WE RAISED $34,150.00
BETTER GRAB YOUR TICKETS NOW AND HELP US RAISE THE BARN CUASE OUR WILD AND WACKY THEATRE FAMILY IS ‘BOUT TO SPIN A YARN!!
And what better way to open the gates of Cow Patti’s 28th Season than with a Norm Foster play. There is no doubt that Norm is Cow Patti’s favorite audiences’ playwright, so it was a no brainer to produce one of his shows to start our Season. But which one…? - there are over 70 to choose from, So, to open our 28th Season, we have chosen a Norm Foster classic, written in 1994 – The Long Weekend.
When casting the show Cow Patti has chosen 4 of Canadas funniest and stellar theatre talents. These Canadian actors have all been in the business for 35 plus years. Brian Young , AnnaMarie Lea, Matthew Olver and Viviana Zarillo. Brian has been on the Cow Patti stage many, many times, he was last seen in 2022 in - Jonas and Barry in the Home by Norm Foster. Viviana Zarrillo last treaded the Cow Patti stage in, yet another Norm Foster play - Halfway There alongside Anna Marie Lea, Artistic Producing Director - Head Cow- AnnaMarie was seen last season in Norm Fosters Drinking Alone and Matthew Olver joined Anna Marie in that smash hit which closed our 27th Season. The Long Weekend will be directed by Anita la Selva a renowned actor, writer, and teacher in the arts for 35 plus years. It will be Anita’s first time joining the “HERD” at Cow Patti and we all feel profoundly grateful to have her lead the way in this very funny comedy of bad manners.
If it ain't broke don't fix it - Our audiences have generously given us amazing feedback about our partnership with HT Catering and we're so pleased, they will be providing the Home style Cookin' for their third Season with Cow Patti. HT Catering will be dishing up their wonderful Brunch Buffets, Beef and Bird Buffets and Your Choice Thursday Taco and Fajita Buffets., where you can decide on the Full Meal Deal for either the Senior Brunch Buffet or the Evening Taco and Fajita Buffet or CHOOSE no buffet and just join us for the play We have continued to remain constant with our pricing, recognizing that everyone's watching their pocketbook, We are pleased to announce that there is no price increases this season at Cow Patti.
Our Comedy “Grub Theatre Season brings out folks, from all corners of Alberta, our Senior Brunches are our fastest growing shows, where we are seeing bus loads join us in our Neck of the Woods. This season we have booked a bus load all the way from Lloydminster, Saskatchewan! Our Christmas/Holiday Gatherings are ever growing in popularity as well. Whether it’s a Family Affair, a Retirement, Anniversary Celebration or a Small Business Christmas Party, folks are coming out in droves, and we are always pleased to have our Wild and Wacky Theatre Family take care of entertaining your group!
Very near and dear to our hearts is our Benefit Performance Program. All Saturday Brunch Buffet Matinees will be Benefit Shows for some very deserving groups in our community. It will be a wonderful moment that will warm you up with our fabulous Brunch Buffet - loads of laughter but most importantly, a full heart knowing that you're helping your community. During The Long Weekend , they are as follows: November 16th – The Optimist Club of Blackfalds - November 23rd - The Golden Circle Resource Centre, November 30th - The Rocky Mountain House Museum ,December 7th - The Lacombe Performing Arts centre and December 14th - Kasota East Camp. In the past 27 seasons we have performed over 200 Benefit Performances and have raised nearly $800,000.00! We firmly believe at Cow Patti - That Among its Other Benefits - Giving Liberates the Soul of the Giver
As “Quoted” by Norm himself, "I’m really proud that people want to see my work and want to see my new stuff. That makes me want to keep writing. Whenever I think, ‘Oh, maybe I’ve written my last play,’ I go, ‘No, I think I’ve got a few more in me. Let’s keep going.”
Expanding on the pride and excitement we share in producing yet again another Norm Foster play, enjoy chewing on the following CUD….
After writing nearly 70 produced plays (and who-knows-how-many completed drafts still awaiting their world premieres), how does Foster keep finding new ways to make us laugh? Cause his plays are snapshots of extraordinary moments in the lives of ordinary people.
In part, the following are some quotes and parts of a conversation attributed from the magazine, Intermission.
Over the four-plus decades he’s been writing comedy, Foster’s seemingly boundless stamina can be attributed, in part, to the rigour of his routine. “I get up in the morning early,” when asked about his daily writing habits, “at about five o’clock in the morning, and I just write.” Working straight through the afternoon, he constructs scenarios that are immediately recognizable to his countrywide base of loyal fans. For hours on end, he crafts natural-sounding dialogue that’s spoken by regular, everyday characters who, as he puts it, “write the play for him.” By allowing the characters to speak and act for themselves rather than forcing them to follow a prescribed plan for each individual scene, Foster lets his characters navigate their own ways through the circumstances he’s established.
Even after more than 40 years of writing, he says he’s still taken aback by what his characters have to say. And by how funny they are. “Sometimes,” he said, “I’ll just write a line, and I’ll burst out laughing.” Foster is able to unlock the comedic potential of any given scene by staying true to the characters’ objectives, and by allowing, even himself, to be surprised by what comes out of their mouths. “It’s like I didn’t say it; the character said it. ”. What’s so impressive is that Foster can strike a fine balance between humour and heart without ever allowing his work to devolve into either shtick or melodrama. According to him, it’s important that his work “touches us somewhere other than the funny bone.”
“You don’t want to lay it on too thick,” he said. “You don’t want to bang the audience over the head with an idea or a feeling.” Instead, Foster hopes the emotional resonance of his plays will sneak up on audiences so that they don’t even realize they’re being moved. He accomplishes this by writing with such relatability that audiences can discover themselves in his work. “My plays are usually about small subjects,” he says, “like family or relationships, and not necessarily about solving the world’s problems.” By centering his artistic focus on interpersonal rather than global conflicts, Foster creates easy points of access for audiences of all ages and walks of life.
In Cow Patti’s eyes, Norm Foster is truly a Canadian gift for all of us to enjoy, a gift that gives us all much laughter and insight to the Human Condition, Join us for our first show of our 28th Season and unwrap the WONDERFUL UNIQUE GIFT of Norm Foster with us.
Yours in Laughter,
AnnaMarie Lea
Head Cow - The Cow Patti Theatre Company