Koogle Theatre goes 'Into the Woods' this evening and on the 28th and 29th

By Pepper Parr

May 27th, 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

The new normal – we are seeing more and more of it in the community.

The hospitality sector took a terrible beating – some just disappeared others will struggle for years to recover what they lost during the 20 months of very very dire times.

The arts didn’t fare that much better.  The smaller groups did what little they could; the Art Gallery and the Performing Arts Centre survived because they were publicly funded.

Two groups have reappeared.  Drury Lane Theatre has a production (I LOVE YOU, YOU’RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE) on the go June 3rd to the 26th; and and KooGle  has a production that hits the stage this evening and runs to the 29th.

Matthew Pichocki as the baker with his wife

KooGle is in the finals stages of opening the curtains.

We spent some time when KooGle  was doing a bit of a dress rehearsal and a run through of Into the Woods Jr.

Matthew Pichocki explained the Jr to me.  “The full length play gets a little dark during the second half, we are doing the shorter version – thus the Jr.

The story is about a husband and wife who want children; there is a wicked witch and four things the couple has to do to have the witch remove the curse that was on the house of the couple that wanted children  They were bakers.

In order to have the baby they wanted the baker and his wife had to go into the woods and find four things.

That cow is certainly white

A cow as white as a milk

A cape as red as blood

Hair as yellow as corn

Slippers that gleamed of gold

The baker and his wife meet these demands – there was a time limit and that is the mystery of the story that those in the theatre will take home with them.

KooGle has been had an active youth program since 2017.  They didn’t have a home for a number of years – just before the pandemic took over the lives of all of us they found as location that was perfect and once they felt the worst of the pandemic was behind them they signed the lease.

Putnam County Spelling Bee was very well received.

In the past KooGle has put on some exceptionally fine work – their version of the Putnam County Spelling Bee was very well received.

During the pandemic KooGle actually pulled off doing Cinderella virtually.  Perfect, certainly not but as Matthew explained it was an experience and was more like a movie – a lot of the acting ended up on the cutting room floor.

Leslie and Christopher Gray

In January KooGle put out a call for people who wanted to take part in a theatrical production.  There were then classes in dance, voice and singing.

These were classes followed by a workshop out of which came the selecting of the cast and crew for Into the Woods.

A dress rehearsal means finding something that fits.

Leslie Gray and her husband Christopher were professional performers who thought Burlington needed a place where young people could train and take part in theatrical productions.

The young people that become part of a production quickly become a team where they support each other – watching them as the wait for their turn in a rehearsal you see how they work together – they learn, they are in a safe environment and they have fun.

In the worlds of theatre you eat when you can.

The students range from 8 to 18; some have been with KooGle since 2017.   KooGle was formed in 2008.  Several are looking at careers in theatre others want to teach drama at high school.

The next opportunity for new students to get a taste for theatre is a workshop in June.

We will tell you more about that event.