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Prison isn’t all that bad for the Delval Divas in Blackhorse Theatre production

June 13, 2025   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

They may be behind bars doing long prison sentences, but life in a country club-style institution isn’t so bad for a group of women in the Blackhorse Village Players’ production of Delval Divas.

Written by Barbara Pease Weber, produced by Jo-Anne Pulfer, and directed by Lee Clements, the stage is set in Delval prison where a group of non-violent offenders enjoys a rather easy life considering they are being punished by society for their crimes.

The group of women are all high achievers who found themselves in the prison system after committing white-collar crimes of embezzlement, money laundering, and financial fraud.

When inmate Beth, played by Cathy Montgomery, learns she is being paroled, she is very upset at the thought of being sent out to society and leaving her good friends and cushy lifestyle at the prison behind.

In the role of Lucille, the prison guard, Karen Fogleman is a friend to the inmates and treats them with dignity. However, much of her friendly demeanour comes from the fact that the inmates have been paying her way through school on the ill-gotten gains from their crimes, which they have cleverly hidden away from authorities.

In return, Lucille makes sure the women have access to gourmet food, spa treatments, and a rather good life behind bars.

Puneet Kuldeep Bajwa takes on the role of Linda, a medical doctor, who found herself on the wrong side of the law.

In the role of Stella, Amanda Tessier is a former financial whiz who played around with the market and found herself in prison for her efforts.

Taking on the role of Rosemary, Jacquie Moore also found herself in prison after making a lot of money, but not in a legal way.

After Beth leaves, the women find out they will be having a new roommate. They are horrified to learn the new inmate has been charged with murder.

The inmates regard themselves as better people than anyone charged with a crime of violence and they are concerned about having a murderer among them.

At the same time, they find out that the prison is going to be closed and they will all be shipped to different prisons, further complicating their lives behind bars.

When they reach out to the prison warden, they learn he has been absent and no one knows where he is.

When the new inmate Sharon, played by Lauren Tiesma, arrives, she spends the first few days sobbing uncontrollably in her cell.

The inmates eventually reach out to her and calm her down. Sharon explains her situation and insists she is not guilty of the crime she has been accused of.

As the women discuss Sharon’s criminal case with her, they start to realize there is more going on with both her and the missing warden.

They use the skills that they had in their former lives to investigate all that is going on.

Rounding out the production staff are stage manager Mike Hunter, assistant stage manager Norah Ruffolo and Mark Hayward is in charge of lighting.

Delval Divas is on stage at the Blackhorse Village Players Theatre at Highway 9 and Mount Wolfe Road through to June 22.

For ticket information, visit the theatre’s website at www.blackhorestheatre.ca.

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