The future looks bright for the Foothills' newest theatre troupe.
The Erratic Players are starting the new year strong after the overwhelming success of their latest production, A Sundance Carol, at the Twin Cities Hotel & Saloon in Longview.
The Players' first production, Murder at Twin Cities, brought a murder mystery to the Longview landmark for a series of sold-out shows in February last year, while A Sundance Carol put a Western spin on Charles Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol to close out 2024. Between those shows, the group performed one-acts at The Venue in High River during the summer.
"Our company didn't exist and hadn't done anything ever, and then suddenly in February we were selling out our first show," said producer Katie Fournell. "It was completely sold out all the way across the run... it was a wild experience to go from a company that did not exist to suddenly so wildly successful, and was really encouraging for the state of professional arts in the Foothills."
According to Fournell, A Sundance Carol brought nearly 700 people to Longview, which has a population of about 300, during the production's 26-show run.
"We're doing theatre in a place that theatre's never been done before and getting to tell these really cool history stories," said Fournell.
"We had people coming from the (United) States that were visiting and came to see this show, we had people coming down from Edmonton specifically to see the show, and so that was just really, really encouraging for what destination theatre could be here in the Foothills."
The Erratic Players were able to bring a boost to Longview's tourism industry, she said.
"Longview is a great place to drive through and visit briefly on your way through to the mountains... the community understands that they get some tourism during the summer, but in the winter, it's very, very quiet and they're not getting quite as much tourism as they would like," said Fournell.
"I think being able to bring a show like this changes the narrative for the community in a way that's like, 'Oh no, we've always got something going on' and it really livens up what the potential for entertainment can be in the area."
The troupe is co-owned by Fournell, who primarily handles production, and actor Logan Coutts, who starred in the troupe’s latest production as the infamous Sundance Kid. Unlike Okotoks-based Dewdney Players, the Erratic Players are a "semi-professional" troupe, meaning cast and crew members are paid.
"I'm just really, really excited about the possibilities for professional theatre in the Foothills in general, and that we are actually able to create professional theatre work that we were able to live off of this past year," said Fournell.
The Erratic Players won't be back in Longview until next year, when they'll be raising the curtain on Raiders of the Lost Lemon Mine, which Fournell describes as "an escape room meets a play," from January to March 2026. In the meantime, the group's planning on performing This Play Has Zombies at this year's Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival, happening Aug. 14 to 24.
"They have over 200 different plays that are going on at the same time, and we are going to get to be one of those," said Fournell.
Learn more about the Erratic Players here.