Rosebud Theatre brings back a favourite

By Laureen F. Guenther Times Contributor

The Kite, a comedy by Canadian author and playwright W. O. Mitchell, will be performed at Rosebud Theatre this summer, 14 years after it was first produced there. The show runs June 7 to Aug. 31.
Daddy Sherry of small-town Saskatchewan is about to turn 117 years old. He’s the oldest man in the world and the whole town is planning a party. The queen has sent a note. CBC Radio is coming to do an interview. Everyone wants to celebrate. Everyone that is, except Daddy Sherry.
Nathan Schmidt, who played Daddy Sherry in Rosebud Theatre’s first production of The Kite in 2005, is reprising the role this summer.
“(Daddy Sherry) is just sitting in the yard and he’s just making trouble,” Schmidt said. “He doesn’t like how everyone treats him like an old man. He feuds with the neighbour dog, Timmy. He doesn’t like the (neighbours) too much. He’s got a lot of opinions and he states them pretty strongly.”
And Daddy Sherry is determined to thwart every bit of the plans for his birthday party.
“He says, ‘Well, I’m just going to die then,’” Schmidt said. “He’s not even going to make it to his 117th birthday, just to spite everyone.
“He’s got a life in him. It’s just that he can’t do very much anymore. Or at least he’s not allowed to do much anymore. ‘I want to drive the car again. I want to smoke my cigars.’ He’s got a gun that he wants to have that nobody lets him have anymore. He’s driving people crazy just because it’s fun.”
Schmidt finds it both intimidating and hopeful to reprise a role that was so popular the first time around.
“He (Daddy Sherry) really captured something at the time, and audiences just loved it,” Schmidt said. “This characterization that we found in rehearsal really delivered this old guy for people, and really allowed people to connect to the story.
“The jokes just line up and pile up on each other until the theatre would just roar.”
Schmidt hopes this summer’s audiences will again “have a ball.” He also hopes the life he’s experienced since that first production will inform his second portrayal. He’s lost two of his grandparents and has become a husband and father.
He also carries the stories of people whose lives resonated with the show.
After one performance, a woman told him her story. She was looking after her elderly mother, and she said it was the hardest thing she’d ever done.
“She talked about the fight every day, the fight and the discomfort and the difficulty,” Schmidt said. “(The Kite) gave her a perspective on what was going on for her mother.”
After seeing the show, the woman told Schmidt, she could go back to her challenging task refreshed.
“It’s really a human being fighting for their independence and respect,” Schmidt said.
Rosebud Theatre invites all centenarians to receive complimentary tickets to The Kite.
The Kite will be performed in Rosebud’s Opera House, June 7 to Aug. 31. Tickets come with a buffet meal. Some ticket-only seats may be available. See rosebudtheatre.com or call 1-800-267-7553.