Dear Friends of 4th Line, 

I hope you are continuing to take care of yourselves in these uncertain times. I wish I was writing today with better news.  

I am sorry to have to announce that we have made the difficult decision to postpone the world premiere of Maja Ardal’s Wishful Seeing until the summer of 2022.  This decision is based on many factors - most critical to our decision, is the public health directive presently in place for the province. At the present time, the entire province is under a stay at home order. And there is no clear sense of what will happen, if or when, the stay at home order is lifted after June 2nd. We do not have a sense of where our region will fit into the provincial colour coded system for re-opening.  

We will happily move your tickets into a performance of Wishful Seeing, next summer, which will be our 30th anniversary season. What a celebration it will be! 

We have to make the health and safety of our company and audience members the number one priority. While the vaccine roll-out is moving forward, the number of active cases in the province continues to be high. 

On the positive side, I am happy to announce that we plan to offer theatre at the farm this summer, albeit on a smaller scale than normal. I am glad to announce the world premiere of The Verandah Society in Residence at 4th Line Theatre. The Verandah Society is the brain child of actors/musicians Megan Murphy and Kate Suhr. They created their first version of the show in the summer of 2020. They traveled around the region to people’s porches, verandahs and backyards, doing their lovely show for intimate gatherings. The piece, which melds music with personal stories of the region, captivated audiences so much, that they created two other shows - for Christmas and St. Patrick’s Day. The Verandah Society is entertaining, poignant and funny. The stories of family, loss, love and hope are very needed right now. 

I approached Megan and Kate early in 2021 to inquire as to whether they would be interested in creating a standalone show exclusively for 4th Line. I am so glad they agreed. The Verandah Society is a cross between Wingfields Follies and Vinyl Cafe, with a folk/rock musical style and an ethereal feel. We are planning to offer 10 performances of The Verandah Society at the Winslow Farm in late August of this year. Meg and Kate will be joined onstage by musician Saskia Tomkins. You will know Saskia from her many performances at 4th Line and I know you will be transported by her violin, viola and cello playing. 

The show will be 80-minutes with no intermission. We plan to host audiences of a size allowed at that time.  The plan is to begin selling tickets on July 5th. Stayed tune for more specific details in the coming weeks. 

Also look for more announcements of theatre and music performances into the fall and winter of 2021.

Please call Sarah in the box office to discuss your ticketing needs. And do not hesitate to reach out to us, if you have questions or need more clarification.

I hope to see you at the farm in a few weeks.

Best, 

Kim Blackwell

Managing Artistic Director

705-932-4445 or toll-free 800-814-0055

boxoffice@4thlinetheatre.on.ca.