This July, 4th Line Theatre in Millbrook is kicking off its 26th season with the world premiere of a new historical play recognizing Canada’s greatest contributions to victory in the Second World War: No. 6 Group RCAF of Bomber Command.
Written by award-winning playwright David S. Craig, Bombers: Reaping the Whirlwind tells the story of Peter Benton, a Canadian heavy bomber pilot who flew sorties over Germany during World War II (WWII).
At its peak in the early 1940s, No. 6 Group Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) comprised 15 heavy bomber squadrons that operated in Europe out of airfields in Yorkshire, England. The squadrons in No. 6 Group raided U-boat bases in France and conducted night bombing raids on industrial complexes and urban centres in Germany. In all, No. 6 Group flew 40,822 sorties and dropped 126,122 tons of bombs — and lost 814 aircraft and 4,203 airmen in the process.
“This play is an incredible tribute to the men and women who served, most of whom are no longer with us,” says 4th Line Theatre’s Managing Artistic Director Kim Blackwell. “And for their families, who work tirelessly to ensure the sacrifice is not forgotten, Bombers allows them to honour their family members.”
Playwright David S. Craig, who has written 29 dramatic works that have won multiple theatre awards, has been working on Bombers for more than 30 years. In 1985, he began interviewing veterans of WWII and inviting former air crew members and women who served in the RCAF to share their stories of the war and life in Bomber Command. He is thrilled that his vision is being brought to the stage at 4th Line Theatre this summer.
“There is no other theatre in Canada where a play this epic could be staged,” Craig says. “Bombers has a large cast, epic musical numbers, and action-packed scenes of bombing runs over Europe. 4th Line is the perfect place to realize such an ambitious piece.”
Bombers will star 4th Line Theatre founder Robert Winslow, returning to the stage after a year-long hiatus, as the present-day Peter Benton. The play also stars Michael Cox as the young Peter Benton, Colin Doyle, Erin Humphry, Shaina Silver-Baird, and Deb Williams.
The ensemble cast features 30 actors playing more than 60 characters. Veteran actors include Lucas DeLuca, Kait Dueck, Rob Fortin, Matt Gilbert, Justin Hiscox, Mark Hiscox, Ken Houston, Kelsey Powell and Andrei Preda, apprentice actors include Justin Laurie and Frances Loiselle, and community volunteers include Madeleine Bryenton, Brady Carveth, Liam Davidson, Mike Davidson, Angelina Haines, Abby Hatherly, Emily Jones, Ethan King, Sarah Livingston, Emma Meinhardt, Peter Spasov, Phil Stott, and Samuelle Weatherdon.
The creative team includes Glenn Davidson (set design), Karyn McCallum (costume design), Justin Hiscox (musical direction, original music, and arrangements), Monica Dottor (choreography), and Esther Vincent (sound design). The stage management team include: Fiona Jones, Alanna Wrenshall, and apprentice Christine Mepstead.
The staging of this play at 4th Line Theatre in 2017 — the sesquicentennial year of Canada’s Confederation — encourages us to remember this part of our history and the sacrifices that Canadians have made.
When Canada entered WWII on September 10, 1939, the RCAF was our country’s smallest military service. By the end of the war, Canada had the fourth-largest air force of the Allied powers. Out of a population of 11 million at the time, more than one million Canadian men and women served in the military during WWII, with a quarter of these serving in the RCAF — many of them with Bomber Command.
Serving on a bomber crew was one of the riskiest roles for men in uniform in WWII. Typically, a seven-man crew flew night sorties in a four-engined heavy bomber like the Handley Page Halifax or the Avro Lancaster (some of which were manufactured in Ontario). Take-offs were often tense, with the aircraft roaring down the runway loaded with tons of bombs and more than 6,000 litres of highly flammable aviation gasoline.
At high altitudes, the crew faced sub-zero temperatures which sometimes froze their oxygen masks. During sorties, the bombers encountered German fighter planes patrolling the night skies over Europe as well as powerful searchlights targetting the bombers and flak batteries filling the sky with shrapnel.
If a plane was damaged it was difficult for the crew to escape and, if they managed to survive being shot down over over enemy territory, they would become prisoners of war.
Indeed, that was the fate of the father of David Ferry, who is directing Bombers. The renowned and award-winning Canadian director’s father served in Bomber Command, was shot down over Europe, and spent time in a German prisoner of war camp.
While women did not serve in combat, they also played a significant role in Bomber Command. Members of the RCAF Women’s Division were stationed in England during WWII and performed important support work on the ground, such as being coding technicians, operating radios, and plotting aircraft positions. Civilian women were also essential factory workers, building the bombs and planes used during the war.
Bombers not only honours the contribution and sacrifice of the men and women of Bomber Command during WWII, but the play also asks us to reflect on the price of freedom.
VIDEO: The Avro Lancaster 1941
Bombers: Reaping the Whirlwind runs from Tuesdays to Saturdays from July 4th to July 29th at the Winslow Farm (779 Zion Line, Millbrook), with an additional performance on Monday, July 24th. Previews will be held on July 4th and 5th with opening night on Thursday, July 6th.
Single tickets are $38 for adults and $32 for youth. Subscription tickets (which include one ticket to Bombers: Reaping The Whirlwind in July and one ticket to The History of Drinking in Cavan in August) are $66 for adults and $56 for youth.
Tickets can be purchased by phone at 705-932-4445, online at 4thlinetheatre.on.ca, or at 4th Line Theatre’s Box Office at 4 Tupper Street in Millbrook or at the Peterborough Museum and Archives at 300 Hunter Street E. (Museum Drive) in Peterborough.
