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Five Alarm – a spicy Canadian comedy at the South Simcoe Theatre

November 17, 2022   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

If you think you make the best chilli in three counties, you’ve got nothing on Wayne Rose – chilli maker extraordinaire whose legendary recipe won the local chilli cook-off award many times at the fair in Killaloe, Ontario.

Unfortunately, Wayne is long dead and his recipe for Five Alarm chilli went with him, or at least some of it did.

The South Simcoe Theatre’s production of ‘Five Alarm’, is a comedy written by Kirsten Da Silva and set in a small town where winning the chilli cook-off is a big deal.

Enter Ava Rose, Wayne’s daughter, played by Michelle Greig. Ava’s goal in life is to win the chilli cook-off, based on her father’s recipe. Unfortunately, the recipe was written on a take-out menu from a local restaurant, and half of it is missing, leaving Ava to guess the secret ingredient that made her father’s chilli so good.

Helping Ava at the chilli cook-off is Ellen, played by Brie Taylor. Ellen brings a lot of experience to the event, unfortunately, none of her experience has to do with cooking.

However, she is eager to learn, even if the basic tasks of working in a kitchen leave her befuddled.

Cook-off competitor, Connie Gardiner, played by Kyla Dover-Wells, is a mean-spirited, no-nonsense, woman, who doesn’t shy away from competition, or name-calling. She is sure her chilli will take the top prize.

Connie’s assistant is Tucker, played by Jonathan Burnett – a graduate of the Cordon Blue academy, a cheap knockoff of the famous French culinary school. He has good intentions and takes an immediate liking to the women his boss would like to see fail.

When Caleb Seaton, played by Harry Lavigne, returns to town after a long absence, his presence brings back some old memories for both Ava and Connie. Caleb is now a grown man who lost his stutter after three years of elocution lessons.

Steaming chilli, sharp instruments, and old rivalries produce plenty of laughs as the competitors try to make the perfect recipe.

As the cook-off nears completion, Ava searches desperately for the missing ingredient she is sure will turn her chilli into an award-winning masterpiece.

Five Alarm is running at the South Simcoe Theatre now through Nov. 30.

You can get tickets online by visiting the Theatre’s website at: www.thesouthsimcoetheatre.com.

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