CALEB NICKERSON
SHAWVILLE Dec. 6, 2020
The Pontiac Community Players (PCP) held two live performances of their annual Christmas radio play over the weekend, opting for Frances Hodgson Burnett’s 1910 classic The Secret Garden.
PCP President Greg Graham said that this is the group’s sixth year of producing radio dramas to coincide with the holidays. He said he began to adapt the script for a radio play back in . . .
the summer.
“You have to turn it into a show that’s about an hour and 45 minutes long, and really get the story and the message across,” he said. “It’s just this wonderful story of loss and death and rebirth and hope that we thought would be a really nice message this Christmas.”
After finishing the written portion, Graham handed off the script to his friend and local music teacher Matt Lottes, who then composed the music. In October they put the word out for volunteers to perform and got to work, rehearsing around once a week.
“They’re in costume, they’re acting towards each other but it’s a reading,” Graham explained. “They’ve got their scripts … they don’t have to memorize it, but they are acting the parts.”
There was also a mix of both live and recorded sounds to go along with the performance, with Lottes playing several instruments and Nolan Wrinn on the piano. Robin Lottes and Charlotte Graham handled the live sound effects.
Graham said that several of the young actors taking on the main roles in the drama had played smaller parts in previous PCP productions and he was pleased to see their progression.
“These kids have been great because … two of the main characters, they did sound effects last year, four of them all played dormice in the Wind in the Willows, a very small part, and now they’ve got the big parts,” he said. “So they’ve been really eager to step forward.”
The group put on two live shows, one at St. Andrew’s-Knox United Church in Bristol on Dec. 5 and another at New Hope Christian Fellowship in Shawville on Dec. 6. Graham said that they limited attendance at both events to around 20 people to ensure everyone could be spaced out throughout the hall.
In addition, they will be distributing their performance through both radio and film this year.
“Valley Heritage Radio recorded a special performance we did for them, and the 100 Mile Arts Network took a video recording, so we can distribute both of those at Christmas time for the world to hear,” Graham said, adding that he wasn’t sure on the exact air dates, but thought they would be around Christmas Eve and New Years.
He concluded by saying that he was unsure of the PCP’s production schedule for 2021, but said that they were always seeking volunteers.
