Beyond the Sea

New romantic comedy from Festival Players

Two people meet on a small-town pier for their first date, and even though they are at diametrically opposite points in their lives, it becomes an irrevocable moment for a new beginning. That’s the premise of Festival Players’ latest production, Beyond the Sea, which starts today and runs until September 4 at the outdoor pavilion at The Eddie Hotel and Farm. The play, written by Kristen Da Silva, is performed by Jane Spence and Jeffrey Wetsch, and is directed by Derek Ritschel. Spence and Wetsch are classically trained actors, and are a couple in real life. They met some 20 years ago at Stratford when they were in the same acting company. Spence was wearing an eyecatching costume in a play, and Wetsch said “Now, there’s a girl I want to meet!” They have since appeared in a number of plays together, including Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet and Death of a Salesman, and this will the third time they have performed Beyond the Sea. They say that the rehearsal process goes much faster because they already have this well-developed professional relationship. “We’ve been in different emotional spaces with each other, so we know when a character sounds true,” said Spence. The pavilion at The Eddie is ideally suited for this play because it is written to be outside. “That just adds to the magic,” said Wetsch. “The environment becomes a qualifier of the experience. It tends to dictate what the play is going to be like that day.”

(L-R): Jane Spence plays Gwen and Jeffrey Wetsch takes on the role of Theo in the romantic comedy Beyond the Sea, now on the pavilion stage at The Eddie Hotel and Farm.

Spence, Wetsch and Ritschel all went through theatre school, and while the first two began their careers on the stage, Ritschel started off as a television and film actor, with a recurring role in Sesame Park as well as in role in the US TV series Doc. After about 10 years in the industry, he realized it no longer brought him the same excitement and joy. A phone call to his agent landed him an audition for stage play in Port Dover, and he hasn’t looked back. After a short while, he moved to directing, and he has worked with Spence and Wetsch for a number of years.

He enjoys the challenges of directing and bringing the playwright’s intentions into focus. “I like getting a script and figuring out what the playwright was trying to say. I feel like I really want to know what the characters are thinking and why should anyone sit for two hours and listen to this,” he said. “I love entertaining audiences. I have a few tricks in my back pocket about how to make an audience laugh.”

Because they have worked together over a number of years, there is an easy rapport between Spence, Wetsch and Ritschel. They will spend a fair amount of time talking about the characters and how to bring them to life on stage, and how to connect with the audience. “The two people in this play are at completely polar opposites of their life experience at that moment. But even with that difference, there is a centre for those two people to connect on,” said Ritschel. “That’s something to keep in mind. There’s a lot of divisiveness in the world, but there is a centre for everyone, and it really could be quite beautiful.” For performance times and tickets, please visit festivalplayers.ca.