'Kingsbridge the Musical V" entertains community at Kingsbridge Centre
BY SCOTT STEPHENSON
While the lower level of the Kingsbridge Centre was full of free samples last weekend, courtesy of local vendors and the Taste of Huron initiative, the building’s upper level was tasting theatrical success with its production of Kingsbridge the Musical V - What a Year It Was!
Such an innovation has come to be expected from the Kingsbridge Centre - since its inception as a new community hub only a few years ago, the organization has continually impressed with an endless variety of creative ways to use the community’s beloved old church. St. Joseph’s may have been deconsecrated, but it is still filling the community with spirit.
What a Year it Was! is the fifth iteration of Kingsbridge: The Musical, and, as with all previous productions, was written and directed by Warren L. Robinson, with music by Eleanor Robinson, Kingsbridge’s married answer to Gilbert and Sullivan. Mary Murdoch is back as a co-writer this year, with stage management ably handled by Shelley Morley and charming choreography by Emily Corbett. The show tackles the tumultuous year of 1967, and the way its far-reaching cultural impact vibrated all the way to rural Ontario.
In the world of rural performing arts, the professional theatre company that is the Blyth Festival has a reputation for being a bit of the naughty nephew to the bigger and more established uncle Stratford Festival, but Blyth’s bards better watch their backs - Kingsbridge Centre may be amateur Arcadian theatre’s new bad-boy - this converted church is creating self-reflexive community theatre cranked up to 11.
It’s like an Our Town acted out by the actual people from the actual town - an Our Town so Our Town that it borders on the Avant Garde. Kingsbridge: The Musical reaches towards the goal of Wagner’s concept of “Gesamtkunstwerk”, the total artwork that becomes life.
Kingsbridge the Musical V boasts no fewer than 44 cast members. Did nobody tell the Robinsons that 44 is an untenable number of people to manage on stage? It turns out they were told, but the Robinsons just don’t care. “It’s a community project - if you come out, we’ll use you,” said Eleanor, throwing down the gauntlet for next year’s production.
The thing about the huge cast is that it works. Lovely little songs and inside jokes that would take far too long to explain zip the show along, and a surprising showcase of vocal talents casually appear, sing with the live band, and disappear. A scene in which male characters dance with headless dressmaker’s dummies comes and goes with eerie charm, followed by breezy lines delivered by tow-headed little boys that are certainly somebody’s real life children. Whoever Bernadine once was in real life is no longer relevant - she belongs to the stage now.
Kingsbridge’s practice of putting on an annual show by its people, for its people and about its people is one that should be adopted by more rural communities. Its model for a self-sustaining perpetual motion machine for rural cultural creativity is one that has much potential to be replicated. Who knows what musical talents are out there picking corn and rolling hay, just waiting to be discovered?
TASTE OF HURON AT KINGSBRIDGE
While the upper level of the Kingsbridge Centre tasted theatrical success last weekend with its production of Kingsbridge the Musical V, the building’s lower level was tasting free samples, courtesy of local vendors and Taste of Huron (TOH). The two events were designed to complement each other, creating a unique theatre-going experience in which patrons could enjoy a sampling of sausages and syrup before grabbing a local beer or glass of wine pre-curtain.
Such an innovation has come to be expected from TOH - since its inception only a few years ago, the initiative has continually impressed with a variety of creative ways to get Huron County’s Eden-like bounty directly into the hands and mouths of its citizens, from farm tours to online shopping initiatives. A free tasting in a converted church basement that corresponds with the annual play about the town around that converted church is as tasty an idea as any that TOH has been involved with thus far. Tasty treats on offer came from farms in Goderich, Lucknow, Auburn and beyond.
Lucknow-based bbs crafted gave out free sample bars of their handcrafted soaps. Don’t let the white tea and ginger bar fool you - these samples aren’t for eating!
Fellow church converts Coastal Coffee gave out intriguing fold-out travel brewing set-ups for camping and festivals, preloaded with their ethically-sourced, locally-roasted coffee. Chocolate milk was also provided by Ontario dairy farmers for those who eschew caffeine.
Burdan’s Red Cat Farm and Bakery offered brioche and sweet, seasonal fruit squares. The organically-minded, sourdough-focused operation is located just a few minutes down the road from the Kingsbridge Centre.
Complementing Red Cat’s squares was syrup from two equally sweet sources - Blake’s Maple from Lucknow and Robinson’s Maple from Auburn. Those interested in doing a comparative taste test would find both to be delicious!
On the savoury side of things was an array of pork sausage samples from Meeting Place Organic Farm. Accompanying the succulent bites was the farm’s apple butter barbeque sauce and enough mustard varieties to guarantee the success of any culinary affair.