In theatres across Canada, the name of playwright Norm Foster is omnipresent, prolific as he is with his comedy-drama plays. On the local scene, Surrey Little Theatre is currently busy with his Looking, which sheds light on the ups and downs of dating for 40-something people, and Sidekick Players is keen to audition actors for its version of Foster's The Affections of May for a run of May dates at Tsawwassen Arts Centre - the second Foster-penned play of that company's 15th season.

In White Rock, director Susanne de Pencier is putting the finishing touches on Foster's Drinking Alone, staged at Coast Capital Playhouse starting Wednesday, Feb. 8.

It's a romantic comedy set in the midst of family dysfunction, keying on a guy who hires an escort to play his fiancée for a meetup with his parents.

De Pencier has been a fan of Foster's since seeing his The Foursome years ago at Vancouver's Stanley Theatre, in a hit Arts Club version of the golf-themed play.

"His stuff is so fun," de Pencier told the Now. "That was one of the cleverest scripts - and it doesn't hurt that I'm a golfer. What (Foster) does well is, it's all gut-busting comedy and then, 10 minutes later, it tugs at your heart, and that's the kind of writing in Drinking Alone, too."

The subject of alcoholism is played out in the script, but audiences needn't worry about "seeing people pretend to be stumbling drunk on stage" at the Playhouse, de Pencier said.

"It's kind of interesting that he called it (Drinking Alone), because that title is not totally accurate about what happens on stage.. It's quite a feel-good play, and it ends on an 'up' note."

The director said she's given the production "a '60s sitcom" kind of vibe - that Dick Van Dyke Show-like blast of snappy dialogue and character interaction.

Five actors - three women and two men - are on stage in the White Rock Players' version of the play, including Terry Thomas, Shelia Keating, Vanessa Klein, Roger Currie and Sarah Green.

"I'm really pleased with these five people - they all get it," de Pencier said. "They knew what their characters were all about at the first audition, and they all look perfect for their roles."

For Klein, who plays naïve call girl Renee Duchene, it's her second turn in a play written by Foster, following her turn in his Bedtime Stories two years ago at the Playhouse.

"I am so happy to be able to take part in the craziness and the heartfelt moments that Norm Foster delights us with his scripts," Klein says. "I am also very delighted to be able to work with (director de Pencier) for the first time."

The five actors in the play beat out close to three dozen others who showed up for auditions - perhaps for a rare chance to work with de Pencier, a veteran casting director for film and TV who, for Drinking Alone, returned to direct a "traditional style" play (not panto) for White Rock Players for the first time in 20 years.

When reached by the Now on the phone last week, de Pencier interrupted the conversation several times to give instructions to those painting scenery at the Playhouse.

"I'm a hands-on director and I'm retired, so I might as well help where I can," said de Pencier, a longtime Ocean Park resident who co-hosted the kids' TV show Zig Zag with Terry David Mulligan in the mid-1980s (as Susanne McLellan). She later recruited talent for 21 Jump Street, The Commish, MacGyver and other small-screen dramas, and she still keeps a hand in the world of casting direction.

Her focus at the moment, however, is Drinking Alone.

"I personally feel that this (play) stands up to anything people pay the big bucks to see, other than some limitations with things like money for sets," she said. "But I'm standing here looking at the set right now, and it looks pretty darn good."

Drinking Alone runs from Feb. 8-25 at Coast Capital Playhouse, 1532 Johnston Rd., White Rock. Show times are 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, plus 2: 30 p.m. matinee on Sunday, Feb. 19. Tickets range from $15 to $17. Call 604-536-7535 or visit www.whiterockplayers.ca.

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