When Jesse Michek posted on Facebook asking if anyone would be interested in joining a theatre program in Quesnel, he expected a dozen or so responses. After hundreds of "likes" and reactions to his post he was feeling excited about the possibilities.
"Sounds like Quesnel really wants some live theatre back. I'm very happy to oblige," Michek said. When he lived in Quesnel previously, Michek was part of a small group who put on shows.
"We would go to Chuck Mobley, go to QJS, go to the old Maple Drive school and just throw something together," Michek said. In spite of just putting posters up around town, the shows still sold out regularly. Michek went to post-secondary for acting and performed in small films. After moving back to Quesnel in March, Michek spoke to some of his old troupe and got the ball rolling on something new.
"The feedback, the response to my post has been overwhelming," he said. "I've got a lot of people in my inbox that I got to reach out to." He said there's been responses from everyone from former drama teachers to puppeteers asking to help get involved and kick off a theatre program in Quesnel.
Michek is hoping to hold things like workshops and build up to plays. He said the ultimate goal would be to get local playwrights and artists involved to help create something special.
"The hardest thing right now is actually finding a venue," he said, adding places he has been looking into charge a steep price for a group that is just starting up. He is still continuing his search and will be talking to several other venues in the coming weeks and months to determine the best spot.
He said he's heard a lot of different suggestions and there are plenty of people interested in different aspects of being involved with theatre.
"We're just going to try things, see how they work and then we're just gonna boil this thing down into something," he said. One of his motivations is to bring more culture into Quesnel.
"The world's a pretty divided place right now and the only way to really bring people together is through community. And I think live theatre is one of the best ways to do that," Michek said.
He got into theatre as a high school student, he used it as a way to come out of his shell and become less shy and reserved.
"It was the most horrifying thing I've ever done in my life," he said. "I just fell in love with it. I was like 'this is so much fun' and I just carried on after high school." He said after that he couldn't let it go and continued on, eventually moving to Vancouver where he said there's an intensely competitive acting scene.
He's currently working on getting a logo and website set up for the group. He's settled on the name "Two Rivers Theatre House". He doesn't have a solid timeline of when workshops will start up yet, but is very excited about the prospect of getting theatre back to Quesnel.
