Of the many gifts the Peterborough Theatre Guild has bestowed upon the community it has served the past 60 years, few are more significant than its provision of a stage for exceptional talent.
Take, for example, the talent that is Peterborough-born playwright Dave Carley.
Back in 1979, when he was a student at the University of Toronto, Carley wrote, for the Guild, the musical spoof Susanna!, based on the life of 19th-century English-born Canadian author Susanna Moodie. Six years later, the Guild staged Carley’s play Hedges, which later represented Canada at an international theatre festival in Japan.
Now the Guild’s relationship with Carley is continuing anew, with his comedy Midnight Madness opening a 10-show run at the Rogers Street venue on Friday, February 27 — close to 40 years after it premiered at Toronto’s Tarragon Theatre.
Directed by longtime local theatre director Jane Werger, Midnight Madness is set in 1985 at Bloom’s Furniture, a rundown store on the main street of Ashburnham — a fictional city based on Peterborough.
There, in the second-floor bed department, just before midnight, manager Wesley (Eddy Sweeney) is preparing to close up for the last time with his boss Mr. Bloom (Jack Burke) when a blast from his past comes into the store. Anna (Carling Dulder) has no idea at first that Wesley is a former classmate, but Wesley remembers her all too well.
Despite some early setbacks, Anna put herself through law school and is now back in Ashburnham with her son to begin her career as Wesley faces the end of his. As the night unfolds, they recall the humiliating events that drove them both from high school before graduation.
They come to the realization that the burdens of guilt they carry can finally be shed … as a little romantic magic begins to blossom in Bloom’s Furniture’s second-floor bed department.
For her part, Werger is delighted to be at the helm of a play written by a self-proclaimed “proud Peterburian” whose full-length and short plays have seen 500 productions across North America and around the world. As is the case with Midnight Madness, Carley sets many of his plays in his hometown.
“I wouldn’t say his style is exactly like that of (celebrated playwright) Norm Foster, but a lot of Norm Foster plays start off funny and then, in act two, you start to find the unhappy clown under the clown,” says Werger.
“He has a similar style, at least in this play,” she adds of Carley. “There’s the comic situation of meeting after high school, and chatting about things that happened, and Mr. Bloom coming over the intercom, but then it gets to bad stuff that happened in high school. It’s a laugh-at-life comedy, but there are tears too.”
Of relevance to a local audience, there are various references to Peterborough in the play, including the daily newspaper and the neighbourhood of East City (where the Peterborough Theatre Guild is located). With the play set in 1985 and flashing back to the early 1970s, Werger says the storyline will strike a familiar chord with a demographic of a certain age.
Besides the opportunity to direct a Carley play, Werger is thrilled to be working alongside producer Diane Théberge. Back in the 1990s, Théberge was stage manager for a number of Guild plays and, after some time away, returned to the Guild in October 2024, serving as assistant stage manager for Mary’s Wedding, a romantic drama directed by Werger.
“When Jane suggested producing, I didn’t really know what it entailed, but this play, with such a small cast, seemed like a good place to start,” says Théberge, adding “It’s been a great experience. It kind of fits my skill set.”
Werger says Théberge checks all the boxes as a producer.
“She’s great at it. She’s very smart. She’s very efficient. She’s intuitive, which is really good. And she’s sweet. That helps — she doesn’t come across as a bad ass.”
Werger recalls seeing Midnight Madness staged years ago by Arbour Theatre.
“I also saw (Carley’s play) Sister Jude, which is about Wesley’s sister. Wesley talks about his sister Jude in Midnight Madness. Wesley is also in Sister Jude. I enjoyed both those plays. And I wanted to something that was more in the comic vein. I had done The Crucible (in early 2023) and Mary’s Wedding. I needed something a little bit lighter, even though this isn’t really perfectly light.”
“Midnight Madness is a heartfelt comedy. It touches your heart. I don’t want to say what happened to them in high school — why come see the play otherwise?”
Working with a cast of just three actors — only two of whom are seen on stage — is a world apart from directing a large ensemble cast, which Werger calls “easier.”.
“They start to feel like a tribe. People really get close in musicals. With a smaller group, you have to cast right. You mess up and they don’t have chemistry and you’re in trouble.”
“I worked with Eddy (Sweeney) in Mary’s Wedding, so I knew what he can do on the stage. He has a wonderful voice that resonates. You hear every single word he says. That’s one of his real strengths. Not every actor has that. And he really likes to know why he’s doing anything on the stage. He’s more reflective and intellectual. He’s an analytical actor.”
“Carling (Dulder) is more intuitive. She tries things. She’s done some classes at Second City, so she has a sense of improvisation.”
Werger says the on-stage interaction between the two “is good … a little too good because they lose their concentration sometimes during rehearsal and I have to yell at them. They’ll do something funny and they’ll crack up, so they’re very comfortable together.”
As for Burke as Mr. Bloom, he won’t be seen by the audience but his voice will be heard. In the original production, that role was played by famed Canadian actor Graham Greene.
With each rehearsal, Théberge is more certain that her decision to leap into producing was the right one.
“I feel like I’m getting so much more out of it now than I did back in the ’90s when I was just a kid really,” she says. “Seeing that creative process is really impressive. She (Werger) has brilliant ideas. Everyone really enjoys working with Jane. I can see myself doing it (producing) again.”
For Werger, her desire and motivation to remain involved with community theatre, on some level, is strong as it ever has been.
“I used to play being a little deer under the table in the kitchen. My mother would say ‘Little deer, little deer’ and I would crawl out from under the table and she would feed me lettuce. I think it was just a way for her to get greens into me. I think I just always liked imaginary play.”
“Then there’s the community aspect. It’s lovely. Everyone’s working towards a creative goal together.”
Asked what she hopes audiences will take away from Midnight Madness, Werger answers quickly.
“To be kinder. To watch your words, although I’m not really good at that. And, with Bloom’s closing and headed off to mall, appreciate your downtown.”
Midnight Madness will be staged at the Guild Hall at 364 Rogers Street in Peterborough’s East City with evening performances at 7:30 p.m. on February 27 and 28, March 5 to 7, and March 12 to 14, with 1:30 p.m. matinee performances on March 1 and 8.
Assigned seating tickets are $30 for adults, $27 for seniors, and $20 for students and are available by phone at 705-745-4211 or online at www.peterboroughtheatreguild.com/upcoming-plays/midnight-madness.
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