Places

THEATRE on the Pond

A theatre with a passion brings a unique outdoor production to life against the Bay of Fundy

The Odyssey
On a 186-acre farm with rolling fields, forest and ponds sits a modern arts facility. The grounds of the Ross Creek Centre for the Arts is the stage for a major outdoor theatrical production that will take place this summer, in Canning, Nova Scotia. The centre’s sister organization, Two Planks and a Passion Theatre, will present The Odyssey, a play adapted from Homer by Rick Chafe, one of the few plays commissioned for outdoor performance.

Two Planks and a Passion Theatre’s Artistic Director Ken Schwartz says the inspiration for this production comes from the setting of the grounds themselves: “The inspiration came from this beautiful place and the knowledge that we could create something very special here.” Where else could an audience enjoy an evening of outdoor theatre where the stage is found in front of, on and behind a pond of water?

Even more amazing for the audience is the sight beyond the pond, on a path through the trees. The opening leads to the incredible Bay of Fundy, overlooking the world’s highest tides, a spectacular backdrop where the entire play will unfold.

The audience is invited to arrive early and enjoy a picnic dinner under a large tent on the grounds.

Theatre-goers can bring their own meal, or reserve a specially prepared, gourmet, boxed supper from the nearby Art Can Café. Several local businesses also offer packages combining their services with tickets to the show, such as the Gaspereau Vineyards, Old Orchard Inn and Spa, and the Farmhouse Inn.

At 6:00 p.m., the audience is gathered on site and directed to the bleacher-style seating near the edge of the large pond. But the lights won’t be dimming to signal the start of the show. The performance occurs during summer’s extended daylight hours.

This is one of the special challenges Schwartz says comes with performing outside.

“It’s a very different art form compared to indoors,” explains Schwartz. “There are no lights dimming to take you to another place. We have to create this world, and the picture the audience sees in front of them, in a different way.”

Schwartz says this is achieved by the imagination working with the natural environment, explaining that the experience is the perfect marriage of imagination and nature.

Theatre on the Pond

“You need to come up with unique ways to bring these two things together,” he says. “The natural environment is a great part of what you do.”

Vocal power and projection are other technical aspects that need to be adapted to the outdoor stage by the cast of 12. A system will be rigged so actors are spread out on different islands on the pond.

The concept of the show is that all the performers are shipwrecked passengers and crew from a ship, The Poseidon, sailing to New England from England in the 1830s. While awaiting rescue off the shore of Nova Scotia, the heroes and monsters of ancient Greece are seen in the eyes of the men and women who were in search of a better life.

Only objects, costumes and instruments that could conceivably survive a shipwreck are used in the play. Unique large-scale puppetry is also incorporated into the show.

With this large, outdoor production on the water, Two Planks and a Passion Theatre is actually paying homage to performers from 400 years ago. The earliest French settlers in Nova Scotia created The Theatre of Neptune in 1606, performing on barges and canoes on the water of Port Royal to raise their spirits and celebrate their new community.

Schwartz says the production “ties one of the greatest stories ever told to our own regional history in one piece of work.”

Catch the epic adventure when it opens July 26, with performances daily at 6:00 p.m. (excluding Mondays until August 12).

For ticket information visit www.twoplanks.ca or contact the Ross Creek Centre for the Arts at 902-582-3073.

Originally published in the Summer 2007 issue of Lifestyle Nova Scotia Magazine.