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theatre | by Jason Rothery If sometime over the next few weeks you happen upon a cartoon which seems to portray William Shakespeare wearing a wedding-dress and being wedgied as he skiis down a snowy slope, do not be alarmed. There's no need to consult your local psychiatrist, or renew that prescription - but rather consider yourself welcomed to Presentation House Theatre's fourth annual On The House Season. On the House is a series of three productions mounted by local independent theatre companies, but financed in partnership with Presentation House Theatre. Interested parties complete a package (not unlike your average grant application) in which they map out their entire process - from rehearsals to marketing to set construction - and include a script they are eager to produce. A Presentation House jury reads the scripts and applications and selects three projects for production, thereby creating a unique opportunity for local theatre artists to mount challenging, ambitious work without being overly burdened by picking up the tab, one of theatre's most prohibitive aspects. The past three years have seen On the House seasons marked by an eclectic array of work including Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, Tom Stoppard's The Real Inspector Hound, and Transit of Venus by Maureen Hunter. This season promises to be no different, by which it will be very different indeed. The first show of the season, running October 16th - November 1st is Wedgie, by me - a local playwright, and is the first locally produced play to be included in On The House. Wedgie was first mounted at the 2002 Vancouver Fringe, where it was one of the most highly attended shows of the festival. Created through a collaborative process by members of Upintheair Theatre Society (who produced the first annual Walking Fish Festival earlier this year), the script underwent significant development since its first incarnation, before being produced by Calgary's fledgling THEATREboom this past May. Wedgie is about a war between the grade sixes of Anderson Elementary and the grade sevens of Jacobs Junior High that comes to a head on May 16th, 1990 - the day of Jim Henson's death. Henson's imprint on successive generations - and on our society as a whole - is but one of the themes explored in Wedgie. More than a simple condemnation of war, Wedgie examines the addictive nature of conflict, the maintenance and abuse of power, and the growing pains we all must endure - and under the guise of pop-culture infused comedy no less. From January 8 - 31, 2004, Tuatara Works will produce one of the Bard's foremost gender-bending comedies: As You Like It. Seeking to infuse their production with a contemporary British Columbian flair, 4 September | October the company is setting their production in the soon-to-be Olympicsimmersed Whistler. (The play will still be performed at Presentation House, so no Sea-to-Sky Highway concerns are necessary.) From February 12 - 28, 2004 Horned Moon Productions is mounting Five Women Wearing the Same Dress by Alan Ball, creator of the renowned series Six Feet Under, and an Oscar-winner for his American Beauty script. Five Women is a poignant, insightful, and hilarious story of five bridesmaids united in their utter dislike of the bride. One of the unique challenges of producing such a diverse line-up is finding a common thread between shows, and a brainstorming session between companies yielded a simple centerpiece: the letter W. Gather your friends, buy your tickets and hold on to your seats as we present our bride-to-be Shakespeare in the midst of an unpleasant ginch pull, and bid you welcome to a stellar On The House lineup showcasing William, Weddings and Wedgies. On The House season subscription packages are available at Presentation House Theatre. Rates have stayed the same since last year - 3 plays for only $39 for adults & $30 for students and seniors. For more information, call Presentation House Box Office at 604 990 3474 or visit their website at www.phtheatre.org.