County Stage 2023 season

Music, comedy, drama and dance on the schedule

The newly branded County Stage Company has started its busy 2023 season to great acclaim. The Verandah Society in the Sergeants Mess Hall at Base31 thrilled near-capacity audiences for two shows at the end of May, and this weekend saw the opening of The 39 Steps, a frenetic comedic retelling of the classic Alfred Hitchcock film. Previously known as Festival Players, the County Stage Company is also celebrating the success of last year’s The Shape of Home: Songs in Search of Al Purdy, which went on to play at Crow’s Theatre in Toronto and this year won two Dora Awards for Musical Theatre. “It’s a real honour and a feather in our cap, and it’s the first for our company in its 17 years of existence,” said County Stage Artistic Director Graham Abbey. “We had nine nominations, and it was one of the leading nominated shows in the musical category. It’s a testament to what we’ve been doing out here, that we can export them to major city centres and be successful.” For the run at Crow’s Theatre, the stage was built to replicate the inaugural performance in the barn at The Eddie Hotel and Farm.

The current play on the pavilion stage at The Eddie, The 39 Steps, will have six performances per week until August 6. “It’s a really fun family show for anyone who wants to come out and have a big laugh,” said Abbey. The play uses almost the exact dialogue from the 1935 film of the same name, but there are only four actors to cover the dozens of characters. The lead character is Richard Hannay, played by Brandon McGibbon. His debonair insouciance comes to an abrupt end after he attends a vaudeville performance in London and becomes entangled in a plot to smuggle secret information out of the country. A murdered femme fatale, menacing secret operatives, a dastardly treacherous mastermind, a perilous train ride on The Flying Scotsman and a flock of sheep on a misty moor are all part of this madcap comedy. Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster plays the roles of three women who become enmeshed with Hannay. This is her first ever outdoor performance, and she jumped at the chance to work with director Monica Dottor, who she says has a “clownish and highly comedic sense of theatricality.” Rehearsals started in Toronto on June 20, and Ch’ng Lancaster said she was relieved to finally be able to rehearse the roles on the actual stage.

“[This] is the most exciting and stressful time of rehearsal, when everything you’ve imagined is meeting the reality of the set, of the costumes, the technical elements of sound, the lighting design. It never feels like there’s enough time, but that’s what makes it so exciting, that’s what makes it live theatre. We will be stressed out this week, but it’s a good kind of stress,” she said last Wednesday on her second day of rehearsal on the Eddie pavilion stage, on which a revolving set has been installed for this production. Courtenay Stevens and Helen Belay are the other two actors in this show, and between them they play over 100 different characters. Although McGibbon plays just a single character, Ch’ng Lancaster said that he’s the linchpin of the performance. “He carries the entire show and he has to go on this wild emotional and comedic adventure himself.” Saturday’s opening show was rained out, but on Sunday the actors were finally able take the stage. It was an exceptional performance, with great physical comedy and dialogue that made the audience laugh out loud. Front row patrons have to watch out for flying sheep. To encourage attendance by younger people, tickets are free for ages 25 and under.

The County Stage season continues with two performances of Living with Shakespeare by the Driftwood Theatre Group on August 9 and 10, and the Flight Festival of Contemporary Dance from August 15 to August 20. Graham Abbey will perform in Wakey, Wakey in Ruby’s Lounge at The Eddie on August 23, 25 and 27 before taking the show to Stratford at the end of September. There are also three musical performances at Base31: Hailey Gillis and Andrew Penner, James Bond: The songs of 007 and Hawksley Workman.

One project that is still under development is About Face. It is an art therapy program for local military veterans and their families, and will be offered at Base31. For more information about this, and other County Stage events, please visit countystage.ca