Millbrook’s 4th Line Theatre is taking its acclaimed production Wounded Soldiers on a three-week tour this November, with performances in Peterborough (including two on Remembrance Day), Ottawa, and Belleville.
Written by Robert Winslow and Ian McLachlan, Wounded Soldiers premiered at 4th Line Theatre’s Winslow Farm in the summer of 2014. kawarthaNOW’s theatre reviewer Sam Tweedle called it “powerful, poignant, well-acted, hard hitting, and dipped in historical research — as one would always expect from this fantastic theatre company.”
Set against the backdrop of World War I, Wounded Soldiers follows three young people as they forge the bonds of a friendship that will not be defined by mental health, physical disability or race. The unlucky trio include Canadian Home Child Billy Fiddler; Johnny Singer, a physically disabled young man; and Lydia Grant a young, black nurse from Jamaica. The play takes place in southern England in 1916 and is a tragic examination of love, self-sacrifice and friendship.
Wounded Soldiers casts an unflinching eye on the battlefield experiences of soldiers and marginalized individuals trying to navigate a system which does not accept them. The play deals with issues of race, disability, mental health and war, paying homage to the past while helping us understand the problems we still face today.
“I grew up in the UK in the second world war,” explains co-playwright Ian McLachlan. “My very first memory is of a bomb blast that damaged our house in London. I remember being marched into the basement of my school in 1944, wearing a gas mask and chanting my arithmetic tables.”
The co-playwrights are hoping to reach as many Canadians as they can during this three-week tour. The messages are clear and expected to initiate important conversations. The Canadian Mental Health Association is supporting the tour and will have informational booths at all three cities and be running workshops to highlight attention towards mental health and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which figures prominently in the play.
The production of Wounded Soldiers will be directed by Robert Winslow and will feature a cast of six actors playing over 20 characters. Mark Kreder will play Billy Fiddler, Sean Towgood will reprise his original performance as Johnny Singer, and Emerjade Simms will take on the role of Lydia Grant.
The remaining cast members include Mark Hiscox, Justin Hiscox, and Joanne Latimer. As in the original production, musical direction and original composition is by Justin Hiscox. Costume design is by Meredith Hubbard with stage management by Fiona Jones.
The Wounded Soldiers tour opens with five performances at the Market Hall Performing Arts Centre in Peterborough from Wednesday, November 9th to Friday, November 11th (Remembrance Day). There will be evening performances at 7 p.m. as well as matinee performances at 1 p.m. on November 10th and again on Remembrance Day.
The tour then proceeds to the nation’s capital with five performances at the Arts Court Theatre in downtown Ottawa from Thursday, November 17th to Saturday, November 19th. There will be an evening performance every night at 7 p.m. and matinee performances at 1 p.m. on November 18th and November 19th.
The tour finishes in Belleville with five performances at the John M. Parrott Art Gallery in the Belleville Public Librar from Thursday, November 24th to Saturday, November 26th. As with the other cities there will be an evening performance every night at 7 p.m., with a 1 p.m. matinee performance on November 25th and 26th.
Tickets for all performances are $22 for adults and $15 for children and youth aged 5 to 16.
For more information and to order tickets, visit tickets.4thlinetheatre.on.ca.
Packages and special ticket pricing for school groups are available in all cities, along with a complimentary study guide available for teachers. Please contact Jennifer Carr at jenn@4thlinetheatre.on.ca or 705-932-4448 to book your school group.
