Ian Farthing

We all need to laugh. Life has many trials, complications and hurdles and laughter is often the best medicine. The wonderful world of Jeeves and Wooster created by P.G. Wodehouse offers us a welcome respite for a couple of hours.

There’s something endearing about the innocence of Bertie Wooster and something comforting about the constant, calm and efficient presence of his butler, Jeeves. Watching them, it helps us feel that no matter what goes wrong in the world, it can always be fixed – with a few chuckles along the way.

So sit back and enjoy these colourful characters, their silly scrapes and their wry wit – hopefully some of that enjoyment will spill over into your lives after you leave the theatre!

About Ian

Previously seen on stage at Chemainus Theatre Festival in A Christmas Carol and Jeeves in Bloom, this production marks Ian’s directorial debut in Chemainus. Other directing credits include award-winning productions of Macbeth, Othello & Two Gents of Verona at the St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival in Prescott, ON. His acting career has seen him perform in London and across Canada with Shakespeare’s Globe, Arts Club, Pacific Theatre & Mirvish Productions amongst others.

Hapless playboy Bertie Wooster (Warren Bain) and his save-the-day-valet Jeeves (Bernard Cuffling) in Jeeves Intervenes (photo: Cim MacDonald)

“great laugh-out-loud comedy”
Andrea Rondeau, Cowichan Valley Citizen – 15 Sept 2015

Cast hits comedic high in new ‘Jeeves’

An excellent cast will leave you with a big grin on your face as you leave the Chemainus Theatre following a performance of their latest production, Jeeves Intervenes.

Warren Bain and Bernard Cuffling reprise their roles as Bertie Wooster and all-knowing butler Jeeves, respectively, following on last year’s successful run with the classic P.G. Wodehouse characters in Jeeves in Bloom.

Bain is a bundle of energy, managing to make the shallow, unambitious and well-to-do Bertie someone we are both happy to laugh at, but also root for in his capers to avoid matrimony.

Cuffling as Jeeves is the comedic straight man to a “t”. His dry delivery is perfect as he reins in and directs Bertie’s life from the behind the throne, so to speak, but is nonetheless able to convey a sly wit. Behind the stoic facade the audience just knows he is rolling his eyes at the silliness around him, and we know he’ll fix it all in the end.

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Johnny Lee and
Katherine Melanie Diewert

September 11 to October 3

About Johnny Lee

Honoring the gift I was given, I draw in detail believing anything worth doing well takes patience, commitment and time. I choose realism, because for me it is a lot more challenging than doodling from my imagination; not the other way around. Chosen subjects evolve from memories I have as a boy.

A mother’s story of her ancestry coupled with the impact a grandfather had on this boy still today. The act of illustrating gives me peace, stillness, freedom, sense of accomplishment, purpose and pride. It allows me to exit the conceptual make believe reality of society and enter a place where time, meaning, rules and logic do not exist.

I am humbled of how nature can channel creativity through a body to a page. Drawing is in my nature and ma I never take it for granted.

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For Johnny Lee’s website Click Here

About Katherine Melanie Diewert

I was born an artist and have developed my skills through various courses and valuable instruction. My journey began in Winnipeg and I studied still life drawing, sculpture and Model drawing at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Advertising Art at Red River Community College where I first studied photography.

Art History at University of Manitoba.

I had the pleasure to teach photography with the Stuate Lelum College and also a freelance photographer.

I am a mother of two wonderful children who I draw much inspiration from and I have worked in dentistry for over 20 years.

Artists draw attention to details in life that sometimes are overlooked and make beauty out of nothing at all.

I hope you enjoy my images of the magnificent history of First Nations of Haida Gwaii.

From entanglements to entertainment. The beloved Jeeves is back!

Devotees and newbies, welcome to another madcap Chemainus Theatre Festival production featuring the work of British author P. G. Wodehouse. This fall, we bring you Jeeves Intervenes, a terrific episode in the thematic series about the unlikely duo of doddering, trouble-finding Bertie Wooster, and his save-the-day valet, Jeeves.

How much mischief can these two characters get into, and out of? There seems no end or answer to that question. Wodehouse produced thirty-five short stories and ten full-length novels about their wacky adventures together, each a fresh and familiar jaunt designed to accentuate the varied notions of friendship. The characters first emerged in magazine short stories in the 1910’s, and were published during periods of economic depression, war, and political and social upheaval. Through his series, Wodehouse presents the idea that the trials of external forces may be overcome by the longevity of human bonds, and a good dose of humour.

“What’s brilliant about Wodehouse’s writing”, says artistic director, Mark DuMez, “is the world he creates. He constructs a place to step outside reality for a moment and delight in a little absurdity.”

What Jeeves foregoes in epiphanies is more than made up for in buoyant entertainment (qualities said to be attributed to the author himself). Do not be fooled by the lightness of tone, however; the story is also rich with understated meaning. Amid the tomfoolery of the tale is a warm relationship between Bertie and Jeeves, a connection between the old allies that highlights the great assurance of friendship.

“With an indisputable charm,” suggests DuMez, “the Jeeves stories remind us that friends and family provide a timeless connection we can count on – quirks and all.”

It’s in this eccentric way that Jeeves Intervenes delights audiences. Confirmed bachelor Bertram Wilberforce Wooster and his old school chum Eustace Bassington are both desperate to escape their high-society fate – for “Bertie” an undesired marriage to Gertrude, and for “Bassy” an unwanted job in India (which he’d happily trade for Gertrude’s hand at the altar). To save themselves they must enact an outrageous scheme of deception and disguise. But before the duo can dodge the traps of meddling Aunt Agatha and Uncle Rupert, their plan spins wildly out of control. Only the quick-witted manservant Jeeves has a chance to rescue these bumbling fools from their unfortunate futures.

We hope you enjoy Jeeves Intervenes and thank you for taking the time away from sometimes-senseless reality for a gag that never spoils. Amid modish slang, shrewd insinuations, gratuitous abbreviations, bewildering metaphors, and delightfully lavish description, we invite you to let your imagination run wild as our wonderful cast and crew Intervene!

Cast of Twist and Shout

Popular music was never the same after the “British Invasion” of the 1960s. Many new artists with groovy new sounds – including four mop-top singers called The Beatles – arrived in North America, where an adoring public rocketed their music to the top of the charts. It’s been 50 years since the true “British Invasion” started in North America, but the radical fun remains in Twist & Shout: The British Invasion at the Chemainus Theatre Festival.

“Wonderful theater in a quaint little town.”
Reviewed 3 July 2015
Such a surprise to find such a large theater in such a small town. The shows are of a much higher quality than one might expect so far from major centers. When I came here from a large city I was a little apprehensive about the standard of the shows but they are all good and some would rival any production anywhere.

Twist & Shout is playing to the delight of many, from nostalgic baby boomers to younger generations who dig its “retro”-cool music, dance, trivia and vibe of the era. The top notch talented ensemble performs 64 all-time hits in this high energy, record breaking summer hit. This well-loved show is selling out to enthusiastic audiences in record numbers, with more than 80% of the performances sold out!

“Fantastic show Twist and Shout”
Reviewed 17 July 2015
The entire cast is to be complemented on this awesome production. The singing, dancing, band, interaction with the audience were superb. This production could easily go to Las Vegas and be a HIT!!! You found yourself singing with every number. Loved it! Loved it!

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