Olds Koinonia Christian School's drama production this week tells the story of a middle-aged man trying to out-manoeuvre his daughter's attempts to put him in a home.
The play is called If the Good Lord's Willing and the Creek Don't Rise, written by Pat Cook in 1995.
The main character is Joe “Doc” Babcock, a retired judge in his 50s. He is authoring “books of nonsense,” which are filled with bits of humour and personal philosophies.
Enter his daughter, Charlotte Dinsel. Convinced her father has gone senile, she conspires with a lawyer to institutionalize him and take his property.
“And he is so gung-ho not to give in and he wants to stay who he is and keep his house. So it's a comedy about that,” said Kaitlyn Schnell, whose OKCS drama class is putting on the show.
This will be the second year Grade 11 student Katelyn Spreeman performs in an OKCS production.
Spreeman, from the Bowden area, plays Charlotte, who's described as a conniving and sinister character. Last year, she played both Mother Meg and Salome in Robin Hood.
She enjoys taking on Charlotte's persona, which allows her to act in a way she never would in real life.
“I'm more of a quiet kind of person. Charlotte gets mad easily so that's different from my personality,” she said. “You don't have to be yourself in drama.”
There will be three performances, all at 7 p.m.
The first is on Dec. 9, then Dec. 11 to 12.
Tickets are on sale for five dollars at the school office or at the door.
Schnell's class includes students from grades 10 to 12. They have been rehearsing since late September. There are nine main characters, plus a stage crew and several students who worked on costumes and the set.
“We chose this because it was a play the kids enjoyed reading,” Schnell said. “They just loved the script. They fell in love with Doc and how funny he was. There's a lot of wit and humour in it.”
