functions as a blueprint, everything you need is within it. Sometimes some real scrutiny is required but if you consider every word, punctuation mark, phrase and what is actually being said and the context it’s being said within, as a director you have everything you need.

(LF): Besides this one, what’s your favorite stage show?

(JW): I couldn’t possibly say. Julius Caesar the first Shakespeare I read and saw at Stratford? The Melville Boys, the first Norm Foster play I read and was later privileged to perform here at Lighthouse? Or Norm’s The Writer, arguably his most beautiful and heart wrenching script, in which I originated ‘Blake Wellner’? Long Day’s Journey Into Night which I saw performed several times by my idols Tom McCamus and Peter Donaldson alongside the greats William Hutt, Martha Henry and Martha Burns? Or Arcadia by Tom Stoppard in which I played Bernard Nightingale out at The Citadel in Edmonton? Or Hadestown? Or In and Of Itself? Or Possible Worlds…? I think you get the point.

(LF): What will the audience be thinking about in the car as they drive home after this show?

(JW): I hope they’re still laughing all the way home! A Pack of Thieves is a full out comedy and I think we’re hitting all the right notes that’ll elicit a lot of laughs. But it’s not silly and it’s not a farce and there are moments where Norm has deftly allowed the characters to reveal themselves as truly human with desires, needs, and flaws. They are a disparate group of unlikely partners each with their own quirks and yet they grow through this piece and reflect thoughts and feelings about friendship, love and brotherly affection that we can all relate to and identify as the stuff that really matters in good times and more importantly desperate times. Maybe some of the audience will talk about that. Good theatre is a good story with characters that matter, that we grow to care about, and this story, I think, is just that.

Jeffrey Wetsch’s turn in last year’s Sugar Road was amazingly well-received and we’re thrilled that he’s back as Chef in our World Premiere of A Pack of Thieves! He’s also graced the Lighthouse stage in Beyond The Sea, The Ghost Island Light, and Melville Boys. You’ve also seend him on the small screen in Rabbit Hole, MayDay, Wayne, Holly Hoodie, Taken, Private Eyes, Bomb Girls, Alias Grace, Mohawk Girls, Saving Hope, Pirates Passage, Murdoch Mysteries, Republic of Doyle (CBC), Reign, and Rookie Blue (ABC). Let’s find out what will surprise people about this show, what he loves about his character and which celebrity would play it well.

Lighthouse Festival (LF): What’s going to surprise people about this show?

Jeffrey Wetsch (JW): The surprise in this show…is that it’s pure comedy.  No holds barred! A show with one purpose…make everyone laugh!

(LF): What’s the biggest challenge about taking on this role? 

(JW): The biggest challenge im finding Playing Chef,  is being the straight man.  It’s not common casting for me. To trust the words to serve up the rest of the characters is a lot of fun but also a lot of responsibility. 

(LF): Besides yourself, which celebrity would you like to see tackle this role?

(JW):  I would love to see Bradly Cooper or maybe even Chevy Chase in his day!  

(LF): What do you love about this character?

(JW): I love Chefs heart.  His desire to succeed and care for everyone around him.  A real carer of others.

(LF): If you could play any other character in this show, who would it be? 

(JW): What other player would i want to play??  That’s a tough one as every cast member is working so successfully at creating these brand new characters for Norm and the audience.   I only see the men who are cast now!  Lol

Lighthouse Festival’s Artistic Director, Derek Ritschel, is back on stage! After directing the hit musical community show, Clue, he’s taking on the role of Rubber in the world premiere of Norm Foster’s A Pack of Thieves. Derek has been in a number of Lighthouse productions, including Heatwave, The Drawer Boy, Mary’s Wedding, Bedtime Stories, Mending Fences, A Christmas Carol, Stranger In Our House, Between Friends, Outlaw, and The Foursome. We sat down with him to chat about who is most and least like their character on stage, what he does just before going on stage and what will surprise people about this comedic tour de force!

Lighthouse Festival (LF): What will people be talking about in the car on the way home after seeing this show?

Derek Ritschel (DR): I hope they are talking about how much they laughed and enjoyed their evening with us. A Pack Of Thieves is unapologetically a comedy so it’s our hope people just relax and enjoy a good laugh. 

(LF): Who is most like their character in this play? Who is the least like their character?

(DR): I would have to say Jeff is closest to his character, he’s a thinker, a planner  … as is his character, Chef. And I would say Allan is the least like his character. The character Dale isn’t the smartest wolf in our pack but in real life … Allan is a very clever artist.

(LF): What’s the last thing you do before you step out on stage / the curtain goes up?  

(DR): One deep breath and a sly wink to my acting partner. It’s time to dance. 

(LF): What’s going to surprise people about this show?

(DR): Nothing. It’s written by Norm Foster. Laughter is about to happen, and everyone knows it. Let the games begin.

(LF): Besides this one, what’s your favorite stage show?

(DR): Tough question for an Artistic Director to answer. I’ve been involved in over 80 shows here. Each and every one has a place in my heart. So, I’ll answer by saying this … I love all my children equally. Long live Lighthouse.  

Brad Rudy has been on the Lighthouse stage a number of times, including last year in Kristen Da Silva’s Sugar Road. He’s also played Fran in Educating Rita and a dual role of identical twins in Something Fishy. He’s also spent 26 seasons at Stratford Festival and acted as Ted Narracott in Mirvish’s production of Warhorse at the Princess of Wales Theatre. We were able to sit down with Brad and chat about his favourite line of dialogue in A Pack of Thieves, why he wanted to be involved in this production and who else in this play is going to blow people away with their performance.

Lighthouse Festival (LF): Without giving anything away, what’s your favourite line of dialogue in the show?

Brad Rudy (BR): “I’m a river of many moods.” Padre is describing himself to the other crooks.

(LF): Why did you want to be involved in this production?

(BR): I wanted to be in this production because a) I’ve only been in one other Norm Foster play in my whole career, and he has become rather ubiquitous, b) I last worked with director Jamie Williams over 25 years ago when we were both actors at the Stratford Festival and I was excited to work with him as a director, c) I’ve never worked with Derek as an actor; he’s only ever directed me, so I couldn’t wait to share his energy onstage, d) I love playing a ‘heavy’ character, e) I welcome any opportunity to work at Lighthouse, and f) Jamie offered me a great role and I was available.

(LF): Besides yourself, which actor in this production is going to blow people away? 

(BR): That’s the toughest question of all. Without intending to sound diplomatic, there is something about what each guy is doing that will probably blow people away. But Alan is the only actor I had never met before and he is VERY funny; he certainly makes it difficult for me to keep a straight face. 

(LF): What’s going to surprise people about this show?

(BR): Hopefully all the plot twists and character revelations will surprise people. In a comedy like this, you don’t want the audience to be ahead of you or the jokes just won’t work.

(LF): When did you first perform? 

(BR): I first performed for Lighthouse Theatre about 5 or 6 years ago in a play called Something Fishy, playing identical twins. Those were some quick costume changes! If you are asking about when I became a professional actor, it was in 1980 in a production called Alberta Song, while I was still in university.

Allan Cooke is taking on the hilarious role of Dale in Norm Foster’s A Pack of Thieves this week but he’s well-known on the Lighthouse stage. He’s had various Roles in THE REAL SHERLOCK HOLMES, taken on the role of Oscar Gervaise in STAGE FRIGHT, and had various Roles in THE FULL MOUNTIE. Elsewhere, he’s been involved with a number of productions at Upper Canada Playhouse and took on the role of Reggie in CBS’s CLARICE. He’s very happy to be back in Port Dover and we caught up with him to chat about who will love this show, why he wanted to be involved with it and who’d he play if he had the chance to take on a different role in A Pack of Thieves.

Lighthouse Festival (LF): What sort of person is going to love this show?

Allan Cooke (AC): Horse thieves! (and, perhaps, some horses) … and all lovers of Norm Fosters wit-with-heart brand of comedy. This one is classic Foster.

(LF): Why did you want to be involved in this production?

(AC): So many reasons. Chiefly among them, working with the crew at the Lighthouse is always a positive experience. Working with Derek and Jamie again too, albeit in different capacities from how we’d worked in the past, I knew we’d really dig into this script in the best, most fun, way possible. And Moose Tracks ice-cream on the beach is nice too. 

(LF): What are people going to be talking about in the car on the way home from this show? 

(AC): Probably (hopefully!) how well cast it was. Jeff, Brad, Brad and Derek; I can’t imagine any other people playing these roles now, they inhabit them perfectly. 

(LF): What’s going to surprise people about this show?

(AC): There’s a few cool twists and turns in the script. But I hate spoilers, so I’ll shut up now. I ain’t no rat.

(LF): If you could play any other character in this show, who would it be? 

(AC): Again, I can’t see anyone else except our cast playing these characters, so I’ll re-cast myself as the looming off-stage presence of Langford Pangborn. Or the Maitre D at Santinos. Or the horse (Front-end).