As the Artistic Director of the Northumberland Players, August is a time of reflection and anticipation. I am proud of our past season and so excited about what is about to come. Auditions have started, sets are being built and painted and actors are rehearsing.

This past season we mounted three incredible dramas at the Firehall. Salt Water Moon and You Will Remember Me were entered in the Eastern Ontario Drama League Full Length Play Festival; the two plays were nominated for a total of 18 awards and won 6 of them. Actors, musicians, directors, designers, costumers, and crew all proved once again that the Northumberland Players always deliver incredible award winning productions. We brought you some country, Sondheim, Christmas cheer, jazz, and comedy dinner theatre, in four different venues. We donated money to various organizations and our Outreach program travelled to seniors' homes to perform readings. The Northumberland Players summer camp was a tremendous success with a record breaking number of students.

The Northumberland Players community theatre has been performing productions since 1976 and continues to grow with an incredible team of volunteers, dedicated to putting on high quality productions. We are blessed with the having the most talented volunteers with a passion for live theatre. We don’t rest on our laurels as we continue to run workshops in all areas. Northumberland County is in for a treat as high quality theatre is coming once again in the 2023/24 season.

Variety of the theatre experience is the theme this year. Entertainment is always a goal. Clue: On Stage is hot off Broadway and the West End and will be a dinner theatre farce that will make you laugh all night. The Christmas Concert at Victoria Hall has become a tradition. Both are pure high quality entertainment: nostalgic and fun!

But we strive to bring shows that will also influence introspection. Our two Firehall shows, which bookend the season, are social dramas. Cottagers and Indians, which opens the season, is a poignant play about an ongoing real life story about food sovereignty, property ownership, assimilation, and privilege. It is funny and sensitively written by one of Canada’s most talented and prolific Indigenous writers, Drew Hayden Taylor. Mr. Taylor will be attending one of the shows for a Q and A . When We Were Young and Unafraid, which ends the season, explores issues about violence against women. It just may make you see the issues in a different light than before. These two shows will challenge you to see the world a little differently perhaps. Both in an intimate space made for such plays.

Family, family, family! Yes, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast will be the huge musical the entire family will love. It will be mounted at the Cameco Capitol Arts Centre. You will be blown away with this production in this beautiful venue in Port Hope. The Players know how to do musical theatre! The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is a Youth Theatre production at Victoria Hall the whole family will also enjoy; especially if your kids are in it. Both are entertaining and have a great message for youth.

Glorious: The True Story of Florence Foster Jenkins, the Worst Singer in the World and The Melville Boys are two stories that combine laughter with that heartfelt message. Both are rollercoaster rides of emotion. Dinner theatre at its best: smart and funny.

As patrons we gravitate towards our comfort zone or to familiar titles. This season, I challenge you to go to a show because it is different than what you normally attend. Very shortly, you will be receiving our season brochure in the mail. Use it as a planning guide. I promise you our award winning theatre company will not disappoint. The shows were selected to provide variety so everyone finds something to enjoy, but the season was also designed to give the theatre lover a rich experience which can only be enjoyed if you take a risk and attend several different types of shows: something funny, something introspective, something with a little bit of both. I watch every show, so see you there!

Jack Boyagian
Artistic Director