The Fred Skeleton Theatre Company

By Jude Campbell
Like the witches of Macbeth, this young theatre company plans to render a concoction of cutting-edge humour, life perspective and a dollop of British weirdness, all served up on stage.
With unusual plays on the platter, the newly hatched Fred Skeleton Theatre Company, and all three of its founding members, are full of anticipation for their first season.
“We want to do pieces that are entertaining, thought-provoking, humorous and a bit on the edge,” explained Rob Mason-Brown, the British portion of the group. “We’re planning on a four-show season, with productions that you wouldn’t see otherwise. It’s not your typical fare. We’ll do pieces that entertain, certainly, and make you think, but not stuff to scare you away.”
Working on what amounts to less than a beer budget but hanging on to aspirations with champagne taste, the trio have set their sights on entertaining the university/college-age crowd, as well as theatre-goers who want more than the usual Broadway musical or comedic fluff.
“There are lots of companies in town that provide that genre of theatre, and that’s great! But it’s not necessarily what appeals to the university and 30-something crowd,” added Marlena Morton, whose entry took best stage manager/best presentation and best actor honours at the recent One Act Festival of original plays.
“We want to give that crowd thought-provoking and alternative theatre,” she added. “With OUC (Okanagan University College) growing into UBC (University of British Columbia), it opens up even more opportunities. We plan on presenting the kinds of relevant themes that a university population wants to see, a fresh social and political perspective.”
Having migrated to Kelowna from the drama-laden city of Edmonton, which has for decades supported a thriving Fringe Festival, Morton is convinced that Fred Skeleton Theatre can carve a solid niche in the local theatre scene.
“The trademark of a successful city is a thriving, vibrant and diverse art scene,” she said. “Live theatre has its thumb on what the community is feeling and responding to. It’s our responsibility to bring those issues to the stage.”
Since there is no budget, the company is relying completely on friends, family, ‘freebies’ and goodwill, which begins with being given space at The Actors Studio, as well as being mentored by both Randy Leslie (artistic director) and Nate Flavel (production manager) from the studio.
Mason-Brown said that their productions will make use of down time at the studio when no other productions are in progress, ensuring that the studio is used to full capacity, while offering theatre alternatives.
“We really are as low budget as you can get,” Morton said, “it’s actually a $0 budget. Everyone is donating their time. It’s a little frightening to start off with nothing, but we’re also getting incredible support from the Actors Studio. The mentorship from Randy and Nate has been beyond anything we dreamed of.”
“The advantage to starting small with no financial reserve,” added Mason-Brown, “is that you don’t have the extra pressure of worrying about drawing a large audience to pay the bills and support the budget - because there isn’t one!”
Dave Jabour, one of the ready-to-jump-on-board actors who has already shared the stage with Morton, and also took part in the company’s recent well-received production of Excess Unwanted Growth, said working with a fledgling group means “everyone does everything they can to make it work.
“We’ll be working with themes similar to the harder-hitting Laramie. It’s not lighter fare, but it’s also pretty much PG-13,” he said. “When it comes to the British humour side, it’s not the farce, the Fawlty Towers thing. It’s more character-based, more the situation and conversation between the characters. More Monty Python, surreal humour.”
Since the company is just stepping out into the limelight, it is also very open to having would-be actors, technicians, designers and playwrights step up to the plate and “give it a go.”
“We are very, very open to new talent,” Jabour said. “We’re trying to build a base of actors as well as an audience base. Even if you have never done anything on stage before, we’re certainly willing to have you give it a shot.”
“Not to worry,” Mason-Brown added. “Come on out. We need lots of help.”
Morton said the first production, in undertone at least, mimicked a slightly skewed version of The Odd Couple, and “was well received.”
“We were pleased with the results, and we had a decent-sized audience. Considering it’s our first time out, and considering our budget,” she said.