Priscilla Pringle just won’t die. But that’s all right with the Playgoers of Lethbridge, the Lethbridge amateur theatre troupe who have been performing their original half hour melodrama, Priscilla Pringle’s Predicament or All’s Swell that Ends Swell since 1975, and at the “In the Shadow of the Bridge Festival,” Sept. 5.
“We keep trying to put a stake through her, but people keep asking for her,” laughed playwright Ed Bayly.“I wrote it in 1974 and we’ve been doing it ever since. It’s even been done on TV and at Niagara on the Lake,” he continued, adding a member of a troupe in Niagara on the Lake asked if they could perform the production.
“And the next thing I knew I got a royalty cheque from the Ontario government,” he chuckled adding the play is one of the The Playgoers of Lethbridge’s favourites.
“It’s all written in alliteration so it’s almost like poetry. The alliteration is probably the main attraction. We’ll sit down at a barbecue or such and someone will throw out a line from the play and next thing you know we’ll be doing the whole play,” he said adding it will be slightly tweaked to reflect the bridge theme.“Maybe we’ll tie her to the tracks instead of tying her to the floor,” he mused.
The six cast (including one dressed as a dog) melodrama concerns Northwest Mounted Policeman of the Banff division, Sgt. Presson and his trusty dog Rex who track the villain Ferdinand Finkle, aka Grimshaw Grimes who has been bilking old ladies out of their savings for years. He is trying to get his hands on Priscilla’s mother’s money. In the process of investigating, Sgt. Presson falls for Priscilla. the fun begins from there and the troupe encourages audience participation as they are encouraged to boo the villain and cheer for Priscilla.
The Playgoers of Lethbridge perform at 2:45 during the festival.
— By Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor
