Premiering on Sunday, June 6th at 6:30PM (ET), a live streamed reading of Norm Foster's new play 1812. This event is being presented as a Reading Only.

We are so pleased to welcome back Jim Mezon to direct the live reading of Norm Foster's new play, 1812. He has previously directed Wrong For Each Other and Hilda's Yard for The Foster Festival.

Two towns. A bridge connecting them and a border dividing them. When the war of 1812 breaks out, the neighbouring border towns of St. Stephen, New Brunswick and Calais, Maine are reluctant to go to war against each other. 

The people in each community have built life-long friendships – freely crossing the bridge that connects them for daily visits. Literally overnight, the war quickly redefines their world as they know it and their lives are forever changed. 

Through humour and Foster’s trademark witty dialogue, 1812 examines the meaning of friendship, love and loyalty.

We are so pleased to introduce the cast for the world premiere reading of 1812.

Reading the role of Wallace Edwards is David Nairn. David is currently enjoying his 22nd season as Artistic Director of Theatre Orangeville, where he has directed more than 80 plays and musicals. He has shared many a stage with Norm as a fellow actor, the two having appeared together in countless productions of The Love List, The Long Weekend, Skin Flick, Outlaw and most recently, in over 200 performances of Jonas and Barry In The Home.

Reading the role of Milicent Edwards is Patricia Yeatman. She is a Second City alumnus and no stranger to Norm Foster’s work. Patricia has performed in Foster’s Sinners (Theatre Aquarius), Office Hours (Aquarius/The River Run Centre), Small Time (Theatre on the Grand), and Self Help (Aquarius/Stage West).

Reading the role Caroline Edwards is Ellen Denny. She has performed across Canada with companies including NAC English Theatre, Mirvish, Manitoba Theatre Centre, Citadel, Drayton, Grand Theatre and the Segal Centre. She recently co-wrote and starred in february: a love story - a rom com about dating six feet apart - which ran live at Globus Theatre, and digitally at Magnus Theatre and the Stratford Festival.

Reading the role of Ben Strong is Andre Anthony. Andre is thrilled to join the Foster Festival with the reading of 1812. Select theatre credits include Kinky Boots (Mirvish), Rock of Ages (Stage West), and Joy In The Morning (Queen Elizabeth Theatre). He has worked with many prestigious artists such as Josh Groban, Ryland James, HONORS, and Laila Biali.

Reading the role of Henrietta is Mairi Babb. The first time she was ever paid to do theatre she played Loretta in The Melville Boys at UVic's Phoenix Summer Theatre. Since then she has been fortunate to play more of Norm's fabulous women: Julia/Jessica in The Last Resort (Stage West Calgary/Charlottetown), Janey Fluck in Hilda's Yard (Drayton), Tate in The Ladies  Foursome (Lighthouse), and Mary Hayes in Screwball Comedy (Theatre Orangeville/Lighthouse).

Reading the role of Frederick Thomas is Jon-Alex MacFarlane. Jon-Alex is honoured to join The Foster Festival’s reading of 1812. He has been a member of 5 productions of Once the Musical (Bank Manager), including Mirvish’s Dora Award winning Canadian cast, 1st U.S. National Tour, as well as a META nominee (best supporting actor) in the Segal Centre’s production.

Join us on Sunday, June 6th for a LIVE streamed reading of 1812. And if you can't catch the reading live, don't worry, you will have access to the replay for 72 hours.

Reading Start Time 
6:30PM (ET)

The play/reading is in Two Acts, with a 10-minute intermission. Total running time is approximately 2 hours.

An exclusive streaming link will be emailed to you on the morning of Friday, June 4th so you can test the link a day in advance.

For tickets click HERE.