Masterful theatre and song from Young Mummers

Administrator | Aug 27, 2017 | Comments 0

Young Mummers included Alice Graham, Ember Landucci, Elizabeth Mascarenhas, Evelyn Mascarenhas, Sage Noxon, Noah Peeling, Rebekah Peeling, Alicia Rose, Maeve Sanderson, Lilly Hoekstra, McKenzie Crombie, Floral McCaw, Hazel Woodyard North, Norah Venslovaitis, Cayden Downie, Aliya Bowman, Grace Heaney, Gabby Majos-Hughes, Emilie Lewis, Kira Parks, Miriam Epstein, Talia Epstein and Montanah York.

Young Marysburgh Mummers delighted their audiences at Mt. Tabor Playhouse on the weekend presenting a polished and entertaining compilation of song and stories.

Canada: A Musical, Eh? was the culmination of just over two weeks of drama camp activities for the 23-member troupe.

Sam Hirst, director and musical director for the show, said the students created, adapted and wrote the entire show – engaged in learning County and Canadian history while exploring theatre, props, makeup, costumes and stage work.

“The Marysburgh Mummers had a special mandate this year to talk about Canada’s 150th and explore some history,” said Hirst. “They were given some juicy stories about Canada and we split them into four groups of varying age ranges and they were responsible for a few scenes each. The first week and a half they chose how they wanted to develop the stories, added dialogue and the second week they got right on the stage with costumes and props and lighting and choreography and added their own personal touches.”

The shows were dedicated to Al Hazell, founder of the Mt. Tabor Drama Camp in 2000, and writer of the play Dr. Hawtry Bredin, in 2008, of which excerpts were taken, along with songs written by him and Jeanette Arsenault. The first act was dedicated to the stories of the Bredin family, the dredging of the Black River and the building of Mt. Tabor.

“Delightful,” Hazell proclaimed during Saturday’s intermission. “They are very, very good.”

Bredin practised medicine in Milford for 55 years. He is largely responsible for the building of the Mt. Tabor Church. A second church built there was also called Mt. Tabor. It served the community for 100 years, then was bought for $1 by South Marysburgh Township in 1968 and since 1985 has been run by The Marysburgh Mummers. The hall behind – used for costumes, washrooms and snack bar was built in 1997 and named Bredin Hall.

The show also included stories about Sir John A Macdonald, hockey, an Iroquois story, The Marysburgh Vortex and the finale featured the singing of ‘This is My Canada’ by Arsenault.

The show was produced by Cathy Peeling, who also looked after costuming, with Bruce Dowdell as technical director and Mary Mascarenhas handling props and stage management.