Michele Gaudet
Featured Volunteer – July 2021
My first show as a cast member with Bedford Players was Sorry! Wrong Chimney! in 2009, but I had been in the audience for a few years prior to that. BP seemed to be a community theatre group that was known for producing entertaining shows, and so I auditioned and that was the start of it. Since that first show in 2009, I have been cast in several shows, and I also have done front of house activities and backstage with the make up team. I’ve been on the Executive Council since 2010 as a member at large and artistic director.
I really enjoy running the play reads, which is an event we hold once a month. Play reads are essentially just what it seems, we gather together and take part reading a script. Sometimes the scripts are in consideration for us to produce, but most are just for fun. The participants are often people who have no intention of being on stage, and this can be a great way for new members to become involved, as there is no cost and the only time required for the participants is the couple of hours on that evening. During the past 15 months we have had to pivot a bit; many of our play read events were held online over Zoom. It’s not an ideal way to do this, but it got us together once a month, and it kept a regular event on BP’s calendar, making us think about theatre and helping us believe it will come back again in a way that we can participate in person.
For anyone thinking about joining BP I would say definitely come out and give it a try. If you have limited time right now, you could attend a play read, sign up for the newsletter and see when volunteers are needed for Front of House for the next show; each of those is an obligation for one evening. If you feel you might want to commit more time, there are many opportunities for each production that have a little or a lot of time required. Some can be done at home, some need to happen during performances, some need to happen during rehearsals, some need to happen at every rehearsal. Just reach out to us and we can have a chat and see what might be a good fit for you.
