Sid Filkow may not look like one of Salt Spring’s oldest residents, but he sure does act like it.
Actor, playwright and lawyer Filkow first became a “geezer” 30 years ago, when he and the late Arvid Chalmers brought their characters Bert and Les — a.k.a. The Geezers — on stage as part of a Salt Spring Hysterical Society comedy night.
Once born, The Geezers took on a life of their own and began headlining their own shows, with special guests joining them in their antics, or were part of other Chalmers-Filkow themed productions like The Topic of Cancer and You Can Lick Your Prostate.
Sadly, Chalmers died suddenly in 2016 at the age of 68 from a heart attack in Mexico, where he spent the winter months.
But the notion of two old codgers getting together to talk about the perils of life in older bodies, plus “current affairs” — whether derived from Salt Spring or world happenings — as The Geezers always did, has clearly endured.
When last fall Filkow mounted a theatre production called Sutureself, featuring four one-act plays he’d written, he included a Geezers segment with Patrick Cassidy playing the role of a guy named Bill. They had done a few public appearances together and were having a blast, so thought it only made sense to include themselves in Sutureself.
It turned out that people loved seeing The Geezers again and said they wanted more.
“So I guess that was part of the inspiration or the thinking [to do a full Geezers show],” said Filkow. “Well, they want Geezers, we’ll give them Geezers.”
So on Tuesday, Oct. 28 and Thursday, Oct. 30, audience members will get their wish with The Geezers’ show called Expect Delays running at ArtSpring at 7:30 p.m.
The title gives people a hint about one topic that will be addressed: the Ganges Hill road construction project that is heading into its 14th month.
“We’ve got eight or nine or a dozen things we want to touch on,” said Filkow. “We’ve got a few things to say about those . . . with room in there for the usual whatever spark comes up, if any.”
Traditional Geezers material will be included about aging and things like forgetting, “disappearances — things just disappearing” and “common things that people talk about all the time, but nobody does anything about,” said Filkow.
How does Cassidy feel about being asked to fill Chalmers’ beloved theatrical shoes?
“I was concerned about it originally,” he said, “and then I just kind of put that on a shelf and realized that this is going to be a huge challenge, and I’m very, very scared, which is why we do theatre, or at least why I do it.”
Though Cassidy is only 66, he describes himself as “an old soul from way back. My mother told me when I was six years old that I had old-man wrinkled hands,” adding emphatically, “but they’re not small!”
People may know Cassidy best for playing Ebenezer Scrooge in Christmas With Scrooge for many years.
Both Cassidy and Filkow expressed gratitude to Christina Penhale of Graffiti Theatre for doing such a great job in the producer’s role for Expect Delays.
Tickets for the Tuesday and Thursday shows are available through ArtSpring.