Uproarious laughs mixed with social commentary against the background of Valentine’s Day. Gramps and Gran yearn for the romance of their younger days while their daughter-in-law, Paulette, and her husband deal with his lack of interest in sex. Meanwhile, Paulette’s daughter, Jacqui, is being coached to dress trampily to attract men by her Aunt Jean.
Genre: Comedy
Acts: Three
Running Time: 90 minutes
Characters: 2 male, 4 female:
- George “Gramps” Dyck: acerbic, grumpy, 70-ish
- Mildred “Gran” Dyck: sweet, ditzy, 70-ish
- Henry Dyck: unromantic, frugal, 45-ish
- Paulette Dyck: yearns for romance, 45-ish
- Jean Witherspoon: Paulette’s trampy sister, 40-ish
- Jacqui Dyck: College student, looking for Mr. Right, 25-ish.
Setting: an older house in a small North American city in modern times
Production/development history: This play debuted in May of 2013 with the Calmar Prairie Players at the Calmar Legion.
A device for great comedy in The Dangers of VD (Valentine’s Day) is Gramps’ “motorized walker” which is simply a plain walker with various mechanical-looking adornments on it and sound effects. The actor simply acts as if it is motorized.
Royalties: contact Chris McKerracher / 780-985-2267
Playwright Bio: Chris McKerracher is an Alberta-based playwright with many productions to his credit beginning with “Calmar; Zero to 50 in 90 Minutes” which was staged to sell-out audiences in 2005. This play and the playwright were also featured in a segment on CBC News. Since then, Chris has written many other comedies and has acted and directed in most of them. He has written plays for Halloween, Valentines, Christmas and a four play quadrilogy featuring The Crimson Cap Ladies, patterned after the Red Hat Ladies who are dedicated theatre-goers. For more information on the playwright and his plays, please visit www.communitytheatreplays.com.
