Join us for the 2023-24 Stage Reading Series!
Tickets $10 each or buy a subscription for $50 to see all 7 readings!
Halfway There
By Norm Foster
Directed by Bonnie & David Leach
Friday October 20th 7:00PM
There’s no such thing as a secret in Stewiacke. Not when the gossips meet for coffee every day at the local diner. Vi, Rita, Mary Ellen, and Janine are all as close as can be, and they know everybody’s business. But when Sean, a heartbroken doctor, moves in to take a temporary job at the clinic, he tips the Maritime town that’s famous for being halfway between the North Pole and the equator off its axis.
This feel-good comedy from the most-produced playwright in Canada will envelop you in a familiar warm hug that shares the relief of finding your people.
The Glass Menagerie
By Tennessee Williams
Directed by Melissa Glover
Friday January 12th 7:00PM
Amanda Wingfield is a faded, tragic remnant of Southern gentility who lives in poverty in a dingy St. Louis apartment with her son, Tom, and her daughter, Laura. Amanda strives to give meaning and direction to her life and the lives of her children, though her methods are ineffective and irritating. Tom is driven nearly to distraction by his mother’s nagging and seeks escape in alcohol and the world of the movies. Laura also lives in her illusions, she is in poor health and very shy. The crux of the action comes when Tom invites a young man of his acquaintance to have dinner with the family. Jim, the caller, is a nice ordinary fellow who is at once pounced upon by Amanda as a possible husband for Laura.
First produced on Broadway in 1945, The Glass Menagerie is one of Williams’ most prolific and memorable works.
Bluebirds
By Vern Thiessen
Directed by Sandra Clermont
Friday March 8th 7:00PM
Étaples, France, 1918. Nurses Christy, Maggie, and Bab have crossed oceans to care for wounded Canadian soldiers in the Great War. Despite the terrible injuries they must deal with, they manage to stay hopeful as the dangers of the front draw closer to their hospital. As each woman becomes accustomed to her duties and patients, they reveal more personal details to one another and through letters to loved ones. Maggie misses her close friend she lived with back home and worries for their future together. Christy writes to her soldier husband, but she knows there’s a difference between the life she should lead with him and the one she wants. Bab longs for what she can’t have: her beloved grandpa, a married soldier, a child. Through it all, the three women find friendship, independence, power, and influence in a place where men, once again, are trying to destroy the world.
A Doll’s House
By Henrik Ibsen
Directed by Anna Russell
Friday April 12th 7:00PM
The play centres on an ordinary family—Torvald Helmer, a bank lawyer, and his wife, Nora, and their three little children. Torvald supposes himself the ethical member of the family, while his wife assumes the role of the pretty and irresponsible little woman in order to flatter him. Into this arrangement intrude several hard-minded outsiders, one of whom threatens to expose a fraud that Nora had once committed without her husband’s knowledge in order to obtain a loan needed to save his life.
As Nora reflects on her life, she comes to a shocking and unlikely conclusion. Perhaps Ibsen’s most famous piece, A Doll’s House was written in 1879 and performed that same year.
Fair And Square
By Derek Ritschel
Directed by Bradley Charles
Friday May 31st 7:00PM
The problem with relationships is that other people are involved. With the best of intentions, Penny and Earl buy a house with friends, Sadie and Dennis. Their goal: to flip the house and make a profit. Over a single evening hidden truths and secrets about the close friends come to the surface and could change their lives forever. With honesty and humour, our two couples try to rebuild a beautiful home together and restore their relationships.
Pride Series
Drag Queens on Trial
By Sky Gilbert
Directed by Julian Legere
Wednesday Jan 31 7:00PM
On the witness stand the Drag Queens reveal fantastic romantic lives; in their dressing room they are cruelly oppressed by straight culture. Which is real?
Bed and Breakfast
By Mark Crawford
Directed by Julian Legere
Wednesday Mar 27 7:00 PM
Brett and Drew want to move out of their tiny downtown condo and into a house, but they just lost their seventh bidding war in Toronto. When Brett’s beloved Aunt Maggie dies, he unexpectedly inherits the historic family home in a quiet little tourist town. Unhappy with their careers and frustrated by life in the fast-paced city, the couple decides to make the move and start up a B & B. But when the guys face friction in their new community, they discover the simple life is more complicated than they thought…