Setting the stage: Summer theatre looks to bounce back in Peterborough area

Some theatres in the Peterborough area are looking to bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic while others still face an uncertain summer.

In Millbrook, 4th Line Theatre staff continue to rehearse for the June 29 opening of The Tilco Strike. Directed by Cynthia Ashperger and written by D’Arcy Jenish, the original production recounts the year-long wage dispute in 1965 between 35 women and their male bosses at Tilco Plastics in Peterborough, Ont.

For actor M. John Kennedy, head of the acting program at the Randolph College for the Performing Arts in Toronto, the production gives him an opportunity to flex his talents on the open stage with the outdoor theatre company. The production will run until July 22, with shows Tuesday to Saturday at 6 p.m.

“It’s an absolute delight,” he said. “It’s kind of like the best gig you can get, you know you’re working outside, making theatre and having a great time with great people.”​

The Tilco Strike is one of two shows planned this summer at 4th Line Theatre, which includes the return of The Cavan Blazers, which opens Aug. 1. That production reflects on the religious conflict between Protestant and Catholic settlers in Cavan Township (south of Peterborough) in the early to mid 19th century. The Cavan Blazers were a Protestant vigilante group.

Kim Blackwell, 4th Line artistic director, says while 2022 saw a slower-than-expected recovery from the pandemic, this season will see the venue return in “full swing.”

“There really is nothing like it,” she said. “That interplay between the live art and the artists on stage and the audience — that’s really the core of what we do here.”

The Peterborough Theatre Guild is also opening a comedy The Long Weekend, beginning July 5.

However, two other key theatre sites won’t be busy this summer.

After the City of Peterborough cut funding for The Theatre on King, a number of community fundraisers were held to help keep the site operational.

Artistic director Ryan Kerr tells Global News that, aside from celebrating its 10th anniversary in July, the theatre will be taking the summer off before reopening in September.

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And there will be no curtain call at Showplace Performance Centre on George Street in downtown Peterborough for a while.

The venue plans to close after July 18 for renovations. A reopening date has yet to be announced.

— with files from Sam Houpt/Global News Peterborough