It howls, has tails and eats the fat off bones. The romantic comedy The Coyotes has taken over the gazebo at the Caravan Farm Theatre.
It’s set in a drought on a farm owned by three sisters, where the last well on earth resides. The main characters are three coyotes, one of which falls in love with one of the women.
“I kind of see him as a coyote magic revitalist activist, so he has come in and he has also found this love with one of the three daughters in this play, who I think is going to help him,” said Aaron M. Wells, who plays “White Shadow”.
“Every night I have to warm into my body because he is very confident and has a very big voice, so just warming into it. But putting on the costume itself, it’s a 20-piece costume, even though it doesn’t look like it. So every piece I put on, it’s getting into his style.”
With every piece, the actors transform themselves as they prepare to cast a spell on the audience at the rural theatre.
“It’s a very immersive experience, a very casual experience meeting high calibre, top of the line professional theatre,” said Estelle Shook with Caravan Farm Theatre.
“So you get this incredible mashup or collision of what is essentially an urban art form and is only accessible to people who live in urban environments right here, in the most beautiful North Okanagan, on a farm.
“It’s super magical and romantic and to enhance this setting we had these beautiful curtains… What they do is that they really like the book of a story the book covers they open and let you into this fantastical world. ”
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Behind one of the masks is the creator of The Coyotes.
“It’s got magic and it’s a little bit of a fairytale,” said Peter Anderson, playwright and the actor behind “Slobber Jaw”..
“I wanted to mix humour with my love for nature and land and I wanted a play that was celebratory while dealing with issues of how we treat the natural world.”
Not only is there magic on the farm and in the play, the actors say they have found power in the masks they wear when it takes over their being on stage.
The Coyotes runs until Aug.11 tickets are available at caravanfarmtheatre.com