This August, 4th Line Theatre is thrilled to present a remount of its flagship play The Cavan Blazers, by Robert Winslow. The iconic play that started it all, The Cavan Blazers, is back by popular demand in the theatre’s 31st Summer Season!

The Cavan Blazers was the first play produced by the newly-formed 4th Line Theatre in 1992. Its epic scale, including a cast of 44 actors, horses, chickens, fire and fights, established the theatre’s long-time aesthetic of presenting epic theatre on the outdoor stages at the Winslow Farm in Millbrook, ON. The play is a true community affair with professional actors onstage with local volunteer actors.

The play explores the settler experience and what happens when the old hurts and angers from the homeland are brought over to a new country. The Cavan Blazers chronicles the religious conflict between the Catholic and Protestant Irish settlers in Cavan Township in the early to mid-nineteenth century. Violence erupts when a Protestant vigilante gang known as the Cavan Blazers tries to stop a Catholic Settlement from being established. This gritty and intense play will have the audience on the edge of their seats from start to finish.

4th Line’s Managing Artistic Director Kim Blackwell will design the play’s set and will direct the production for her second time—her first time directing the classic play was in 2004. Blackwell explains: “The story inside The Cavan Blazers is one as old as time and as modern as the recent conflicts in Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Ukraine. It is a cautionary story of what can happen when people become entrenched in a way of thinking and are then unable to free themselves from that thinking.”

Returning to the 4th Line stage in The Cavan Blazers are JD “Jack” Nicholsen as Patrick Maguire, Colin A. Doyle as Dane Swain, Thomas Fournier as Charles McCarty, Matt Gilbert as Father Phelan, Justin Hiscox as Elijah Coe, Mark Hiscox as Thomas Rutherford, Ken Houston as a horse rider and King William of Orange, Robert Morrison as William Grandy, Kelsey Powell as William Armstrong and Julia Scaringi as Martha Cooney. 4th Line Founder, playwright and actor Robert Winslow will portray Justice John Knowlsen. The Cavan Blazers will feature actress Katherine Cullen as Ann Maguire, and musician Jason Edmunds, making their 4th Line debuts this August.

Community volunteer actors include: Indigo Chesser, Jasper Chesser, Michelle Chesser, Logan Coombes, Lily Cullen, Peter Dolinski, Michael Field, Andria Fisher, Cadence Fisher, Eli Fisher, Linda Gendron, Sierra Gibb-Khan, Cody Inglis, Josh Lambert, Adrianna Malloy, Deirbhile MacQuarrie, Caoimhe MacQuarrie, Riordan MacQuarrie, Saoirse MacQuarrie, Siobhán MacQuarrie, Ayla McCracken-Reed, Venessa McCracken, Ian McGarrett, Brogan McKellar, Darragh O'Connell, Zach Newnham, Zack Radford, Mikayla Stoodley, Phil Stott and Evan Tsimidis.

The creative team includes Set Designer Kim Blackwell, Fight Director Edward Belanger, Costume Designer Korin Cormier, Musical Director Justin Hiscox, Choreographer Rachel Bemrose, Sound Designer Esther Vincent, Directing Intern Shelley Simester and Assistant to the Director Sierra Gibb-Kahn.

The stage management team includes Emily Brown and Gailey Monner.

DETAILS:

The Cavan Blazers

Written by Robert Winslow

Directed by Kim Blackwell

Musical Direction and Original Compositions by Justin Hiscox

Set Design by Kim Blackwell

Choreography by Rachel Bemrose

Costume Design by Korin Cormier

Fight Direction by Edward Belanger

August 1-26

Previews: August 1, 2

Season Opening Night: Thursday, August 3

Tuesday to Saturday at 6 pm

The production of The Cavan Blazers is sponsored by Miskin Law.

Tickets, gift certificates and charcuterie snack boxes for 4th Line Theatre productions can be purchased by phone at 705-932-4445 or toll-free at 800-814-0055, online at 4thlinetheatre.on.ca, or at 4th Line Theatre’s Box Office at 9 Tupper Street, Millbrook, ON. Box office hours are 9 AM – 5 PM, Mondays through Fridays.

Photo: Scene from The Cavan Blazers. © 2011 Wayne Eardley.