Playgoers celebrates 100 years of theatre

By Lethbridge Herald on April 24, 2023.

Herald photo by AL BEEBER Playgoers of Lethbridge president Elaine Jagielski talks to audience members at the Sterndale Bennett Theatre Friday as the troupe launched its 100th anniversary celebrations.

Al Beeber
LETHBRIDGE HERALD

For 100 years, Playgoers of Lethbridge has entertained audiences and on Friday some of its most well-known members were out in force at the Sterndale Bennett Theatre to honour the theatrical troupe’s milestone anniversary.

George Mann, Lee Prindle, Sheila Matson, Rita Peterson and others packed the stands of the the theatre for speeches before heading out into a cloudy and cool late afternoon for the unveiling of a centennial plaque by current president Elaine Jagielski.

Emcee Mark Campbell gave a shout-out to audience member and centenarian Catherine Thompkins who he pointed out was alive when Playgoers was formed, an acknowledgement that drew a huge round of applause.

Playgoers has always provided its own brand of theatre for audiences, making it a beloved institution in the city and on Friday dozens of people showed their love for the troupe at the theatre named after the Playgoers founder.

In a talk to the crowd, mayor Blaine Hyggen related the Playgoers’ history.

“It almost doesn’t seem possible, a hundred years,” said the mayor.

The first mine was opened by Sir Alexander Galt here in 1882, he said, and the city was incorporated in 1906.

“Think about what was happening in those days. World War One was just about to happen and not too long after this war, Lethbridge Playgoers was formed,” he said.

He said the formation of Playgoers was a welcome relief from the issues and horrors of the times.

“E.G. Sterndale Bennett and H.W. Church first met January 20, 1923” after Church responded to a letter Bennett submitted To The Herald, he said.

Within a short time, Playgoers had grown to 800 members, he said.

The mayor recalled when the Playgoers performed in the Dominion festival, adjudicators would come from England to judge their performances.

He said the community “should be thanking them for their laughter, tears, and gift of live theatre. I truly hope the first hundred years is only the beginning.” 

Blackfoot Elder Mike Bruised Head said his people have been singing its own songs for probably for 50,000 years and hitting the hand drums that long, as well.

He said he hoped to see Indigenous people some day be a part of Playgoers and talked about his family’s own role in the arts.

“Those are gifts that we have and we have a lot of native artists . . .in all the facets of the arts from drawing, acting, singing everything. And the next 50 years, the next 100 years, having sort of a Blackfoot theme in your plays, in your productions, I think that will really transform this community,” he said.

Jagielski thanked the audience for coming out to celebrate the occasion.

She acknowledged the work of Sterndale Bennett and those who shared his vision in the community.

“What began so many years ago has endured for a variety of reasons and to which are owed many thanks. First of all, a thank you to the many individuals over the years who have wanted to express themselves through the dramatic arts, whether that be directing, acting, producing, set design, set construction, set dressing, backstage roles, front-of-house roles, properties, costumes, makeup, promoting events and more.

“There’s a great admiration and respect for the individuals who have desired to share their talents and abilities in order to express their creativity and allow for opportunities of community connection, engagement and exploration, by providing entertainment that has ranged from the serious to the comedic. 

“Theatre plays so many roles within society and cultures. Perhaps even that of promoting compassion. Especially during these times, a quote by Tennessee Williams says it well: ‘The theatre is a place where one has time for the problems of people to whom one would show the door if they came to one’s office for a job.’ Secondly to the many boards who have provided good governance that have allowed us to be here this very day, celebrating this event, having made it through times and events that unfortunately other organizations have come and gone.”

She singled out Mann who has been part of Playgoers for the majority of years it has existed, which also prompted a huge round of applause.

Mann, she said, wrote a book about Sterndale Bennett, which she called an interesting read.

Sterndale Bennett was the grandson of an English composer named Sir William Sterndale Bennett. He not only formed Playgoers but also the Alberta Drama Festival.

Lastly, Jagielski thanked the community for supporting Playgoers.

“To community members such as yourselves who have chosen to support the arts in the varied, many ways that you do, on behalf of the Playgoers of Lethbridge we thank you for your support as what we have done and what we continue would not be fully possible without it.

“We look forward to doing what we do and sharing it with you and for many others for years to come,” added the troupe president.

Mann, in his book “Theatre Lethbridge: A History of Theatrical Production in Lethbridge Alberta (1885-1988),” wrote that in 1923 “since there was very little foundation in western Canada for the establishment of local professional theatre, concerned amateurs took up the challenge. 

“Fortunately for Lethbridge, Ernest Gaskell Sterndale Bennett was willing and able to to provide the necessary artistic leadership so that Lethbridge was able to secure an honorable place in the Little Theatre movement that began to sweep across the prairie provinces. . .The Playgoers Club of Lethbridge, established by E.G. Sterndale Bennett and H.W. Church in the spring of 1923, was truly representative of the Canadian Little Theatre.”

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