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Nelson youth perform Alphonse at TNT Playhouse

Alphonse will be performed at the TNT Playhouse in Nelson on August 24, 25, 26, 30, and September 1 at 7:30 p.m.

Alphonse is missing and everybody is looking for him: his classmates, his family and the police.

Meanwhile, Alphonse is walking along a country road inventing the extraordinary adventures of Pierre-Paul René, “a gentle boy with a one-note voice who is never surprised by anything”.

A multi-layered tale which bounces back and forth between the search for Alphonse and the fantastic journeys of Pierre-Paul René, it delivers a powerful reflection on the joy and pain of being young and what is lost in crossing into adulthood.

This solo show is performed by Nelson’s Oscar Derkx, an acting student at the University of Alberta.

Derkx, veteran of many Capitol theatre summer shows (most recently as Fagan in Oliver), he directed this year’s musical The Pajama Game. He has also performed in such TNT productions, as Rain-Some Fish-No Elephants, Tramp and The Fantasticks.

“When I first read this script it struck me how much energy the performer would need to portray all these characters,” said director Adriana Bogaard, who also directed the popular solo show, The Santaland Diaries. “Oscar came immediately to mind — he is so enthusiastic and easy to work with.”

The play, by Governor General award winner Wajdi Mouawad, is a poetic, high energy tale that is appropriate for both older children and adults. Mouawad’s play Scorched was the basis for the 2009, Oscar-nominated film Incendies.

Alphonse will be performed at the TNT Playhouse (corner of Carbonate and Ward streets) on August 24, 25, 26, 30, and September 1 at 7:30 p.m.

There will also be two matinee shows: Sunday, August 26 and Saturday, September 1 at 2 p.m. There will be no show on August 31.

Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students 18 and under, and are available in advance at The Music Store, 580 Baker St.