Globus Theatre’s 20th anniversary season continues in August with the musical comedy Tip of the Iceberg, running for 12 performances from August 2 to 12 at the Lakeview Arts Barn in Bobcaygeon.
Written by first-time playwrights Chris Rait, Mark Williams, and Jeannine Bouw, the play tells the story of Gordon and Archie, lifelong friends born and raised in a remote Newfoundland fishing village.
When they see an influx of rich tourists visiting their sleep village who are willing to pay big bucks for an authentic Newfoundland experience, Archie hatches a plan where he and Gordon can make a fortune off the tourists. All they need is a boat, an iceberg, and a little bit of luck.
Back in 2018, musician Chris Rait approached his friend Mark Williams, a Newfoundland native, with an idea for a play. During an early writing session at Rait’s home, Jeannine Bouw — a member of Rait’s folk-rock group The Treeline — dropped by for band practice and volunteered to help.
“We’d have a glass of wine and Mark would start telling a story and I would type as he would talk,” Bouw says.
Williams’ stories of his family’s experiences and history as rural Newfoundlanders provided the foundation for the rough first draft. Bouw and Rait worked on character development, with Bouw bringing her comic sensibility to the story and Rait eventually writing eight original songs for the production.
Having never written a play, a year later the trio brought their work-in-progress to Derek Ritschel, artistic director of Lighthouse Festival in Port Dover, hoping for some simple advice and tips.
“We asked Derek if he could just humour us and read the play for feedback as a favour,” Rait recalls. “The next thing we know we get a call from Derek asking if we can come into his office.”
The meeting led to the three playwrights becoming involved with Lighthouse Festival’s Play Development Program, a second draft of the play, and a professional table read at the Tarragon Theatre in Toronto.
Three years later, after many rewrites and edits complicated by pandemic isolation, Tip of the Iceberg premiered in 2022 at the Lighthouse Festival in Port Dover and Port Colborne.
A story of friendships, Tip of the Iceberg is filled with laughter, music, and fun as well as an inspiring message.
“These are two men — their best days are behind them,” Williams says. “But at the same time, throughout the play the audience and the characters come to the realization that it’s not all said and done yet. There are new doors to open, there’s new avenues to travel. You can move on; you can move forward. There’s still a lot of fun to be had.”
“I want someone leaving the theatre going ‘I haven’t played my guitar in like 20 years, I want to go home and do that tomorrow’,” Rait adds. “I want to try gardening, or I want to go to Mexico.”
Along with the characters of Gordon and Archie, the play features a musician who functions as a narrator.
For the Globus Theatre production of Tip of the Iceberg, which is directed by Globus Theatre co-founder and artistic producer James Barrett, that musician will be Rait himself, performing his original songs.
The roles of Gordon and Archie will be played by actors Mark Whelan and Rick Hughes.
A resident artist with Terra Bruce productions in Newfoundland, Whelan has appeared in numerous Globus Theatre productions, including Sunshine Express and Stones in His Pockets, and has numerous stage, television, film, and commercial appearances to his credit.
Hughes has appeared in Persephone Theatre’s Biloxi Blues with James Barrett and Port Hope Festival’s Honeymoon For Three with Mark Whelan, and has also appeared in CBC’s Murdoch Mysteries and Netflix’s Hemlock Grove.
VIDEO: Chris Rait in promotion for original Lighthouse Festival production
Suitable for all ages, Tip of the Iceberg runs for 12 performances at the Lakeview Arts Barn in Bobcaygeon at 8 p.m. from Wednesday, August 2nd to Saturday, August 5th and from Tuesday, August 8th to Saturday, August 12th, with additional 2 p.m. matinee performances on Saturday, August 5th and Thursday, August 10th.
An optional dinner is available at 6 p.m. before the evening performances.
Tickets are $45 for the show only, or $90 for dinner and the show, and are available by calling the Globus Theatre box office at 705-738-2037 or online at globustheatre.com.
