In Focus: Pequot Lakes Community Theatre Presents ‘Enchanted April’

This month, the Pequot Lakes Community Theatre and leaders of Greater Lakes Area Performing Arts have been presenting their production of “Enchanted April,” a story of women who escape from from post-World War I England and depart for a holiday at an Italian villa.

After the passing of the initial director, Nancy Waller stepped forward and took over the show. She realized how many similarities the show has to the modern day, and how this story could be told and made relatable to the people of Minnesota.

“This play was written in 1920s and set in 1922. The Spanish [flu] pandemic or epidemic had just ended as well as World War I, the Great War ending,” said director Nancy Waller. “And I look at it as right now, we’ve just come out of the COVID pandemic as well as our wars in Ukraine. So I think those are similarities.”

A cast of eight veteran actors and a crew of 12 have been formed to put on the production. For the actors and actresses involved, they’re expected to be able to turn it on and off on stage and step into their roles.

“Acting is reacting. You try not to do that in real life because you can get yourself in trouble,” Waller said. “But when you’re on stage, you need to listen and you need to react to what is being said to you. And you need to become that person in order to know how to respond.”

Performances continue at the Pequot Lakes High School Theater on Saturday, Oct. 14 at 7 PM and Sunday, Oct. 15 at 2 PM. More information on the show and on purchasing tickets can be found on the Greater Lakes Area Performing Arts website.