Laura Power
Northern News Services
Published Monday, November 12, 2007

INUVIK - It's been a good first year for the North of Normal Theatre Players in Inuvik.

Sandy Turner, the president of the group, felt the need for such an organization, and last fall, he decided to turn his ideas into reality.

Actor Colin MacGillivary holds director Mike Millen, as he demonstrates how he wants the actors to move during a scene. They are part of a production called A Pair of Lunatics playing in Inuvik Nov. 17.  Co-star Eliza Sorensen looks on. - Philippe Morin/NNSL photo

"There was nothing going on. There used to be a theatre group here in town, but it sort of fizzled out... so I wanted to do it," he said.

After some advertising, more than a dozen people joined up to form the North of Normal Theatre Players. The group met often and produced its first play last March.

"We really had a good response to it," said Turner, who said more people showed up every night during the three nights of performances.

"There's a core of about six or seven that do most of the stuff, and they all seem to have a fair bit of experience and interest in it," he said.

Colin MacGillivary is an active member of the group who joined not long after it formed. He had been involved with a theatre group in his home in Nova Scotia before moving to Inuvik.

"When I was originally coming up here, I thought I'd have to be the one to start a theatre group up here," he said. "Seeing that Sandy Turner had started a group was fantastic."

Along with being an actor, MacGillivary is also a board member and a behind-the-scenes player.

In the group's next production, which will take place later this month, MacGillivary plays one of the two characters, acting alongside Eliza Sorensen in A Pair of Lunatics. The one-act play tells the story of a man and woman who are invited to a ball at the mental hospital and wind up in a hilarious situation.

"It is going fantastic right now. Our director Mike Millen - he is fantastic," MacGillivary said. "It just really couldn't have been what it is without him on board."

The performance of this play will take place at the Midnight Sun Recreation Complex on Saturday, Nov. 17 in dinner theatre form. A prime rib dinner will be served by Mackenzie Boys Ltd., the new catering company in town.

The group has plans beyond this performance, too. Turner said that along with the possibility of putting on a play in the new year, they may give a performance of East 3, a play about Inuvik, during the town's 50th anniversary next year.