encoreNOW is a bi-weekly column by Paul Rellinger where he features upcoming music, theatre, film, and performing arts events and news from across the Kawarthas.
This week, Paul highlights an open mic event featuring Indigenous poets and storytellers at the Peterborough Community Health Centre, Tanglefoot at the Bancroft Village Playhouse, the Blues for Ukraine benefit concert at Peterborough’s Market Hall, Shrek The Musical at Campbellford’s Westben, the Capitol Theatre’s staging of Liars at a Funeral in Port Hope, and New Stages Theatre’s staged reading of Clyde’s at the Market Hall.
Indigenous poets and storytellers share at open mic event in Peterborough
Since opening last October at Peterborough Square, the Peterborough Community Health Centre has provided holistic health and wellness services, including tradition healing, to those who are underserved and/or marginalized, including people from Indigenous communities.
The centre’s care model is based on the provision health care that is community driven and culturally safe, and proactively addresses the cultural and social determinants of health. To that end, its staff blends Indigenous teachings with Western health practices to deliver care that fosters physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing.
With all this in mind, the centre’s hosting of an open mic event specifically for Indigenous poets, writer, storytellers and spoken word artists on Friday (June 5) is well in step with its stated mission and related approach.
Presented as part of the First Friday Peterborough’s slate of cultural events, presenters with any level of experience are invited to step up to the microphone and share their work. Registered speakers will be featured from 7 to 8 p.m., followed by an open mic format until 8:30 p.m. Each speaker will have five to seven minutes to share their work.
To register in advance to speak in what’s billed as “a space to share stories, voices and creativity,” contact Nakara Smith at 705-400-8480 ext. 108 or email nakara.smith@ptbochc.ca.
Blues for Ukraine benefit concert at Peterborough’s Market Hall supports Chloë Black’s Ukraine relief work
Since April 2022 — two months after Russia invaded Ukraine — Peterborough native Chloë Black has made five humanitarian relief trips to the besieged country. Most recently, she volunteered with an animal shelter in Kkarkiv as well as spent time in Kyiv where, as a volunteer with Ukrainian Patriot, she helped children impacted by the war.
The provision of such aid doesn’t come cheap, with money always needed for the purchase of medical items and equipment, hygiene kits, power sources, protective gear … the list goes on and on. Black is back home now, and an event that will help the cause is next on her busy schedule.
Set for Thursday, June 11 at Market Hall in downtown Peterborough, Blues for Ukraine will see Black narrate a slide show detailing her humanitarian and animal rescue work over the last four years.
For the “blues” part of the program, she has her musician dad Al Black to thank. He’s enlisted the help of Tony D (Monkey Junk), Al Lerman (Fathead, Maple Blues Revue), Omar Tunoch (Fathead), and Gary Peeples who, with Black and Rick Fines, formed Jackson Delta and earned two Juno Award nominations back in the 1990s.
“I am completely humbled and grateful for everything my dad and his friends are doing,” noted Chloë in a March interview with kawarthaNOW. “The funds raised will help with animal welfare and with mental health programs for children who have lived close to the frontline, or are internally displaced from occupied territories.”
Rest assured the happiest man in Peterborough right now is Al Black, who’s no doubt very thankful his daughter is back home and safe — for now.
“When she first told me she was going to do this, I pushed back on her for about five minutes,” he told kawarthaNOW. “After about five minutes, I knew I was not going to change her mind and that my only option was to support her in every way I could.”
Tickets to the 7 p.m. event cost $39 including fees at www.markethall.org, with proceeds supporting Ukrainian Patriot’s important relief efforts.
“Shrek The Musical” comes to Westben’s The Barn in Campbellford
VIDEO: “Overture/Big Bright Beautiful World” – Shrek the Musical on Broadway (2013)
Ogre-sized laughs, fairytale misfits, and a whole lot of heart are the key ingredients of a stage recipe that promises a great time for the whole family.
The Barn at Westben in Campbellford is delivering just that with its staging of Shrek the Musical.
Opening Friday, June 12 for a six-show run, the Linda Kash-directed production features the talents of the Westben youth and teen choruses delivering catchy songs, dance numbers, and a joyful message around belonging and self-acceptance.
The cast — including Andrew Tees as Shrek, Kim Dafoe as Princess Fiona, Lauren Lafayette as Donkey, and Patrick Shannon as Lord Farquaad — will take their audience, young and not-so-young alike, to the land of Duloc that first captured our rapt attention via the hugely popular 2001 animated film.
Featuring music by Jeanine Tesori with book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire, Shrek the Musical opened on Broadway in December 2008 and enjoyed a 12-month run. That was followed by a United States tour. Westben audiences can expect many, if not all, of the songs the film version gifted to millions worldwide.
Westben advises this is a high-energy, full-length production best suited for kids aged six and up.
Curtain is at 7 p.m. on June 12 and 19, with 2 p.m. matinees on June 13, 14, 20 and 21. Visit www.westben.ca to order tickets, which are priced at $58.50 for adults, $55.75 for seniors, and $13.50 for youth under 18.
“Liars at a Funeral” brings laughter, not tears, to Port Hope’s Capitol Theatre
There’s no rest for the weary at the Capitol Theatre where, just two weeks after the Peanuts gang vacated the stage, the venue is raising the curtain on the second main stage production of its 2026 season.
Artistic director Rob Kempson has again chosen well in bringing Liars at a Funeral to the stage of the historic Port Hope venue, opening on Friday, June 12 for a 19-show run. Written by Kingston native Sophia Fabiilli, the farce features eccentric characters, witter banter, and hidden identities, all of which combine to turn grief into a hilarious journey.
Directed by Aaron Jan, the story centres on an estranged family that has come together to mourn the passing of Mavis, the family matriarch. However, soon enough, the funeral devolves into a dysfunctional family reunion. If they can keep it together, they might just break the intergenerational curse and somehow make it out alive.
Carolyn Fe, who portrayed Clairee in the Capitol’s 2025 production of Steel Magnolias, returns to the stage, joined by fellow cast members Erika Leobrera, Gregory Soloman, Jane Kuk, and Aidan deSalaiz.
Fabiilli’s farce premiered in 2023 at the Blyth Festival and has since been produced across Canada to great reviews. That includes a run the Thousand Islands Playhouse in Gananoque where it set a new record as that venue’s best-selling comedy.
Curtain is at 7:30 p.m. June 12 and 13, 18 to 20, and 25 to 27, with 2 p.m. matinee performances on June 14, 16 to 18, 20 and 21, 23 to 25, and 27 and 28. Tickets are $50 ($40 for under 30) plus fees, with pay-what-you-can pricing for the June 12 preview performance. For tickets, visit capitoltheatre.com.
Reunited Tanglefoot performs its folk music legacy in Bancroft
VIDEO: “Traighli Bay” – Tanglefoot (2008)
Back in the early 1980s, Joe Grant, Bob Wagar, and Tim Rowat came together in Peterborough to form a band that, before long, became highly regarded for original songs that blended history and storytelling with strong vocal harmonies.
Drawing on traditional folk instrumentation, and its exploration of places, memories, and shared experience, Tanglefoot developed a reputation for its high-energy live performances and recorded several albums still highly regarded by Canadian folk music fans.
Tanglefoot ended its touring days in 2009, with Grant, Wagar, and Rowat inducted into Peterborough’s Pathway of Fame three years later.
There things sat, until Steve Ritchie, Al Parrish, Sandra Swannell and Rob Ritchie — each a member of Tanglefoot at varying times — revived the band, with the addition of Rob Ritchie’s son Josh, a singer and multi-instrumentalist who is stepping into the role once held by the late Terry Young.
Now Tanglefoot is back on the road for an encore tour that will make stop at the Bancroft Village Playhouse on Saturday, June 13.
Billed as “One More Night,” the comeback revives fan favourites and hidden gems, all while maintaining the connection between band and audience that has been at the heart of Tanglefoot’s popularity since day one. Add to that an unmistakably Canadian vibe and sound and it’s not hard to understand the appeal for so many all these years on.
Tickets to the 7 p.m. performance cost $50 at www.villageplayhouse.ca.
Staged reading of “Clyde’s” closes out New Stages season at Peterborough’s Market Hall
VIDEO: “Clyde’s” Canadian Stage production trailer (2026)
New Stages Theatre is putting a bow on its 2025-26 season with a staged reading of a dramatic comedy written by a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright whose work familiar to its audience.
Back in 2023, the company presented Lynn Nottage’s Sweat to great reviews. On Sunday, June 14 at Market Hall, it will introduce Clyde’s, promising that if you like sandwiches and second chances, this show will strike a chord.
Directed by New Stages artistic director Marc Wallace with help from Lisa Dixon, the story is set at Clyde’s, a truck stop sandwich shop where the employees share a criminal record. As they hustle through their shifts, each is on a near-spiritual quest to create the perfect sandwich.
Billed as “a fresh new comedy full of hunger, heart and smarts,” Clyde’s features Ordena Stephens-Thompson, Sterling Jarvis, Chelsea Russell, René Escobar Jr. and Tim Walker. All have appeared in previous New Stages productions, except for Jarvis who is make his debut with the company — fresh off his performance as the Montrellous character in the Canadian Stage production of Clyde’s in Toronto in April.
As a bonus, before the curtain rises, Wallace will reveal New Stages’ 2026-27 season lineup, with subscriptions going on sale that night.
Curtain is 7 p.m. with regular tickets available for $30 at www.markethall.org.
With its strong language, and references to incarceration, addiction, and racism, the reading is recommended for those aged 16 and up.
Encore
- While it doesn’t get nearly the attention enjoyed by Peterborough Musicfest, the free outdoor summer concert series at Riverview Park and Zoo is no less noteworthy. Every other Sunday until August 30 will see local musicians and groups perform at the park’s gazebo. Things kicked off May 24 with The Donny Woods Band and the music continues as follows: Fid L Styx on June 7, Wylie Harold and Radio Flyer on June 21, Peterborough Concert Band on July 5, Jazz Junction on July 19, EC Swing on August 2, Lizeh Basciano on August 16, and Knightshift on August 30.
- It’s better early than never for the Peterborough Theatre Guild, which has announced its 2026-27 six-play lineup. The season opens September 18 with the drama Venus in Fur, followed by Vern Thiessen’s Bluebirds, the holiday season musical Which Witch Is Which?, the comedic farce Noises Off, the contemporary drama Instantaneous Blue and, closing the season out in April 2027, Nunsense: The Mega-Musical Version. Tickets and subscription information will be available starting July 1 at www.peterboroughtheatreguild.com. As has been the case for many years, the Peterborough Theatre Guild’s pending season is sponsored, in part, by kawarthaNOW.
