Czech-born British playwright Tom Stoppard once said, “Words are sacred. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little."
This summer, a local writer was able to nudge the world a little when the Garboldisham Amateur Dramatic Society, based out of Garboldisham Village in Norfolk, England chose to produce one of her plays.
Laurie Hodges Humble's taste of international success began a few years back when she reconnected with an old friend, Steve Wilcockson, on Facebook.
The two had been friends many years ago in Vancouver, and he was now living in his native England.
"Steve and his wife are very active with the local amateur theatre group in their hometown," said Hodges Humble. "He contacted me and said that their group was entering a theatrical competition and was wondering if I had any plays that they could perform."
Hodges Humble sent him a one-act play she had penned, a paranormal murder mystery entitled Murder by the Book. Her friend loved it.
The company was unable to perform the play for the competition, unfortunately, but decided instead to stage it separately for a local summer festival a short time later.
The play was such a smashing success, that the group is now considering performing it again for a competitive one-act festival sometime in the fall or winter season.
Hodges Humble thinks that the play's success may have been aided by the fact that the play preceding its premiere was a very serious piece set during the First World War.
"It may be that the audience was just ready for a laugh by that time," she said, "but I was told they were rolling in the aisles, they were laughing so hard." Her friend Wilcockson portrayed the villain in the play, and he assured her that he was suitably creepy in the role.
The lesson to be learned from this experience, said Hodges Humble, is never lose touch with your friends. "I'm a relative newcomer to social media, and he found me on Facebook. We've kept in touch over the years but it is much easier now to stay connected."
The British premiere of Murder by the Book was not the first time the play has been staged by amateur theatre. Central Alberta Theatre in Red Deer also performed the piece to a very receptive audience during a one-act festival last spring.
Of her international debut, Hodges Humble said she feels honoured. The experience has encouraged her to continue with her writing efforts. She is currently working on a novel based on another play she wrote, The Poplar Grove Ladies Club, which was performed last winter at the Dickson Store Museum. "I've been struggling a bit with which character should tell the story," she said. "I know you have to change the piece significantly when you go from stage format to novel format, but it has been a real struggle. Maybe there will have to be more than one point of view in the finished book."
In the meantime, Hodges Humble plans to spend more time where mainstream writers share their ideas so she can learn more about the craft. "I have to become disciplined and have a little more faith in myself," she said, "but I look forward to learning everything I can."
However the most important lesson she has learned to date she intends to continue to put into practice -- keep in touch with those old pals.
