A musical pirate adventure will be the feature production of the Douglas Centre Summer Theatre at this year's Wheat Festival, and will include drama workshops for interested youths, starting in July leading up to the production.

Entitled, Pirates of the Living Skyes, the musical is based on Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance, but is updated to include Saskatchewan references, explained John Nolan, executive director of the Tommy Douglas Performing Arts Centre.

There are opportunities for all ages to be involved in the drama, with the summer theatre day program for those aged eight and up running from July 2 to Aug. 9. In the evenings, there will be a program for adults and teens (ages 16 to 60), with performing roles available for eight men and nine women, said Nolan.

Nolan will look after the stage and drama part of the production, and Colleen Weimer will be looking after the musical portion of the play.

The children's program will run on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., with a tuition cost of $100.

With the Project Tuition for Tickets program, however, those who enroll can completely cover the cost of this tuition by selling tickets for the play at $10 each.

"We give them 15 tickets that are worth $10 apiece. If they sell all of them, they keep $100 (to cover the tuition) and pass on $50 to us, so in the end they're not out any money at all," said Nolan.

The children in this program will learn the same program as the teens and adults, and will learn all aspects of the theatre, including costumes and makeup, how to deliver lines on stage and project their voice. By being in the program, they won't have to face the public in an actual performance, however, but will expose the young people to what it's like to be on a stage.

"I'll be getting them to express themselves and give them an appreciation of drama," said Nolan. "They'll have a real hands-on king of thing."

He and Weimer will work with the teens and adults to get the production ready. "There'll be challenges, but we won't put anybody out of their depth. The main idea is to enjoy it." This group will work on Monday and Wednesday evenings starting at 6:30 p.m.

Nolan has seen a great deal of talent in the city and area schools, as evidenced in such recent productions as Beauty and the Beast, and the Lady Pirates of Captain Bree, and wants to translate that enthusiasm for the performing arts into the community at large, providing an opportunity to perform for those who would like to try it.