For 50 years, Theatre Antigonish has entertained, educated, and inspired, bringing scores of productions to life—from a 1990s adaption of now-retired StFX English professor Dr. Sheldon Currie’s short story and novel, The Glace Bay Miners’ Museum to more recently a play written and performed by Majd Al Zhouri, now a StFX engineering graduate, who working with Theatre Antigonish volunteers, wrote the award-winning play To Eat an Almond about his experience as a Syrian refugee.
To mark its golden milestone, Theatre Antigonish is celebrating these past five decades of storytelling.
“Fifty years of continuous programming for a rural community theatre is a remarkable accomplishment. As we celebrate this milestone at the Bauer Theatre, we also honour five decades of collaboration with St. Francis Xavier University. Together, we have created a vibrant space for student expression, mentorship, and artistic growth, enriching our community through the power of theatre,” says Caleb Marshall, managing director of Theatre Antigonish and the professional theatre company, Festival Antigonish Summer Theatre.
Celebrations have already begun. On October 3rd, its official anniversary date, a month-long heritage exhibit curated by Devon Fraser ran at StFX’s Angus L. Macdonald Library. Then, during StFX Homecoming 2024, Haunted Walk Antigonish tour guide Janet Becigneul led ghostly tours through the Bauer Theatre sharing tales of Hector the Spectre, the theatre’s own benevolent ghost.
GALA CELEBRATION PLANNED
Work is currently underway to produce a companion to Theatre Antigonish’s 25th anniversary book, a second edition to capture an historical retrospective of the last quarter century in pictures, news articles and personal memories.
More anniversary surprises are planned throughout the season, Mr. Marshall says, culminating on April 5th in a gala celebration featuring a multi-media retrospective variety show bringing back both beloved scenes and returning actors and musicians reprising rolls from classics and modern plays to musicals.
During this, its 50th season, Theatre Antigonish is staging two mainstage productions and six cabarets or events, ending with the April 5th gala.
LONG INVOLVEMENT
From the ivy-covered Bauer Theatre on StFX campus, the community theatre has seen many students, faculty, and staff participate in all aspects of theatre production, Mr. Marshall says, including over the years acting, directing, technical, stage managing, communications, public relations, and even research jobs, including students currently working with Dr. Laura Estill, Canada Research Chair in Digital Humanities, to catalogue and digitize the theatre archives, creating a searchable database.
When it comes to theatre, many may think in terms of productions on stage, but Mr. Marshall says beyond this aspect, professors across disciplines regularly incorporate Theatre Antigonish assignments into their research and classes, including papers and assignments about theatre productions; writing reviews; performing onstage and in-class with support from theatre staff; and guest lectures from playwrights, actors, and other professionals. Most recently, Mr. Marshall and StFX English professor Dr. Kailin Wright have both offered advanced presentation classes to StFX business students, sharing theatrical best practices to help students advance their presentation skills; while Mr. Marshall's offered a guest masterclass in a StFX Shakespeare class. Another instance at StFX included staging celebrated Indigenous artist Drew Hayden Taylor's Cerulean Blue, which featured a large cast of StFX students and community members with outreach and inclusion of the Paqtnkek Mi'kmaw Nation. Playwright Drew Hayden Taylor also came to speak to StFX students in Dr. Wright's Intro to Literature courses.
Dr. Wright, who teaches courses such as Canadian Literature and Canadian Drama, says she annually teaches a Theatre Antigonish play as a component of most of her classes. Several courses involve a field trip to a production; enabling students to both read the story and see it brought to life on the stage.
The theatre’s ability to have immediate reaction to pressing issues holds educational value too, she says. Dr. Wright, who directed the Canadian-feminist play This is for You, Anna (by the Anna Collective) at Theatre Antigonish says it featured StFX students as performers, including an original poem by Emma Kuzmyk, and responded to students' concern over sexual violence and the #MeToo movement. This Theatre Antigonish production has been cited in the journal Canadian Theatre Review.
Mr. Marshall says central to Theatre Antigonish is the notion of mentorship. This mentorship includes the rare, collaborative model where the community theatre has exposure to the professional Festival Antigonish. While the two are distinct, separate companies, they offer a unique bridge between the companies and a good training ground. “It really is a very unique, special model.”
Of course, over the years, there have been those who’ve turned a passion into a career. Two recent StFX grads who now work professionally are Devon Side Walker, a freelance producer at South Shore Summer Theatre in Mahone Bay, and Emma Vickers, who recently returned to appear with Festival Antigonish in summer 2023.
John Ralston who went on to a stellar career in film, tv and theatre, became interested in acting in the 1980s while studying for a diploma in jazz studies at StFX. He appeared in Theatre Antigonish productions Godspell, Othello, and The Boyfriend. “My time there was transformative and life-changing and the theatre was a big part of that. The first time I ever really ‘acted’ was on that stage,” he says.
Other notable StFX alumni involved with Theatre Antigonish over the years include Larry Lamb, an English actor best known as Archie Mitchell in BBC television soap EastEnders, who appeared in the 1970s productions Lion in Winter and Medea; Seamus O'Regan, former co-host of CTV’s morning television program, Canada AM, and MP for St. John's South—Mount Pearl who appeared in The Servant of Two Masters and Communications Problems; and former CTV Live at 5 host, podcaster, speaker, coach, actor and author Nancy Regan appeared in Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, and Hedda Gabler. Canadian folk musician Mary Jane Lamond worked as a costume designer for Theatre Antigonish while she was a Celtic Studies student in the early 1990s. She even won the Russell Alcorn Award for outstanding contribution to Theatre Antigonish. Emmy Alcorn, actor, writer and Mulgrave Road Theater artistic director, has been involved in nine Theatre Antigonish shows. Sisters Kate and Jane Proctor went on to acting careers, as did Zeph Williams.
On its 50th anniversary, student Matt Luers says, “In my first year of university, I was overwhelmed and worried about finding my people. When I auditioned for a play at the Bauer I was immediately treated like family and made friendships that I know will last for years.” Fellow student Abby Fraser says Theatre Antigonish provides a space where students can grow creatively and find community and connection. “It also creates incredible opportunities for students to be mentored by theatre professionals. My time at Theatre Antigonish has unequivocally been the best part of my StFX experience.”
