Dull has passion for community theatre

(Sentinel photo by Beverly Van Buskirk) Bonnie Dull pages through playbooks at the Postal Playhouse, always on the lookout for a good play for production by the Le Mars Community Theatre. From acting, set construction to directing, Dull has done it all and still keeps going. [Click to enlarge]

The 87-year-old Le Mars resident has been involved with the local theater group since its inception more than 40 years ago and just completed directing the latest production, "The O'Conner Girls."

"I enjoy directing," she said. "I love all things about the theater."

She said she enjoys being on stage, but added, "There aren't many parts for a woman my age."

Then there's the matter of learning those lines. She admits she can't remember the lines like she used to.

"I'll be involved as long as I can put one foot in front of the other," she said with a laugh.

So instead of learning lines, she's taken to directing productions.

Board members often review plays and suggest possibilities to the director, who also reads through the play.

Plays are chosen based on appropriateness for the community and availability of talent to play the parts.

"It's definitely a group effort to choose a play," Dull said.

"We have to figure out how to stage it," she said. "Some plays are unrealistic for our theater setting."

Once a play is decided upon and a director selected, it's time for auditions.

"We try to schedule auditions for two or three evenings," Dull said. "We don't want to exclude anyone from having a chance to try out."

Dull said one of the hardest jobs of the director is choosing cast members.

"It's hard to tell someone 'No, not this time,'" Dull said of auditions. "Sometimes it's a matter of needing someone of a certain age group, or men or women. It has to be the right fit."

Being in a play also requires six weeks of evening rehearsals and a week of performances.

"It's a real commitment for everyone," Dull said.

Audrey Scholten has worked with Dull several years in various productions.

"She's a joy to work with," said Scholten of Dull. "She's very demanding, but also encouraging and quick with compliments for you."

"Bonnie is fun to work with," said Donna Hentges, a longtime community theater member.

"She's probably forgotten more than most of us ever knew," Hentges added. "She's a very good actress. She was great on stage."

"She's good at it, she's one of a kind," Hentges said.

Hentges recalled times that Dull, Bob Becker and the late Bill Fitzpatrick would sketch out a set design on a napkin and proceed to build it.

"Bonnie can design a set like nobody I know," Hentges said. "Those three worked well together."

Hentges has made her contribution to the theater as director and stage manager, and like Dull, has been with the Le Mars Community Theatre since it started.

The Le Mars Community Theatre got its start after a Westmar professor, Jim Fletcher, offered a night class on play production.

Dull attended that class and was hooked.

The local theater group was formed with Fletcher as its first director.

The Le Mars Community Theatre puts on four productions a year at The Postal Playhouse, which is housed in a renovated building -- formerly the town's post office.

It's a place where Dull has spent a lot of time.

With the closeness of the audience to the stage, Dull says there are no prompters for the cast during performances.

"Everyone in the cast is so familiar with the lines, they can usually ask a question that will prompt someone who may have forgotten a line," Dull said.

She's quick to give a tour of the facilities, which includes a basement filled with costumes and props, with every nook and cranny filled to the brim with all sorts of theatre treasures.

The building is owned by the City of Le Mars, but it's been the Le Mars Community Theatre volunteers which have put in hours of work in renovating the structure into the intimate theater it is today.

The most recent addition to the Postal Playhouse has been a separate building for storage of props, and a handicap accessible ramp on the east side of the building. Up next are new restrooms on the main floor.

Dull credits good theater board members with the upkeep and progress made on the Postal Playhouse and the Le Mars Community Theatre as a whole.

"I feel there's nothing better than talking theater," Dull said.