Sweet Delilah Swim Club

Story of joyful friendship comes to Mount Tabor

When Deb Smith brought the script of The Sweet Delilah Swim Club to the Prince Edward Community Theatre (PECT) board, everyone who read it were immediately entranced. Smith had seen the play about 15 years ago when she was visiting her sister in Florida and absolutely loved it. “It speaks on so many levels, particularly to women, about friendships that last forever, and I think we all wish we had a group of friends that we saw, whether it was yesterday or a year ago, and pick up where we left off. I just loved the humour in the play as well. Each character is so different and they each have moments of comedy and moments of seriousness, so I think it’s a great play for women to work on,” she said. Smith took on the role of director and convinced her husband, Mike Trites, to come on board as the producer. The couple had decades of experience in community theatre before moving to the County five years ago, and this is the third PECT production the Smith has been involved in. Trites’ responsibility is to provide the people and the resources to make the play happen, and he was amazed at the talent of the women who came out to audition and those chosen for the five roles. “It was absolutely delightful because all five of them are so talented and wonderful, and it makes the whole process so much easier. We’ve been really happy with the rehearsals and the work ethic they have,” he said. Both Smith and Trites say that community theatre helps to create a vibrant local arts culture, and they encourage people to give it a try, whether on stage or behind the scenes. “The arts are so important to everyone. It’s a chance to be creative and to do something different than we do in our other roles in our lives. Community theatre lets you work with other people in a team setting. We’re in this because we love it, and we’re in with a whole bunch of other people who also love it,” said Smith.

The play is set in a beachfront cabin called “Sweet Delilah” in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Five college friends who were part of an award-winning swim team meet every year on a long weekend in August. The rules are no men, no kids, and no work for a girls’ getaway weekend. The opening scene is set 22 years after graduation, and the women are at various stages in their lives. Team captain Sheree, played by Cheryl Singer, is the organizer of these weekends, and she is not above imposing her healthy lifestyle habits on the other four, particularly when it comes to appetizers and snacks, which are in a league of their own—but definitely not a league the other women want to play in. Vernadette, played by Paulina McMahon, is beset by all manner of hard times, and has decided to embrace them with grace and humour. Dinah, played by Lesley Snyder, is a very successful lawyer who travels everywhere with her own mini-bar, an indication that things might not actually be so rosy. Jeri Neal, played by Susan Mitchell, is thought to be the most stable, but in the opening scene her friends are shocked that her life has taken a 90-degree turn. The bubble in the champagne is Lexie, played by Lynne Donovan. She has never given up being the centre of attention, and lives life to fullest, with a succession of ex-husbands and an equally long string of cosmetic surgeries as she tries to hold on to her looks.

The play encompasses four weekends, the last scene being set 33 years after the first one, and follows the women through the changes in their lives, revealing more of their character, and showing that despite the arguments and jealousies that sprinkle through their times together, their friendship is enduring and ultimately brings joy to all of their lives.

The five actors have varying levels of stage experience, and Smith says they work well together. “This group of women have bonded together and helped each other along quite a bit. The people who are newer get lots of advice from the experienced actors. I carefully cast this play against ‘type’. I allowed the experienced actors to play someone completely different from their own personality, so they’ve really had fun trying to stretch themselves and become somebody completely different from what they normally have a chance to be,” she said. This will be the first time in a community stage play for Lynne Donovan, who plays Lexie. “I’ve been waiting my lifetime to do this,” she said. “Lexie is lovely and obnoxious. She is vain and she is frivolous, but underneath her mask is a lovely soft-hearted generous, caring person, but that doesn’t come through immediately. I really enjoy this role because it invites me to share my playful side and my flirtatious side.” She said she was a bit nervous at first to be working with the other actors who have had a wealth of theatre experience. “I’ve had a lot of learning to do. The rest of the cast are just wonderful to work with, and the director has just been so patient and generous. I’ve loved all of the work I’ve had to put into this.” Donovan is no stranger to public speaking, both extemporaneously and from prepared remarks. “I have a history of memorizing lines. By and large, memory work isn’t hard, except for all the little teeny words you might think, ‘Oh, I’ll just throw that word in instead,’ but here, if you don’t get the right word it won’t always end up where your lines need to go. It’s the little details in the script that you just have to nail so you don’t throw yourself or anybody else off.” She hopes that the message of this play will resonate with theatregoers. “It’s our friendships that keep us going over the years through thick and thin, and at the heart of the resiliency of these five friends was this really strong anchor that they had in this circle of friends.” There are five performances of The Sweet Delilah Swim Club at Mount Tabor Theatre on April 15 and 16 and on April 21, 22 and 23. For show times and tickets, please visit pecommtheatre.ca.