Stage Door News
Millbrook: 4th Line Theatre announces its 2025 season
Monday, October 28, 2024
4th Line Theatre’s Managing Artistic Director Kim Blackwell is thrilled to announce the theatre’s 33rd summer season and two world premiere productions. The season will begin on July 1, 2025 with The Housekeeper. This mysterious romance is the fourth in the popular series of plays about Barnardo children, written by Ian McLachlan & Robert Winslow and directed by Robert Winslow. Beginning on July 29th, 4th Line will present Wild Irish Geese, written by and starring Megan Murphy and directed by Kim Blackwell. Murphy’s play is highly anticipated and sure to be an instant hit. The production will be a part of the 200th commemoration of the arrival of the first of the Peter Robinson Irish settlers in 1825. Descendants of these original Irish settlers are being invited to return to the region in the summer of 2025, to pay homage to their forbears. 4th Line is proud to be part of these commemorative events.
Blackwell is looking forward to the upcoming summer season at the Winslow farm. “Two world premiere plays which explore people looking for a better life, for themselves and their families,” she explains. “The people in both plays will risk it all to find a haven of calm and peace in their lives. I think we can all relate to that desire. These world premiere productions have been developed through our new play development program.”
The Housekeeper
It is 1955 and a mysterious woman arrives in Millbrook. Eleanor Gwyn is looking for a job and being the housekeeper for widower Walter White might be the perfect fit. Eleanor is hoping to put down roots, find a place to call home and make a fresh start in her life. But is Millbrook ready for Eleanor and her progressive world views? This compelling mystery romance is the fourth in Robert Winslow & Ian McLachlan’s series of plays about Barnardo children and their impact on Canadian culture and history. The Housekeeper ponders the duality of the welcoming and easy nature of small towns with how small towns can be suspicious of outsiders. Mature Content. Recommended 16+.
Wild Irish Geese
Wild Irish Geese is the story of Irish settlers and their journey to the Peterborough region. Peter Robinson was the architect of an 1820s emigration plan which saw thousands of Irish families come to Canada to escape the brutal poverty which they were facing in Ireland. Eventually over 2,000 impoverished Irish settled in Scotts Plains, later renamed Peterborough and began their lives anew. These new Canadians planted deep roots in the Peterborough area and have thousands of descendants both locally and across the globe.
Both 2025 season plays focus on people who are in search of new lands, towns and homes. They are people with a desperate desire to find a place to call their own. Whether a person or people come from across an ocean or the province, many are escaping persecution and abuse in search of safe and secure lives for themselves and their families. 4th Line knows this settler history can be complex and are sensitive to this challenge.
Both 2025 Season plays fit squarely into 4th Line’s mandate. They both feature all of the drama, laughter and poignancy that audiences have come to expect from Ontario’s premiere outdoor theatre.
DETAILS:
The Housekeeper
World Premiere
Written by Ian McLachlan & Robert Winslow
Directed by Robert Winslow
July 1 – 19
Previews: July 1, 2
Opening Night: Thursday, July 3
Tuesday to Saturday at 6 pm
With an added Monday performance on July 14th
Mature Content. Recommended 16+
* * *
Wild Irish Geese
World Premiere
Written by Megan Murphy
Directed by Kim Blackwell
July 29 - August 30
Previews: July 29, 30
Opening Night: Thursday, July 31
Tuesday to Saturday at 6 pm
With an added Monday performance on August 25th
Gift Certificates & Tickets on sale November 4th
4th Line Theatre is pleased to announce that its box office will open to the public to purchase gift certificates, as well as tickets for performance dates, for the 2025 Summer Season as of Monday, November 4th. Gift certificates for single tickets, season subscriptions and charcuterie snack boxes, as well as tickets for specific performance dates, can be purchased by phone at 705-932-4445, or toll-free at 800-814-0055, online at 4thlinetheatre.on.ca, and at 4th Line Theatre’s Box Office location at 9 Tupper Street, Millbrook, ON.