K.C. Jordan, LJI Reporter

Bristol’s Coronation Hall played host to the Pontiac Community Players on Thursday night as they rehearsed their summer production.

The community theatre group is putting the final touches on its show, an adaptation of Toronto playwright David S. Craig’s Having Hope at Home, to be performed over three days next week.

The rehearsal went largely without a hitch, save for a few panicked calls of “Line?” from the actors.

The play is set at an old farmhouse in rural Ontario, and the plot centres around a young pregnant couple, Carolyn and Michel, who are set to welcome their new baby into the world with the help of their midwife, Dawn.

Tensions flare as Carolyn’s father Bill, an obstetrician, can’t seem to get on board with his daughter’s decision to have a home birth instead of going to the hospital.

Bill’s wife Jane and father Russell each chime in with their own two cents, while the erstwhile happy couple try to find peace amidst the familial chaos.

William Bastien and Darlene Pashak are co-directing the Pontiac Community Players’ adaptation of this story.

Bastien said the play is both heart-warming and heart-wrenching at points.

“It’s funny, but between the funny is really earnest, sensitive moments. [ . . . ] It leaves you feeling kind of nice.”

Pashak said the play’s themes will be relatable to those who live in the Pontiac.

”Farming is the heart of the Pontiac, and we have a lot of people who are professionals,” she said. “I think there could be some tensions in families between those different lifestyles.”

She said for her, each character feels familiar.

“Every person I see on stage is a composite of people I know.”

Bastien echoed that feeling. “When we were reading it, it was like, ‘I know these people’. I have friends that have been in this exact situation.”

“The grandfather in the show, some of the style, I swear to God, is picked up off the streets of Shawville. I’ve heard people say, ‘I know this man’,” he said. “It’s everyone’s grandfather in the Pontiac.”

Preparations for the show began in May, and soon after reading through the play everyone involved knew they had something special on their hands.

“On the first read-through with the cast it came to life,” Pashak said. “The line you read on paper was getting out-loud laughs on the first read.”

Both directors agreed the cast, ranging from professional actors to some who haven’t acted since elementary school, has been splendid.

“Seeing them develop their characters on stage and even their confidence has been really nice to watch. It’s been so impressive,” Bastien said.

The rehearsals haven’t been without their challenges, some of which are related to Coronation Hall’s steel roof and lack of ventilation.

“If it’s hot, this building is incredibly, incredibly hot, and if it rains, it’s hard to hear,” Bastien said.

But of the six Pontiac Community Players productions he’s been a part of, Bastien said Having Hope at Home has been the smoothest thus far.

“Last season was a little hectic. We got our rights late, we got our scripts even later, it was an incredibly rushed process,” he recalled. “This year is going so smoothly.”

He also said the actors even found new meaning in the script as they acted it out on stage, particularly between the characters of Michel, the baby’s father, and Dawn, the midwife.

In the script, only Michel is meant to be francophone, but the actor chosen to play Dawn is also from a Franco-Ontarian background, bringing new meaning to the dynamic between those characters.

“We found these two characters who would otherwise have no connection, find a little bit of camaraderie because they are both these outsider francophones.”

The Players are looking forward to inviting the public to see their production, and are especially excited to have it in Coronation Hall, a venue that Bastien said goes perfectly with the play.

“In the play they live in a sketchy little homestead, and so this building fit very well.”

He said they want to give the impression the characters are living in Coronation Hall, and that the audience is invited into their living room.

Pashak said the play was written to take place on a rhubarb farm, but the directors got permission from its author to change the setting to an apple farm, given their venue of choice.

Each attendee will receive a slice of apple pie and a sweet apple cider that they can enjoy while taking in the show.

The play will run from Aug. 21 to 24 at Coronation Hall in Bristol.

Tickets cost $25, and those who wish to purchase them can call 819-647-2547.