O'LEARY, P.E.I. — The O’Leary Town Players have a ‘Special Delivery’ in store for only one more night as their dinner theatre performance takes the stage tonight at the O’Leary Legion.
"Special Delivery" is the title of the group’s sixth annual production. The story takes place on Christmas Eve in a hospital setting.
It just so happens that a young couple – they’re named Joseph and Marie, by the way – arrives at the hospital, unaware that obstetric services are no longer performed there. It doesn’t matter, though, as there’s a snowstorm raging and they can’t go any further.
There are three nurses, two doctors (one of whom gets there with the aid of a snowplow and a snowmobile) and a janitor keeping things running on the ward and, apart from accommodating the expectant couple, they are trying to keep tabs on a patient prone to wandering. Despite the weather, a deliveryman drops in, too.
Cast member Gordon Walker wrote the play, and other members of the O’Leary Town Players tinkered with the script to suit the occasion.
“I write the outline of what it is, basic lines, and then we start changing things around.”
Walker said he made use of the history of the Community Hospital and stories he’s heard in crafting the script.
“The book was hilarious to read, and it was easy to pick stories from it,” Walker said.
“We always try to relate it to the community,” Walker said, noting last year’s production was about the new cannabis store, and the show the year before that was based on O’Leary’s Hockeyville journey.
“There’s lots of laughs with rehearsals,” cast member Marylois Bernard added.
“We’re always laughing at something,” Walker agreed.
“It’s just the satisfaction of entertaining people,” Bernard said.
Proceeds help support local charities and fund a Westisle High School bursary.
The 10-member cast will be serving a roast turkey meal and sticky date pudding for dessert. Tickets to the dinner theatre can be purchased at the O’Leary Legion after 3 p.m., at the Quilt Gallery or by phoning Marylois at 902-859-1235.
