For the first production of its fall season, Globus Theatre in Bobcaygeon is presenting the romantic comedy Buying the Farm by Canadian playwrights Shelley Hoffman and Stephen Sparks for 11 performances from September 25 to October 5.
It’s no coincidence that Globus Theatre’s artistic producer James Barrett and artistic director Sarah Quick chose to open the fall season with a made-in-Ontario play about a family farm.
The production overlaps with the annual International Plowing Match & Rural Expo (IPM), which takes place this year at the Lindsay Exhibition Fairgrounds from October 1 to 5. The largest agricultural and rural expo in all of North America, the event is a celebration of agriculture and rural living.
“When we started planning the International Plowing Match for 2024 in Lindsay, I knew that I wanted it to be something that created special events across the Kawartha Lakes,” says Bob Armstrong, chair of the IPM 2024 local organizing committee.
“So I spoke to James and Sarah about putting on a play at the same time as the International Plowing Match and I’m delighted they have selected to produce Buying the Farm. I think this show is perfect because it is a great connection to agriculture and the rural landscape we love in the Kawarthas.”
In Buying the Farm, Brad Deacon (played by Globus newcomer Michal Grzejszczak) is a young real estate agent from the city trying to prove himself to his father. Wearing a plaid button-down shirt, $200 jeans, and lizard skin cowboy boots, he arrives at the Bjornson family farm convinced he can persuade old bachelor farmer Magnus (James Barrett) to finally sell the farm, succeeding where other agents have failed.
With Magnus facing mounting debt and with his farm surrounded by suburban developments, it appears that Brad may indeed succeed — until he meets Magnus’ high-spirited and secretive great niece Esme (played by Globus newcomer Mallory Brumm) who is unwavering in her resolve that the farm is not for sale.
Buying the Farm was written by Toronto-based wife-and-husband Shelley Hoffman and Stephen Sparks. Hoffman, who describes herself as a “recovering actor,” is a Gemini-award winning scriptwriter and showrunner of children’s television, while Sparks has been a professional actor for more than 35 years.
In 2016, Sparks pitched his wife on an idea for a play that drew upon his youth growing up on a farm.
“One morning, I said something about a story that has to do with a kid on the farm and how the sale of their farm went,” Sparks said in a 2020 interview with Constance Scrafield of the Orangeville Citizen. “I often work in regional theatres and I’m often aware of farm land. Shelley is the driving force — she said, ‘I want to write this.'”
Three years after that pitch, Buying the Farm premiered at the Port Stanley Festival Theatre, and went on to hit productions at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre and other venues across Manitoba, as well as at Thunder Bay’s Magnus Theatre, Kincardine’s Blue Water Summer Playhouse, and more.
“Stephen and I are thrilled to have Buying the Farm brought to audiences in Bobcaygeon,” says Hoffman.
While on the surface Buying the Farm is a light-hearted comedy, it reflects a serious issue increasingly affecting agriculture in Ontario. According to the 2021 census, Ontario is losing 319 acres of usable farmland every day to development, up from 175 acres daily in 2016. The play also touches on the struggles of maintaining family farms and the divisions between urban and rural life.
“This play was inspired by Stephen’s history of family farming and our road trips where we’ve seen acre after acre of farmland developed for housing,” Hoffman explains.
Buying the Farm runs for 11 performances from September 25 to October 5, with 8 p.m. shows from Wednesday, September 25th to Saturday, September 28th, and again from Tuesday, October 1st to Saturday, October 5th. There will also be two 2 p.m. matinee performances on Saturday, September 28th and Thursday, October 3rd. An optional dinner is available at 6 p.m. before the evening performances.
Tickets are $50 for the show only or $100 for dinner and the show, and are available by calling the box office at 705-738-2037 (toll free at 1-800-304-7897) or online at globustheatre.com.
