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Harbour Theatre Prince Rupert setting the stage

Back in action and raising the curtain on new membership
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Members of the Harbour Theatre act out in the Wednesday night weekly Improv sessions, on May 11 at the Tom Rooney Playhouse. Improv starts at 7:30 p.m. and adult members of the public are welcome to join. (Photo: K-J Millar/The Northern View)

Poetry and shenanigans are happening at the Tom Rooney Playhouse on May 13, and the public is invited for an evening of giggles and laughs.

The 7 p.m. live-action event is hosted by the Harbour Theatre Prince Rupert (HTPR), which is opening its doors to new members and adding more activities to its playbill.

During the Poetry and Shenanigans, there will be stand-up comedians, poetry prompts for writing at the event collectively, and solo that will be read by volunteers scattered with lots of conversation and fun interactions, said Tristian Higginson, HTPR treasurer.

Musical guests Ginger Beard, who is Chrys Thompson and Heather McCray will be performing. Thompson most recently held the role of Ms. Trunchbowl in the high school musical ‘Matilda.’

“They’re going to perform a few songs, then the audience will participate by writing poetry, bringing poetry they’ve already written, and then we’ll talk about it altogether. After that, we’ll watch people perform some of it and have a lot of fun, have a few drinks and have a good night,” he said.

The evening event, which is part of a membership drive, is $15, which also covers Harbour Theatre membership.

“It enables you to participate in any of our programs and our votes,” he said.

The nonprofit theatre group has a nine-member board and more than 150 members on the mailing list with various degrees of activity and involvement.

The Wednesday night improv group starts at 7:30 p.m. and runs for about an hour each week. Anyone is welcome is to stop by the Tom Rooney Theatre to check it out.

“A bunch of us get together, some of us who have been doing improv for years, some are just getting started, and some are first-timers, “Higginson said. “We play improv games, and it’s very low pressure. It’s a lot of fun. We have a lot of laughs.”

The evening starts with a warm-up, and similar activities and sketches are participated in, such as seen on “Whose Line Is It Anyway.”

“The idea is that we practice and get to know each other and that we put on a show,” he said, adding the last time the group performed a production was Christmas 2019 because of the pandemic shutdown.

Another great event that aspiring actors and comedians can participate in is a workshop on May 16 (Monday) at 7 p.m., Higginson said. The membership fees cover the cost.

“Rain City Improv from Vancouver is putting on a workshop for our members to hone and learn improv skills … It’s an incredible value having these pros who have done it for years come up and share some of what they know with us here locally.”

Higginson said the theatre group is open, and the public can drop into both the Poetry and Shenanigans on Friday and the improv workshop on Monday with the membership fees paid on the night.

“You know it would be great if they could contact us beforehand at habourtheatre@gmail.com. They can check out our Facebook page or website for more contact info so that we can have folks registered, so we have numbers, but we’d be happy to have walk-ins as well,” he said.

READ MORE: Vagina Monologues sold out in Prince Rupert


 K-J Millar | Editor and Multimedia Journalist 
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