It’s been a hard couple of years for everyone, but in-person entertainment groups have had it particularly bad. Now, for the first time in nearly three years, the Russell Association for the Performing Arts (RAPA) is staging a play called “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change”. Director Debbie Guilbeault said it’s been fantastic to be back in person, but also challenging.
“There was a lot of focus on restaurants and retail stores of people out of work, but a lot of actors and people who worked in the industry as gig workers were the first out and the last to come back,” Guilbeault said. “It’s been really nice to get people involved in that again.”
Guilbeault described the play as a hilarious musical organized into a series of vignettes exploring different stages of relationships. The play is normally done with four actors taking on multiple roles, but this production will feature six. This leaves a little wiggle room in case one or two people fall ill and can’t perform.
“It’s actually the longest-running off-Broadway play,” said Guilbeault. “I had done it once before as the director at Ottawa Little Theatre, and coming back after the pandemic, the group didn’t want to take anything on that involved expensive sets.”
The play is set to open at 2 p.m. on November 12 at Russell High School, although the venue may need to change due to the potential education strike. The play will run for a week, starting at 7:30 p.m. after the first matinee performance. Tickets cost $25 regularly, and $18 for students and those 55 and over.
