By Norm Foster
Directed by Jo-Ann McCabe
By arrangement with Playwrights Union of Canada

It is Ruth and Jack Tisdale's twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. To celebrate the occasion they are having a night out- dinner and the theatre. Jack didn't really want to go- he's more a baseball and hardware man. Ruth thinks it's time to make changes, get a little culture in their lives and put a little zip in their marriage.

She has lucked into a great set of theatre tickets that lets them mingle with the elite of the theatre world in the V.I.P. lounge before the play and during the intermission. That's where the fun begins.

Opening Night by Norm Foster, one of Canada's favourite authors, is a play within a play. It's a toss up as to which is funnier- the performance taking place "on stage" or the one unfolding in the VIP lounge.

Among the characters that add sparkle to this hilarious play are Richard Hyde-Finch (the director) and Cilla Fraser (his girlfriend), Michael Craig (a has-been), Clayton Fry ("Big Daddy"), Libby Husniak, (the ingénue) and Tom Delaney (an aspiring actor).

With his sympathetic treatment of dysfunctional relationships, imperfect people and uncomfortable situations, Norm Foster manages to touch a soft spot inside you even as you laugh uproariously.

"It's the stories that touch an audience's heart as well as its funnybone that are the most rewarding."
Norm Foster

Performed by Phoenix Players on November 25-27, 2004