A second public performance of Tide of Hope, the inaugural production of Trent Valley Archives Theatre, will be staged at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre in downtown Peterborough in May.
The second performance takes place at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 15th, the evening before the originally scheduled performance.
“We’re very pleased with the audience interest in our project and community support,” say co-producers Mary and Greg Conchelos in a media release, noting that the May 16th performance is now 85 per cent sold out. “There is a real appetite for regional history and historical fiction in this area.”
Both public performances are fundraisers for Trent Valley Archives, a non-profit organization that has promoted the preservation, identification, and care of historical archives in the Trent Valley region since 1989. Unlike many archival organizations that receive government funding, Trent Valley Archives relies on membership, donations, and user fees to make its unique and extensive collection of local historical resources available to the public five days a week, year-round.
Launched earlier this year with a mission to bring regional history to life on stage while also raising funds for Trent Valley Archives, Trent Valley Archives Theatre’s first production is the history play Tide of Hope, written by Peterborough playwright Ed Schroeter and directed by Gerry McBride.
A prequel to the immigration story of Peter Robinson, the 19th-century politician in Upper Canada who administered the passage and settlement of over 2,500 poor Catholic families from Ireland to what is now eastern Ontario, Tide of Hope follows the fortunes and misfortunes of David Nagle, an Irish land agent and rent collector forced to flee to Upper Canada in 1825 when Irish rebels fighting against English tyranny brand him a traitor.
“There are four strong, fierce female characters in the play — including Lady Mount Cashell, an Irish rebel sympathizer who wrote female-emancipatory fiction and health advice — who overshadow David,” says Schroeter, an award-winning playwright, Trent Valley Archives volunteer, and retired teacher.
Also known as Margaret King and Margaret King Moore, Lady Mount Cashell was a favoured pupil of British writer, philosopher, and women’s rights advocate Mary Wollstonecraft. Later in life when she settled in Italy, Lady Mount Cashell would adopt the name Mrs Mason, from the motherley governess in Wollstonecraft’s only children’s book, and offered maternal aid and advice to Wollstonecraft’s daughter Mary Shelley, the author of the 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus.
Geared to the general public and Grade 6 to 12 students, Tide of Hope both commemorates the bicentennial of the Peter Robinson immigration while also opening a dialogue about immigration, refugees, migrants, and European settler history.
Tickets for the public performances are $40 for assigned cabaret table seating or $30 for regular assigned seating, and are available online at tickets.markethall.org/tide24. Suitable for audiences aged 12 and older, the play runs for around 95 minutes, including a 15-minute intermission.
Prior to the two public performances, there will be a performance for school groups at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, May 15th, with admission costing $250 for a class of 25 students or more (including free admission for the teacher and up to four volunteer chaperones). Teachers can book classes by emailing trentvalleyarchivestheatre@gmail.com.
According to Mary and Greg Conchelos, there is still enough room at the school performance for at least another eight or nine classes. More information, including educational resources, is available at trentvalleyarchives.com/tvat/.
kawarthaNOW is proud to be a media sponsor for Tide of Hope.
