Just a couple of highlights from the High Performance Rodeo in Calgary, the Canoe Festival in Edmonton and the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival in Vancouver:

Nevermore: The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allen Poe by Catalyst Theatre (Edmonton)A most magical, delicious show. A feast replete with grand costumes and puppets, fab music and most memorable voices and performances. This show needs to come East!

In The Wake by Downstage Theatre (Calgary)
2010 Betty Mitchell Award Winner for Outstanding New Play. Mesmerizing, highly imaginative, physical and lyrical. A brilliant examination of some timely issues in a genuinely engaging and theatrical performance.

Bash’d: A Gay Rap Opera by Craddock and Cruckow (Edmonton)
So clever, moving, rough and ready, and heartfelt.  A tour-de-force for two star-crossed Romeos. Audiences everywhere, from Edmonton to Off-Broadway, are loving this show.  Sarah did too.

Floating by Hoipolloi (the inimitable Hugh Hughes) from Wales (Yes – a non-Canadian entry on our favourites list!) Hughes and his compatriot Sioned Rowlands delighted the audience with a piece that surprised us all.  Imagine if Wales came unattached, physically, actually, from England and floated around the Atlantic. Fanciful, poignant, expertly executed. Hughes is genius.

Podplays: The Quartet by Neworld Theatre and PTC (Vancouver)
The audience is taken on a journey through downtown Vancouver… literally. While listening via portable audio devices, the audience walks and listens, absorbing and observing and moving through four stories linked to the journey itself. Absolutely amazing. Look for an audio/environmental experience from Festival Players in the future.

Bringing outstanding new Canadian work to the County is part of our goal and commitment to our audiences. Tempting Providence by Theatre Newfoundland Labrador, as seen in the 2010 season, was our first foray into presenting work produced by companies across the country, and we plan to do much more of the same. Keep an eye out for more info.

L-R: Darryl Avalon Hopkins as Angus, Robert Wyatt Thorne as Men, Renee Hackett as Women, and Deidre Gillard-Rowlings as Myra*

Last night was the Opening Night of Theatre Newfoundland Labrador’s production of Tempting Providence! 

We had a packed house last night, to celebrate the first night that this beautiful production has set foot in the County. We would like to say a special thanks to Mark Henry & Lynne Ellis of Fields on West Lake (Venue Sponsor) whose lovely refurbished barn serves as a beautiful backdrop to this magical piece.  Also, thank you to Rosehall Run (Marquee Sponsor), Scout Design (Creative Sponsor), Michael Grills Photography (Photography Sponsor), JB Printing (Print Sponsor), Picton Home Hardware (Elemental Stage Sponsor), and Angeline’s Inn and Restaurant (Tempting Providence Opening Night Sponsor), and to all who came out and enjoyed! 

Tempting Providence is playing July 26-30, 2010  at 8pm, ONLY! With 2pm matinee performances daily from July 27-30. Please book your tickets in advance to avoid disappointment. 

Tempting Providence, by Robert Chafe. Myra Bennett, a young British nurse, arrives on the rugged shores of Newfoundland in 1921. No roads, no electricity, no doctors for miles. She signed on for a year and stayed for a lifetime. A spell-binding tale of strength and heroism told with humour and elegant simplicity. 

To get tickets please call the Box Office at 613-471-1991/1-866-584-1991 or visit us in person at 289 Main Street, Picton (inside Books & Company). Want those tickets RIGHT NOW!? You can also buy safely and securely online via www.countytix.ca 

Get into the spirit of all things Newfoundland!

East & Main Bistro in Wellington is hosting “A Scoff & a Yarn” (A Newfoundland-themed, three course, pre-show dinner) for $35 on Wednesday, July 28, Thursday, July 29, and Friday, July 30. Click here for menu.

Reservations for the 5:30pm sitting are recommended, in order to have plenty of time before the 8:00pm performance of Tempting Providence. 

From the Farm Cooking School  is sponsoring this dinner/show event and applauds the local farmers and producers who’ve helped to make these exquisite meals possible. A portion of the dinner sales from the night will be donated to Festival Players

This show is a MUST see! It’s been adored by audiences all across the world and now it’s your chance to enjoy Peter Colley’s masterpiece in your very own backyard!

Check out I’ll Be Back Before Midnight… TONIGHT AT 8PM (July 22), TOMORROW NIGHT AT 8PM (July 23), or SATURDAY NIGHT AT 8PM (July 24 – Closing Night).

BUT…

If you can’t make it to I’ll Be Back Before Midnight, we would love to see you at Tempting Providence!

Festival Players is thrilled to be hosting Theatre Newfoundland Labrador’s production of Tempting Providence, FOR ONE WEEK ONLY, at Fields on West Lake (15786 Loyalist Parkway, Bloomfield, K0K 1G0).

Tempting Providence, by Robert Chafe, is about Myra Bennett, a young British nurse, arrives on the rugged shores of Newfoundland in 1921. No roads, no electricity, no doctors for miles. She signed on for a year and stayed for a lifetime. A spell-binding tale of strength and heroism told with humour and elegant simplicity.

Tempting Providence runs from July 26-30, 2010 ONLY! Get your tickets now to avoid disappointment.

The Box Office can be reached at 613-471-1991 or 1-866-584-1991. Buy online TODAY via www.countytix.ca .

“Books & Company has been supporting Festival Players since its inception and we’re grateful that we are, once again, taking up residence in their lovely space. They’re a go-to spot for arts and culture in the County. It’s great to be a part of that atmosphere. They’ve hosted our Playwrights Reading Series for the past couple of years and people always remark on the space upstairs, and the store, and the café. We’re lucky to have this kind of venue, and these kinds of supporters, right here in Picton,” says Artistic Director Sarah Phillips.

New this season, theatre-goers are not only going to be able to purchase tickets in person, via phone and by email but a new online purchasing system is going to make it easier than ever for people to get tickets to the shows they want! The ticketing site, www.countytix.ca will be live on May 21^st and Festival Players shows will be the first events for sale. Other events in the community will be sold via countytix as well starting this summer. Contact boxoffice@festivalplayers.ca if you’d like to know more about this service.

The 2010 season runs from June 29 – Aug 28 and the first show of the season is the classic Canadian comedy-thriller, I’ll Be Back Before Midnight by Peter Colley. This show is a hoot, and will scare the pants off you! The show plays at Mt. Tabor Playhouse in Milford. Next up is Tempting Providence by Robert Chafe playing at Fields on West Lake.  Presented in partnership with Theatre Newfoundland Labrador, it’s a heart-warming tale of a young British nurse arriving on the shores of Newfoundland in 1921. Chafe expertly captures the nuances of the people and the place and this production is an exercise in elegance and simplicity, taking the audience along on a memorable journey. The final show of the season, playing under a grand tent at the Waring House in Picton, is the new musical Amelia: The Girl Who Wants to Fly by John Gray. The play charts the rise and tragic fall of Amelia Earhart, iconic aviatrix and celebrity. As audiences have come to expect, these shows will be expertly executed, starring actors and musicians coming to us from the national and international stage.

There are many ways to add to the fun with Festival Players. Check out their website at www.festivalplayers.ca for information about bringing your group to a show, taking advantage of pre-show menus at various local restaurants, enjoying an accommodation package at a local establishment and much more.

Box office opens 10am, Friday May 21^st

Books & Company, 289 Main Street, Picton

Box Office phone: 613.471.1991 or 1.866.584.1991 

–  30 –

Contact: Yorrick da Silva or Sarah Phillips       613.399.5677

yorrick@festivalplayers.ca or sarah@festivalplayers.ca

Each of the photos represents one of the three different shows in our summer season and were shot at three different locations in the County.

I’ll Be Back Before Midnight, was shot at none other than Macaulay Heritage Park in Picton. We were given access inside the  historic 18th century home and to the grounds of the old St. Mary Magdalene Parish Cemetary.

Tempting Providence,  was shot at the cliffs and the shores of the island to give the image the whole Newfoundland/maritime essence the show has.

And last,  Amelia was shot at Picton’s very own historic airbase, CFB Picton. The deteriorating surroundings and hauting atmosphere of the retired airbase was the perfect place to capture our aviatrix.

Check out Rene Dick’s blog (from Scout Design) for his behind the scene photos from the shoots!

Robert Chafe

Festival Players is having the writers over for tea and a chat - and you’re invited! First up is Robert Chafe, whose play Tempting Providence is playing as part of the 2010 season. The reading takes place Sunday, March 28, at 2pm at Books & Company in Picton. Admission is free and refreshments are provided.

Robert Chafe’s work has been seen across Canada, the U.K., and Australia. He is the author of fifteen stage scripts and co-author of another ten. He frequently collaborates with Siminovitch Prize winning director Jillian Keiley. Two of his plays (Tempting Providence and Butler’s Marsh) were published in 2004 and shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award for Drama. Tempting Providence, directed by Keiley and produced by Theatre Newfoundland Labrador, is entering its eighth year of national and international touring, and has been nominated for two Betty Mitchell Awards (Calgary), a Dora Mavor Moore Award (Toronto) and was recently awarded the Capital Critics Circle Award for Best Production after its run in Ottawa. Chafe has been writer in residence at Artistic Fraud, Playwrights Atlantic Resource Centre and Forest Forge Theatre, Hampshire, U.K., and a guest instructor at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Sir Wilfred Grenfell College, and the National Theatre School of Canada.

Tempting Providence was commissioned by Theatre Newfoundland Labrador in 2000 and since its premiere production has played over 370 times in over 90 communities across Canada, England, Scotland, Ireland and Australia, and this year will add the U.S. to its touring schedule. Festival Players is delighted to bring this production to our community.

Admission to the Playwrights Reading Series is free. Light refreshments available. For more information call 613.399.5677.

Playwrights Reading Series Sunday, March 28, 2pm

With Tempting Providence playwright Robert Chafe

Books & Company, 289 Main Street, Picton 

After a banner year in 2009, with record attendance and rave reviews, the much anticipated Festival Players 2010 season has been announced.?

First up, the classic Canadian thriller I’ll Be Back Before Midnight by Peter Colley. A couple from the city rents an old farmhouse in the country. Their dream of a quiet retreat becomes a nightmare, though, when they find out about a murder in the house and the vengeful ghost that is reported to stalk the night. Laugh-out-loud funny and scream-out-loud scary. Not recommended for children (or the faint of heart!). It’s no surprise that Colley’s play has thrilled audiences and critics alike in over 25 countries and become the most-produced Canadian play ever.

Festival Players is delighted to be partnering with Theatre Newfoundland and Labrador to bring a most remarkable play to our community. Tempting Providence by Robert Chafe has toured world-wide, to the UK, Australia, the United States and across Canada, garnering awards wherever it goes. It’s the story of Myra Bennett, a young British nurse, who arrives on the rugged shores of Newfoundland in 1921. There were no roads, no electricity, and the nearest town was a day away on foot. The only medical professional for miles, she pulled teeth, set broken limbs, and birthed babies. It’s a spell-binding tale of strength and heroism told with humour and elegant simplicity.

The final show in the 2010 line up premieres the new version of the musical Amelia by John Gray. Gray’s Billy Bishop Goes to War is well known to audiences, winning the Los Angeles Critics Drama Award, the Governor General’s Award for Drama and the Chalmers Canadian Play Award. With Amelia, he re-imagines the meteoric rise and mysterious disappearance of the legendary Amelia Earheart, pioneering aviatrix. It’s part biography, part love story, part thrill of the flight – and chock full of wonderful music.

“It’s a stellar line up,” says Artistic Director Sarah Phillips. “There’s something for everyone – award winning plays, playwrights, and performers. Our audiences responded really well to the work in 2009 and we’re sure they’re going to be equally enthusiastic about the 2010 season.”

The season will expand to 8 weeks in 2010, running from late June to late August. Flex Passes are on sale until Dec 21 at the deepest discount of the year; $67 gets you three tickets to the 2010 season. That’s a 25% discount off the price of three regular priced tickets. Contact boxoffice@festivalplayers.ca or call 613-399-5677 to order a Flex Pass now for the theatre-lover on your Christmas list – or maybe even treat yourself!