The Bigfork Community Players, Bigfork’s adult amateur theater company, is producing a comedy developed from the ground up to get the community involved in theater.

“I’ve been active in community theater for over ten years,” said David Vale, a board member who has been at the forefront in promoting this initiative. “Community theater is a marvelous social opportunity for the adults in a community to get together and have fun producing something of value for their neighbors. But traditionally, theater may have been a bit intimidating to a newcomer. First, there was the audition, requiring the aspiring actor to perform in front of strangers who would judge his or her talent. Then there was the time commitment; usually 100 hours in rehearsal and more in line learning. And perhaps the general feeling that ‘Maybe I’m too old to try this’. We decided to break down these barriers.” 

It started with a play written by Vale, “Airport Grille,” that split the rehearsals up into groups. 

“There are twelve people in the cast and the size of the roles range from a single line to over a hundred lines,” said Vale. “So there’s a role of appropriate size for everyone. And while most plays may require participants to rehearse three or four nights a week, many of the roles in this play will only require one night a week.” 

The play centers around action in a small restaurant in the fictional town of Airport, Montana, and in offices in Chicago and Los Angeles, Vale explained. The casts of the three locations are mostly separate and will be able to rehearse separately.

“I began writing the play as a set of one-acts intended to be used as training tools,” Vale continued. “But the play grew into a full-length, three-act version that, at least in the opinions of the board of directors, read well enough to be presented as an entertaining full-length play.” 

“And we didn’t stop there. We’re not planning to do formal auditions for this play but, rather, a series of three workshops. We expect to use these workshops for both the audition and for trying out scenes from the play. If a scene doesn’t play for a small audience, we’ll rework it or eliminate it, rather than foisting it on a large audience. We hope to make the whole process informal and non-threatening. And, of course, fun!” 

The workshops are open to all, free of charge. They will be held on three consecutive Tuesdays starting Jan. 14, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at 33606 Quarter Circle Way in Bigfork. Rehearsals will begin Feb. 4, and the play will run for two weekends beginning April 18. For more information, see BigforkCommunityPlayers.com.