Past Productions | 2021 Season
The Tracks
“It's hard to move forward when you keep lookin’ back.” In the premiere of this witty musical featuring the original songs of singer / songwriter Kale Penny, worlds collide when a street corner busker encounters a classical violinist who finds herself at a crossroads.
Book by Mark Weatherley with music and lyrics by Kale Penny. Directed by Monique Lund, starring Kale Penny and Lauren Bowler.
goldfish
Walter Norman is a retiree living a quiet life in a small town. Not much happens in his day; he’s content to sit in his chair on the front porch and watch the world go by. Enter Shannon. A busy mother of two who moves in across the street and opens a daycare. An unlikely friendship develops between these two and soon their visits become a daily ritual. Join Walter and Shannon as they sit and talk about everything from life to love to death to egg rolls. If only he could remember her name. Or what happened the day before. A year in the life of two lonely people who didn’t know how much they needed each other. Until they did.
Written and directed by Steve Ross, starring Laura Condlln and John Dolan.
Moments with You
(Reading Series)
Moments with You is a modern Psalm; a dialogue offered in two voices chronicling the death of love, the ensuing struggle for understanding, and the peace found in grace and redemption. A poetic journey across the landscape of the heart written and performed by Roy Lewis with cellist Ben Bolt-Martin.
Janet and Louise
Janet is determined to get over her mysterious ailments and keep her custodial job, so she's agreed to take doctor-prescribed art lessons. Louise’s art studio is floundering; there is endless roadwork outside and her prickly personality chases people away. Janet arrives but thinks she might quit. Louise can’t afford to lose another student. Then Janet finds a man’s tooth inside a jar. . . At turns funny and heartbreaking, this new play asks what happens when two strangers confront what they've tried so hard to keep hidden.
Written by Deanna Kruger and directed by Jeannette Lambermont-Morey. Starring Brigit Wilson and Peggy Coffey.
Post Alice
Inspired by four haunting characters from four iconic Alice Munro stories, Post Alice is a stunning new contemporary play which asks the question: what really happened to Mistie Murray? And what happens to all our missing girls? Come sit around the fire with four bright and hilarious Huron County women as ghost stories emerge, songs fill the air, family secrets are revealed, and mysteries unravel into those wonderful contradictions which live inside us all.
Written by Taylor Marie Graham and directed by Fiona Mongillo.
Pegeen and the Pilgrim
(Reading Series)
Sponsored by Loreena McKennitt
Tickets to this free event will become available July 30th and must be booked online.
Twelve-year-old Pegeen O’Hara lives in the quiet town of Stratford, Ontario. She helps her mother run a boarding house after the death of her father and they are putting her brother Kerry through university. There just never seems to be enough time or money, and Pegeen’s dreams of becoming an actress seem hopeless. Then an extraordinary thing happens – a Shakespearean festival is planned for Stratford. As the festival develops, so does Pegeen. She learns a great deal about Shakespeare, the boarders at home, and she develops a new circle of friends, including a mysterious pilgrim. Adapted for stage by Brigit Wilson from the beloved novel by Lyn Cook.
Written and directed by Brigit Wilson with assistant director Stacy Smith.
So, how’s it been?
Songs and Stories from our town
In the summer of 2020, theatre artist and Stratford resident Liza Balkan first began interviewing people who live and work in this town, asking after how they were doing through the fulsome and challenging initial months of the pandemic. She met with business owners, employees, artists, nurses, retirees, actors, parents, kids, farmers... The months became a year and the interviews continued. So many stories.
So, how’s it been? is a song cycle co-created by writer / director Balkan and composer / musical director Paul Shilton, inspired by – and using – the words from these recorded conversations. The songs and poetry are moving, surprising, funny, harsh, wild, curious, and empowering. And true. With music composed by Paul Shilton plus an additional song or two by Katherine Wheatley, Bruce Horak, and others, join extraordinary performers Marcus Nance, Barb Fulton, Trevor Patt, and Evangelia Kambites as they share a reflection of this highly particular time in this highly particular town. It's a concert. It’s a conversation. How’s it been for you?
The Wonder of it All
If marriage is the right to annoy one special person for the rest of your life, then Charmaine and Kingsley have the perfect marriage. That is until a surprise from their past meddles with the certainty of their future. But after 25 years is it too late for them to discover the redemptive power of love?
Written by Mark Weatherly and directed by Seana McKenna. Starring Monique Lund and Mark Weatherley.
In Search of Catharsis
(Reading Series)
Why are we here?
This ‘making sense of living’ thing is hard, no matter who you are.
Join a member of the Ancient Greek pantheon as she candidly wrestles with the grand improvisation of existence. Something we’ve all been going through....especially this year. Wouldn’t it be nice if life came with a manual?
In Search of Catharsis is a one-person storytelling about our never-ending battle with uncertainty.
It has something to do with science, madness, theatre...and a weasel.
Reality really is what you make of it.
Written and performed by Jessica B. Hill and directed by Rodrigo Beilfuss.
Kroehler Girls
It’s the bottom of the inning, a full count with two down. The Kroehler Girls socked two hits and their heavy hitter is a star with the willow, is it enough to bring the title home?
Furniture and Softball. It’s the early 1950’s and Stratford’s all girls softball team is known for building furniture by day and dominating the ball diamond by night. Can the Kroehler Girls live up to their reputation after a devastating loss the previous season? Times are changing at a breakneck speed in these post-war days and this team, along with their hometown, have to prove they have what it takes.
A new comedy that celebrates all that is Stratford in the early 50’s: the remarkable furniture company and their legendary softball team.
“We'll sing you the song of our ball team, it’s the finest team in all the land.
We'll tell you about all the players and we’ll tell you the truth if we can.”
Co-created and performed by Kelly McIntosh, Stacy Smith and Andy Pogson with co-creator and director Severn Thompson, assisted by associate director Keira Loughran. Music by Graham Hargrove with special guest MadeNell.
Illustrations for the 2021 season created by Sidney Faber