A 99-year-old Second World War veteran isn’t sure he wants to make it to 100. A young nursing student is keen to ensure he celebrates that milestone.
With Remembrance Day on the horizon, the story of Flight Risk was a good fit for the Hildebrand Schoolhouse Theatre St. Jacobs, where the Drayton Entertainment production is running through November 9.
Flight Risk is the story of the unlikely friendship that evolves when young Sarah Baker (played by Shauna Thompson) is hired by the Ponderosa Pine Lodge to keep an eye on Hank Dunfield (Peter Millard) after he’s found wandering aimlessly in a field five kilometres from the residence.
At the lodge, his nurse, Kathleen Shore (Helen Taylor), is planning a big celebration to mark Hank’s centenary in six weeks’ time, even as Hank insists he doesn’t want to live that long.
While at cross-purposes to begin with, Sarah and Hank end up bonding over a model Lancaster bomber and a mutual love for good coffee, despite the fact that he’s a tired man at the end of his journey and she a young woman just beginning hers.
For director Brenley Charkow, the story by playwright Meg Braem drew her to the production, her directorial debut at Drayton Entertainment.
