Generally Inhospitable is a comedy play that will take its Crossfield audience into the bowels of a hospital where two patients’ procedure plans go awry.
The Artists of Crossfield Theatre Society (ACTS) is hitting the stage on April 5th and 6th with its 10th original script written by the theatre group since 2012.
“Our kind of go-to genre is comedy,” said Grant Budgeon, president of ACTS. “So this is another one in that vein of lots of laughs.”
Budgeon’s favourite part of working on Generally Inhospitable is the interaction between actors on stage and timing their lines just right. He said this show, in particular, has the actors really playing off each other with some really good humour and good lines.
The story revolves around patients and doctors at a hospital.
While Budgeon didn’t involve himself in the writing team this year, he is playing one of the show's 14 characters.
ACTS began putting on annual dinner theatre shows in 2012 and has written their own scripts each year.
“We have different people every year volunteering to be part of the writing teams,” Budgeon said, adding they put in about 50 to 60 hours to write the script.
The diverse cast is made up of Crossfield, Airdrie, and Rocky View County residents, ranging in age from their early 20’s to their 60’s.
Four new faces are joining the group of thespians on stage this year, while the rest have performed with the group on and off throughout the years.
Budgeon said the dinner theatre requires a big time commitment from everyone involved as they start rehearsing once or twice per week in January and take time to learn their parts.
For that reason, Budgeon said he’s always looking for new members who are able to commit their time to the production.
New cast members are often nervous about being on stage, but Budgeon said every member has absolutely loved it and returned the following year.
“There's a certain high you get from performing in front of a bunch of people and it can be quite exhilarating and nerve wracking,” Budgeon said.
Budgeon was a founding member of ACTS in 2012.
He first became involved in theatre when his daughters took drama at W.G. Murdoch High School in Crossfield.
Once the school was no longer able to run the program, a group, including Budgeon, decided to form ACTS and continue hosting dinner theatres. At that time, the show was selling between 150 and 200 tickets.
With help from the high school's drama teacher, the group learned how to write a script, and every year they build their own sets and create their own costumes.
A teacher at the school remains involved in the sound and light system aspect of the production, with local students volunteering to help on the technical side.
Year over year, the group sold more tickets until eventually they decided to add a second night.
For several years, ACTS was selling out at least one night with another night that was nearly full, until the pandemic hit.
COVID-19 shut down Alberta just 12 days before their 2020 show, which they were finally able to perform in 2023.
While tickets are slowly recovering, Budgeon hopes to rebuild the momentum ACTS previously enjoyed.
The Dinner Theatre will take place on April 5 and 6 at the Crossfield Community Hall. Doors open at 6 p.m. and tickets are available at Eventbrite.ca until March 30.
The show is for adults only, ages 18 and up.
