Masks and musicals: not

There are no masks in the play anymore, but it will still be awesome.

Daffily Ever After makes its debut

Article: Robyn Tocker – A&C Editor

[dropcaps round=”no”]O[/dropcaps]ne year ago, Rebecca Lascue and Dakota Hebert stood in front of a group of the Globe Theatre’s finest and pitched an idea for a play. They were nervous and didn’t know the whole story. All they had was Herbert’s idea of a character named Conrad, and this idea got them to where they are now: a play being performed in the Globe’s Shumiatcher Sandbox Series.

Conrad-Roy: Daffily Ever After, directed by Ruth Smilie, is about a small town young man who wants to be an actor. Conrad, played by Hebert herself, starts telling the story as a boy growing up and his journey to be an actor. Lascue says it’s also about having those art tendencies in a small town environment.

“He goes to a conservatory acting class, meets a girl, and experiences trying to fit in and do what he loves.”

The co-writers both grew up in small towns so they drew from personal experience when coming up with the story for the play.

“We wanted to write a story that was fun and not too heavy, but something people could relate to, something people who had never seen a show could come and enjoy it.”

Being Lascue and Herbert’s first play since their graduation in 2012 from the Globe Theatre’s Conservatory class, Lascue says that while she is excited.

“It’s a pretty terrifying process. There also hasn’t been a shortage of challenges,” says Lascue.

“The first version of the script was almost a cartoon version of [Conrad]. Through all the drafts the story has developed. It took longer than we thought to get a rendition of a story that felt right.”

During the first week of their two-and-a-half-week rehearsal time, Lascue says they did a big rewrite that, although common for plays, was not expected.

Making sure the story didn’t sound corny was another concern for the ladies. And while having someone else to bounce ideas off of, when one of the two writers isn’t feeling it, or ideas just aren’t clicking, the process can be difficult.

“You and another person have to be on the same page. You come up with things you’d never have thought of on your own, but sometimes you aren’t on the same page and those are slow moving days.”

With challenges come successes, and Lascue says there have been some great times while getting this play onto the stage.

“Getting a script everybody liked. It’s no small feat to get something everyone likes. They all were really happy with. It felt really awesome.”

The hilarity that ensues during rehearsal, says Lascue, is another success for the team working on Conrad.

“Dakota plays Conrad and she made [Ruth Smilie] laugh so hard she was actually crying.”

Conrad isn’t only a comedy. Lascue, who has a background in music (along with an Honors in Psychology), has some of her music in the play. While it’s not a musical, the songs incorporated should make the play even more entertaining than it already sounds.

After seeing how the turnout is during its run from Jan. 30 until Feb. 8, Lascue says the play may go on tour up north.

“[Hebert] always wanted to take it to Meadow Lake and smaller communities up north. We would do more of a small town tour.”

Tickets for Conrad-Roy: Daffily Ever After are available now.

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