Jeff Madden, our director of The Open House, loves an intelligent comedy, something that’s witty with an
edge to it. According to him, this play has both. “I find that my cast matches my vision of the characters to a

great degree, so it pleases me to see it slowly unfolding.”

He says that this particular play has some challenges as well. “One of these challenges is to keep the humour

and the tension balanced in the first half and then drawing out the foreshadowed themes to balance with the

humour in the second half. It is fairly easy to make the play lean to one side or the other, to make it darkly or

lightly humorous whenever drawn in those directions, but there is love, hope, joy and deep frustration embedded

in all the relationships and those are the places where the real challenges lie.”

For Jeff, his love of theatre began in junior high school. “I wrote and directed my first play in grade 8, a comedy

about Santa Claus being kidnapped at Christmas time. We performed it for the student body and parents at a

school pageant. I stood peeking through the curtains from the side, watching the audience just as much as my

players. The thrill and nervousness I felt at that time cemented it for me and, from then on, all the rest of the

years of my schooling and through University I had to be in as many plays as I could.”

Although Madden considers himself predominantly an actor more than a director, he believes that there is a sense of anonymity to the role of director which suits him more, even though directing is much harder. “It gives me great satisfaction to learn that my performance or my directing has pleased the audience, but I don’t like to hear it directly because, strangely, I find it embarrassing to receive compliments. That characteristic in an actor is, probably, more common than you might think.”

Jeff highlights one of his past experiences in the world of theatre. “I loved doing a show called The House of Blue Leaves by John Guare at The Black Hole Theatre. I was a leading character and I had to learn to play passable piano for the role, something that’s difficult to do when you only have two months or so to put it all together while going to school full time. It was great fun working with everyone on that show and especially with the director, George Toles.”

His connection to WMT has offered him many great opportunities. “I don’t know why actors don’t flock to our theatre company for a chance to perform. I especially enjoyed acting as “Eddie” in A View from the Bridge directed by Alfred Wiebe. The character allowed for anger, jealousy, frustration, drunkenness, love and sadness in one performance. What an opportunity that was!”
 

After several decades, Jeff continues to be part of the local community theatre scene for good reason. “I could not make a living as an actor or director; other loves took precedence. But theatre fulfills that dream I had long ago and it still remains a passion. Theatre gives me an outlet for creativity. Yes, it is so much work! But to volunteer for the WMT and to do this work willingly and to help others find an opportunity to live a bit of their dream is satisfying. How many of us can contribute to the community in such a wonderful way? Community theatre is just as important as sports, in my opinion.”

While Winnipeg is vibrant with many local professional and community theatre organizations thriving in our city, Jeff has chosen Winnipeg Mennonite Theatre to fulfill his passion. “This theatre group has been doing plays for over 50 years! It was started by Mennonites and continues to involve many Mennonites who are lovers of theatre. But, it attracts everyone from everywhere. I encourage anyone who loves theatre to go see community theatre
productions. If your idea of going to the theatre is MTC, then you are missing out on so much! So, please come out to our production
of The Open House.”

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Monica Reis is the set designer for our upcoming production. Her role is to find furniture and static items to

dress the set so that it helps to fulfill the director’s intended vision of the play.

“It’s a lot of fun to shop around and create a room according to guidelines like time period, status of the

characters, a particular decorative motif or to prepare the set as a metaphor. I feel that the entire set can be

another character in the play.”

Like other veteran members of our company, Monica has been involved in theatre for many years. In 1982, she

was in grade 11 when she was cast as “Anne” in Cheaper by the Dozen, the oldest of 12 children and the rebel

of the family.

“Rehearsals were so much fun! I met people I may not have met otherwise and some are still friends to this day.

It was such a great community to be involved in. I remember one rehearsal when I finally nailed a line. The

director yelled, ‘That’s It!’ And I felt so good. I still remember the line: ‘I wish your job was selling shoes and you

only had 2 children, and neither of them was me!’ I thought at the time, ‘What a hurtful thing to say to a parent.’

But, at that moment, it was true to that character. It really felt good to find that truth as an actor.”

How did our set designer become involved with WMT? “In 1989, Helen Pankratz (an original member of our community theatre group) asked me if I would join WMT. I’ve never looked back. It’s been a wonderful part of my life and so fulfilling to volunteer doing something you love. The community is an extension of my family.”​

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As a regular actress on our stage, Monica was asked about some  fond memories she has had with WMT. “I’ve had great moments on stage – too many to mention. But I think the highlight came just 2 years ago when I finally wrote a play (instead of just teaching them). Recently retired as a high school English and Drama teacher, I figured I’d try to do what I had taught for 35 years – write! Producing that play and, in particular, seeing the response from the audience was surreal to me. I was proud, touched and really surprised!”

“On a lighter note, when I was acting in Improbable Fiction directed by Jeff Madden and playing three characters, at one point in the play, I came on the stage as the wrong character. Thank goodness for the other actors on stage. Lots of improv happened until I came back on as the correct character.”

What does the future hold for this veteran of WMT? “After The Open House, I will be directing my [award-winning] play, Wherever You May Be, in the Winnipeg Fringe Festival in July. I’m quite excited to have almost all the original cast back. It’ll be a lot of fun, I think!”

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