By Erin Knutson

Cranbrook Community Theatre (CCT) has done it again with its Studio Stage Door comedy of Here on the Flight Path, directed by local Peter Schalk and written by Norm Foster.

“As the CCT enters its 60th year of presenting theatre and the 50th year of stewarding this building, I decided to venture into an area that I thought I would never step foot in – directing,” said Schalk of delving into this project as a newly minted director.

He dedicates the production to his mentors: Paul Kershaw, Terry Miller, David Stock and Tanya Laing-Gahr.

“Many thanks to all of you for this “Wonderful Journey,” he said.

Touching and funny, Schalk doesn’t disappoint in this rendition of Here on the Flight Path, as the audience can expect to laugh, cry, sigh, and cringe during its three acts.

The delightful cast is a duo of Elena Hark, who plays Faye, Angel and Gwen. In contrast, Schalk plays the character of John Cummings, a divorcée, bachelor, and columnist who writes ‘Cummings and Goings’ for a local newspaper in Toronto.

Situated on the top floor of an apartment building near the airport, Cummings and a trio of strange, fascinating, unique, and lovable women who live in the neighbouring apartment and frequent the balcony on the fourth floor at separate times interject themselves into his quiet bachelorhood along a chronology of three years from 1997, 1998 and 1999.

Cummings/Schalk finds himself as the older and slightly awkward bachelor figure in the drama unfolding in the lives of the three women.

Faye is a high-class escort (prostitute), Angel is a plucky actress-singer with no experience trying to break into the industry, and Gwen relocated to Toronto to start over from the West Coast.

Hark does an exceptional job in these diverse roles, bringing vibrancy and energy to the table as she slowly enters the heart of Cummings and the audience.

“Faye, Angel, and Gwen all have such different personalities and unique journeys that they undergo in a pretty short period,” said Hark.

The single set is effectively offset by costume changes, lighting, and sound as the characters interact, often crossing the boundary of their private balconies while discovering, negotiating, chasing, or learning about one another.

“Norm Foster does an impressive job of balancing comedy and seriousness in each act, creating characters with a surprising depth and colour for being on a stage for just one act,” she said.

Over time, and as the plot develops, Cummings becomes a quiet encourager, a platonic friend, and a confidant to each woman.

Softening from a slightly disgruntled and jaded journalist to a loveable figure in their lives, Cummings’ interaction with the women changes them all inextricably as the story unfolds.

Here on the Flight Path will be playing at the Studio Stage Door on Feb. 8-11 and Feb. 14-17.

Tickets are available for purchase at www.cranbrookcomunitytheatre.com

Erin Knutson photos

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