Do you remember the song Making Contact by Bruce Cockburn? To me the song was about reawakening and the many ways we can connect with our community and the world. This season the Northumberland Players will help you make contact through the theatre experience.
Our 2018-19 Season opens with two plays and a dramatic reading, all part of the Town of Cobourg’s Armistice 18 commemoration.
Mary's Wedding by Stephen Massicotte takes place during the battle of Moreuil Wood in France. A beautiful love story which transcends time, it opens our season and the Armistice 18 commemoration at the Firehall Theatre.
Sit in the exact courthouse and relive the trial that took place in Victoria Hall’s Old Bailey Courtroom in Cobourg in 1928. Last Day, Last Hour: Canada’s Great War on Trial, by Hugh Brewster, examines the turbulent trial which placed Canada’s entire role in World War I under a spotlight and kept the country riveted for weeks.
Stars on Her Shoulders, a new play by Stephen Massicotte which will be performed as a stage reading in Victoria Hall, connects us to the war through the eyes of five nurses in The Great War.
The three plays will be complemented with ongoing WW1 art and photography exhibits. There will be a speaker series at Victoria Hall featuring three of the best-known writers on Canadian history: Jack Granatstein, Charlotte Gray and Tim Cook. The Elora Singers will present a multimedia musical commemoration to The Great War written by Hugh Brewster, narrated by Cynthia Dale and Hugh Brewster, at Trinity United Church. Visit Cobourg Tourism: Armistice 18 to plan ahead so you can participate in the events and connect with the truly Canadian experience through art, music and theatre.
The Northumberland Players and the Best Western Cobourg Inn and Conference Centre will continue to make you laugh with three great comedies in dinner theatre. Last spring’s A Comedy of Tenors by Ken Ludwig had record breaking crowds. The three comedies, Sexy Laundry by Michele Riml, The Odd Couple by Neil Simon, and The Fox on the Fairway by Ken Ludwig, will not disappoint. Come, dine, and connect with family and friends who all want to laugh and make memories.
Christmas is all about connecting with family. The Firehall Theatre is an amazing cozy space that will be transformed into an old-time radio station for the family radio play Miracle on 34th Street based on the Twentieth Century Fox movie. Don’t forget the Youth Theatre production, The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe by Joseph Robinette, at the historic Victoria Hall. Both plays are just in time for a family Christmas.
If you enjoyed Sister Act at the Cameco Capitol Arts Centre last season, this year’s 5 Tony Award winning musical farce, The Drowsy Chaperone, book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar, and music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison, will get you laughing and tapping your feet! The show is full of catchy songs and great energetic dance numbers with a 1920s back story.
The Firehall is also a perfect place for meaningful theatre. Leaving Home by David French won 5 awards in the EODL festival last season and the final two plays of the Firehall season will appeal those looking for a powerful theatre experience. Silent Sky by Lauren Gunderson, a poignant story much like the movie “Hidden Figures”, celebrates the ground-breaking contributions of women in the field of astronomy. The Drowning Girls, by Beth Graham, Daniela Vlaskalic and Charlie Tomlinson, is a social critique with a shocking murderous storyline. Both plays will take your breath away in two different ways.
This season is about connecting with history, connecting with the Canadian experience, and connecting with family and friends. Northumberland Players brings you live theatre in five different venues this year. Five different places for making contact!
Jack Boyagian,
Artistic Director and President
