Five Women Wearing the Same Dress. The very thought strikes fear in the heart of any bridesmaid. Playwright Alan Ball must have had a wicked sense of humour when he wrote this script in 1993.
Set at the home of a bride in Knoxville, Tennessee, five bridesmaids who have just suffered through Tracey Marlowe’s overdone wedding, hide out in the bride’s sister Meredith’s room.
The play keys on five main female characters: Meredith Marlowe (played by Carrera Shroeder), Georgeanne Darby (Teresa Drew), Trisha (Belinda Williams), one of the bride’s former friends with a “bad” reputation, Frances the naive cousin (Melissa Lowe) and Mindy McClure (Kristen Hunt), the groom’s lesbian sister.
Despite their differences, the quintet discovers they actually have more in common with each other than they thought.
Cody Taylor is the lone male actor in this show, playing Tripp Davenport, an usher who falls for Trisha.
Naomi Boutwell, a newcomer to Port Alberni but not the stage, directs Five Women Wearing the Same Dress. She started her theatre career with Through the Looking Glass theatre company in the Comox Valley and performed at Arts Umbrella in Vancouver.
Boutwell has taught drama since 2000 in several different venues, according to her Portal Players bio.
Five Women Wearing the Same Dress runs Fridays and Saturdays at the Capitol Theatre until Feb. 27. Call the box office at 250-723-1195 or drop in at 4904 Argyle St. Monday through Thursday, 3–6 p.m.
Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for students/ seniors in advance, and $5 more at the door.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the curtain rises at 7:30 p.m.