Oldest theatre team in Western Canada marks 100 years – Lethbridge

At 1st glance, Lethbridge isn’t the first place you’d expect to see a booming historic theatre scene, but for the final century, The Playgoers of Lethbridge have been bringing an array of entertainment to audiences in the windy town.
The beginner theatre group’s humble beginnings started on Jan. 20, 1923, when founder E. G. Sterndale Bennett held a meeting at St. Augustine’s church and only a person human being attended.
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Elaine Jagielski, current president of Playgoers, stated from there they immediately acquired a lot more than 800 users. The group is viewed as the oldest beginner theatre group in Western Canada and a single of the oldest in the region.
“If you consider of the inhabitants in the late ’20s and early ’30s and to have 800 persons belong to… The Playgoers Club, that is a rather sizeable chunk that ended up interested,” mentioned Jagielski, who’s been a member for 25 decades.
“(The team has been) through wars, via various fiscal situations, and even as a result of COVID-19 most just lately,” said Jagielski, reflecting on the troubles the group has gone as a result of.

The club currently has 100 members and carries on to deliver a whole time of reveals each yr.
To rejoice a century, the Playgoers have a total schedule of activities, like hosting the provincial a single-act pageant in Could.
“I want to be a aspect of earning sure this legacy proceeds,” reported Shelley David, secretary of the Playgoers of Lethbridge.
The group is at this time in rehearsal for their initial creation of the year, The Perform That Goes Completely wrong, opening at the Yates Memorial Theatre on Feb. 7.
“We have the similar high-quality in Lethbridge, and I consider that has normally been disregarded,” claimed David. “My hope is that with the centennial 12 months and the excitement that is bordering that will help enhance the notion that you really do not have to drive to Calgary to see a terrific display.
“You just have to head to the Yates.”
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