THUNDER BAY — Magnus Theatre is heading back inside.
Months after staging outdoor shows in nearby Waverly Park, the troupe has decided it’s time to perform their latest offering, The Drowning Girls, in the theatre in front of a capacity of 50 audience members as they follow provincial guidelines.
Audiences will have to practice physical distancing and wear masks, and the auditorium will be rearranged in a traverse format, meaning audiences will be seated on two sides of a central stage.
“We want patrons to feel comfortable returning to the theatre, and we changed things around to ensure that everyone has the safest possible experience while enjoying this incredible Canadian play,” Thom Currie, Magnus Theatre's artistic director, said in a release issued on Thursday.
The play, which Currie described as macabre, playful and unabashedly witty, tells the tale of three brides who married the same man. All of them are dead.
Written in the 1990s by Canadians Beth Graham, Charlie Tomlinson and Daniela Vlaskalic, the play is based on the true life story of George Joseph Smith, a conman and bigamist known for preying on women in the early days of the 20th century.
“He’d woo them, swindle their money, take out life insurance policies on them and murder them soon after the nuptials. The infamous case became known in the popular British press at the time as the Brides in the Baths murders,” Currie said.
“This gripping play recounts the shocking crimes, rich with historical detail gleaned from letters, news clippings, and court documents and offers a keen social critique of the oppressive Victorian-era social values that contributed to these women’s deaths.”
A cast of talented local actors lead the way in The Drowning Girls, including Olivia McInnis and Sarah Mendek, who are making their Magnus stage debuts.
McInnis, a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City and has appeared in productions such as The Wild Duck, The Machinal and A Different Moon.
Locally she’s performed at Paramount Live Theatre shows including Into the Woods, Sister Act and 9 to 5, as well as Badanai Production’s Little Shop of Horrors.
Mendek, a graduate of Brock University, has been involved with Magnus since her teen years and has appeared elsewhere in Speechless and Rhinoceros.
Also in the cast is Hanna Laaksonen, perhaps best known for her role in Magus Theatre’s 2018 production of The River.
The Drowning Girls will preview at Magnus Theatre on Nov. 12 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and runs through Nov. 28.
Both Sunday matinees will be pay-what-you-can performances.
Tickets are available at www.magnustheatre.com or by phoning the box office at 345-5552.
