Both Shows in Cow Patti's 26th Season of Live Professional Comedy “Grub” Theatre are Western Canadian Premieres-Both are penned by award winning Canadian Playwrights, and both shows are staged and take place in small town Alberta!
Though there's been 2 1/2 years of uncertainty, we've weathered the storms and have “moo-ved” forward in continuing to produce high quality entertainment, using our solid roots as our strengths, along with our wild and wacky theatre family, as they prepare to “spin plenty of yarn.”
Many roots within Cow Patti started in small town Alberta 26 years ago. First and foremost, our central root has always been to bring together folks in a gathered space, a space where homegrown hospitality, down home humor and homestyle buffets are the lifeline for welcoming everyone to join us in our Theatre pasture at The Cow Patti Theatre Company.
A root within Cow Patti that has kept us humble and grateful for 26 years is our Benefit Program. From the High Artic to the prairies and Eastern Canada, we have been using the tool of Professional Theatre to give back to those in need. We will be honoring our non-profit benefits to aid in their need for financial assistance and awareness. A tradition that “among its other benefits, liberates the soul of the giver.” Along with this Press Release, I'm including our Season Brochure which details our recipients within the Benefit Program for our 2022-2023 Season.
Another part of staying true to our roots is keeping our pricing as reasonable as we can so folks can enjoy the opportunity to take in live professional theatre. We are still able to offer audiences, of all ages, to take in our shows with pricing that ranges from $30 to $82 dollars. We feel these price points are inviting and very competitive!
A new growing ROOT this season – “Your Choice Thursdays!” On all of the Thursdays throughout the season, we will offer our patrons the choice of either taking in the “Full Meal Deal” or choose to join us for the show only. So, on Thursday Afternoon, for the Senior Brunch Matinee, your choice will be to enjoy the lovely Brunch Buffet or to join us just for the show. And on Thursday Evenings whether its date night, girls' night out or a small business Christmas party - one can join us for the Charcuterie Box and Show or again, just take in the show. This allows for extensive flexibility in pricing and allows Cow Patti to better understand the wants and needs of our audiences.
Moving back to where our roots first took hold, where it all began 26 years ago, our 2022/2023 season will take place at our new permanent pasture: The Tin Roof Event Centre. Just off of Milton Road in Lacombe County. We started working with the family at Tin Roof last season and through feed back from our audience and many conversations with our crew, actors and staff, we came to the conclusion that the space gave us more opportunity to grow shows, to have better visibility for our audience members and to welcome everyone to an accessible space for folks from all corners of Alberta.
When it comes to “our roots, the talent on our stage this year will be seasoned artists that have been entertaining our audiences at Cow Patti for decades. Your own “Head Cow” AnnaMarie Lea will be taking the stage in our first show of the Season - Hurry Hard! Joining AnnaMarie will be Brian Young and Susan Greenfield, who both have been an integral part of Cow Patt's shows for years. Brian Young has been on the Cow Patti stage more than anyone in our 26 year history and the reason behind that is Brian is one of the finest, farceur, comedic and dramatic actors in this country! Susan Greenfield will entertain our audiences again, after last being enjoyed by our audiences in our hit Wally's Café, four seasons back. Joining AnnaMarie, Brian and Susan will be Wally MacKinnon and Eric Finlayson. Both Wally and Eric have been in many shows at CPTC. Eric recently returned from a 3-year gig in Disney Japan, where he played Jack Sparrow and Prince Charming… welcome home Eric!! Rounding out the talented cast is Wally, a Martimer, who entertained Cow Patti folks in The Foursome and Who's Underwear. We are thrilled Wally’s coming back to our neck of the woods with decades of talent driven experiences. Our cast and crew of our 26th Season can’t wait to get to work and bring their “A” game to the show…and yes, they are all working hard on their curling game!
Our first show of the season Hurry Hard was penned by Kristen DeSilva, Canada's Hottest new Comedic Playwright. Hurry Hard won the Tom Hendy Award from the Playwrights Guild of Canada and also took home the Stage West Award for best new comedy. Hurry Hard is a Canadian curling love story with all the warmth and camaraderie of a great evening at the curling club. This zinger of a comedy is a hilarious and heartwarming story of second chances and finding love that you won't want to…. Skip. After a rocky split between Bill and Sandy, will things come together for their curling teams as they desperately attempt to put together a winning foursome with the most important bonspiel of the year just around the corner? Can this ragtag team of curlers face their personal differences battling on and off the ice with long held sibling rivalry and lingering feelings of love in order to bring home a win?
Our second show of the season is penned by Norm Foster. Norm’s work has been “rooted” in our seasons for decades and Doris and Ivy in the Home is a story that showcases Norm at his best. Last Season we offered up Norm’s- Jonas and Barry in the Home. This new play, Doris and Ivy in the Home is far from a gender reverse retelling of the earlier play. It is a fresh story with three fascinating characters. Retired prison guard Doris Mooney has just moved into Paradise Village Retirement Home in Canmore AB she quickly befriends Ivy Hoffbauer, a former champion skier who's taken aback by Doris's cheerful brashness. Rounding out the trio is dapper Arthur Beach who has designs on the ladies. Love gossip and shenanigans behind the compost heap result in Foster at his hilarious best. It's a show for all ages that is delightfully funny and heartwarming.
Finally, a root that has run deep since the beginning of Cow Patti is the relationship it has had with all media and marketing folks. I want to acknowledge and express my gratitude to all media forms, sponsors and folks in general that have taken the time and put their talents and effort in helping Cow Patti get the word out and rebuild the confidence of patrons returning to the theatre. Whether it's our sponsors, newspaper, radio station, or our audiences posting a review or telling a friend about their Cow Patti experience, it helps us grow our company and we are very grateful for all your help. We believe at Cow Patti, the common denominator we all share at our theatre is the love of telling or hearing stories, to be entertained and be entertaining, to be together in a gathered space and to have a human connection with others on and off the stage - that is the true definition of live theatre. The Cow Patti Theatre Company is a small Canadian success story, and we invite our fellow Albertans to join us during our 22/23 season for the next “ACT” in our story.