Sarah Heyman and Jerry Callaghan co-star in Bema Productions\u2019 Same Time, Another Year, which opens July 17 at Congregation Emanu-El\u2019s Black Box Theatre. (photo from Bema Productions)<\/i><\/p>\n
From July 17 to 28, Bema Productions will be staging Same Time, Another Year<\/i>, the sequel to Bernard Slade\u2019s Broadway hit Same Time, Next Year<\/i>, at Congregation Emanu-El\u2019s Black Box Theatre.<\/p>\n
The sequel catches up with Doris and George, who, in the first instalment, have carried on a long-standing love affair \u2013 meeting each other for a weekend once a year despite being married to others. Same Time, Another Year<\/i> starts on their 25th anniversary, in 1976, and continues through their subsequent February rendezvous over the next 17 years.<\/p>\n
The pair are now in their late sixties, faced with the responsibilities and consequences of life, all the while reexamining love beyond their annual assignation and the romance contained within it. Told in six scenes, and against the backdrop of the late 20th century, their affair and their perspectives on their relationship evolve and change. Along the way, there are illnesses, career successes and setbacks, second marriages, second families, and grandchildren.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew that many of our patrons would remember Same Time, Next Year<\/i> and, like me, wonder what happened to George and Doris 25 years later. I have had quite a few [people] tell me this since the advertising went out,\u201d said Zelda Dean, founder and managing artistic director of Bema. \u201cMaybe because I am \u2018that age,\u2019 the play spoke to me, as it addresses what we all have to face as we age \u2013 the fears that everyone has about their health and about losing the ones we love.\u201d<\/p>\n
Doris and George form a special bond beyond the bedroom, one with its own sincerity. Further, they provide a kind of gauge for what happens in the other\u2019s life.<\/p>\n
Dean told the Independent<\/i> that what she likes most about the play is the unique relationship that develops over the many years, although the characters only meet once a year. She feels that audiences will enjoy the continuation of their journey.<\/p>\n
Dean added that it has been a delight to work with the two leads, Sarah Heyman and Jerry Callaghan, whom she described as two very gifted actors. Both have been in the business for several years and are also close friends, which, Dean explained, made it easier for them to portray the relationship between the couple.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cA \u2018two-hander\u2019 is always a challenge for the actors. Of course, many lines have to be learned and there is never time for a break on stage,\u201d Dean said. \u201cThis particular play has six scenes, mostly four years apart. This means the actors have to change their costumes in two minutes or less. Much harder than one would think, especially standing in the wings.\u201d<\/p>\n A Canadian playwright and actor, Slade created two popular television series in the late 1960s and early 1970s, The Flying Nun<\/i> and The Partridge Family<\/i>. He also wrote for Bewitched<\/i> and The Courtship of Eddie\u2019s Father<\/i>, among others. He began his career as an actor, performing in more than 200 plays on stage, radio and television, in regional theatres around Toronto and on camera for the CBC.\u00a0 <\/span>By the mid-1970s, Slade turned his comedic focus to the stage and wrote more than a dozen plays.<\/p>\n One of the most produced and successful two-person plays, Same Time, Next Year<\/i> opened on Broadway in March 1975, originally starring Ellen Burstyn and Charles Grodin, and ran for more than 1,400 shows during the course of nearly four years. It toured across the United States, played in London and was translated into several languages. It was adapted into a film in 1978 that featured Burstyn and Alan Alda.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It has been said that Slade\u2019s strength as a writer derives from his ability to fill the characters\u2019 lives with events of great richness and depth, and still maintain the easy lightness so important to a romantic comedy \u2013 with strong dialogue and a consistent, realistic and emotional tone. The theme of Same Time, Another Year<\/i>, as well as the original, is that few (if any) relationships fit into neat boxes, and each has its own rhythm and place in people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n