Ottawa Little Theatre’s 2025 season opened with an all-male cast in The Shawshank Redemption. Now, at the halfway mark, the spotlight shifts with Always A Bridesmaid—a laugh-out-loud comedy featuring an all-female ensemble.
Running until August 2 and directed with verve by Lisa Dunn, the show follows four childhood friends who once made a vow to be each other’s bridesmaids—no matter what. Decades later, and with five marriages between them, they’re still showing up—although, no longer in taffeta and tulle—for each other’s big days. Even if it’s a shotgun wedding and they’ve never met the groom.
But this isn’t just a play about wedding dresses or walks down the aisle. At its heart, Always A Bridesmaid is about enduring friendship: women who love each other enough to overlook the chaos and quirks, and who’ve long since given up needing to explain themselves.
The set is staged with a wedding cake, a pile of presents in the wings, floral aisle markers, and flutes of bubbly—creating the perfect backdrop for an entrance that skips the rising curtain in favour of a walk down the aisle by Kari Ames-Bisette, played brilliantly by Stefania Wheelhouse.
Wheelhouse feels like she’s been plucked straight off a Broadway stage. As the young bride Kari, she steals the show with remarkable poise, comic timing, and a knack for breaking the fourth wall in ways that feel effortless and intimate.
Though Wheelhouse bookends the story, the heart of the show lies in the chemistry among the four long-time friends, played by Nancy Thompson, Jaqui Cadieux, Lesley Hammil, and Jeannine Richard. Their scenes are elevated by Janet Uren, the no-nonsense venue owner (and part-time axe wielder) determined to keep weddings on track, no matter what.
These women are veterans in the marriage department, but their loyalty to one another never wavers. Bridesmaid duty, at their age, is less about pastel dresses and photo ops, and more about messy moments, hard-earned laughter, and showing up—again and again.
The dialogue sparkles with Southern charm and sharp humour, and the questionable bridesmaid dresses add their own punchline. The set, by award-winning designers Lindsay Laviolette and Venetia Lawless, perfectly evokes a ‘90s-era Southern U.S. event space—eerily reminiscent of one visited on a recent trip to the Carolinas.
As with any OLT production, this is a team effort—and it shows. The camaraderie among cast and crew is palpable; the energy infectious. When the six women took their bows, the audience leapt to their feet in unanimous applause.
Always A Bridesmaid runs Wednesdays through Sundays until August 2, 2025. Tickets are available at ottawalittletheatre.com or by calling the box office at 613-233-8948.
Photo: Maria Vartanova
