When Rob Kempson was announced as the new artistic director of Port Hope’s Capitol Theatre back in August 2021, he expressed his wish that people come to the historic venue to be engaged, enlightened, and challenged.
Five years on, that triple objective has been achieved and then some. Along the way, the quality and breadth of the work presented at the historical performance venue has forged an identity that sees the Capitol Theatre of today bear little resemblance to what it was as it emerged from the shadow of the pandemic.
On Thursday night (October 8) to a full house at the Capitol, Kempson revealed details of the theatre’s 2027 season — a launch ignited by excerpts from scheduled productions, live music, special guests, and the host’s trademark over-the-top exuberance.
Featuring 10 Canadian productions, two world premieres (Songs for Blondes and The Emperor’s New Clothes: A Pins & Needles Panto), and the revival of a made-in-Port Hope hit show (Rez Gas), the 2027 season theme of “Who We Are” speaks directly to the evolution of the work presented and the connection with audiences and, by extension, the broader community.
“For this current season, the theme is Where Our Stories Begin, which is really about us being a launchpad for things,” says Kempson. “This 2027 season is about showing who we are to the world.”
“It’s about acknowledging that we are really proud of ourselves — of who we are and the work we create. There’s a clear sense of evolution from 2022 through to 2027, and our audience has come along. They know they can trust us. They know they’re going have a great time when they come here. They’re part of the conversation.”
“The Capitol is really about representing all the different voices and perspectives in this region and beyond, and letting people make acquaintance with parts of themselves, and the parts of their community that maybe they haven’t met before,” Kemspon says.
“I think the 2027 season really celebrates people taking on their own identity and making a choice to stand up for who they are.”
While stopping short of declaring the 2027 season a response to threats to Canada’s economy, sovereignty, and values from south of the border, Kempson says the presentation and celebration of work by Canadian playwrights is a commitment that remains well entrenched.
“When you walk down the street in Port Hope and see all of those Canadian flags on every building, you know where you are,” Kempson says.
“This is a place that really celebrates our national identity. What’s really important to me is that we understand the multiplicity of ways that that national identity can appear. That this season features two works by Indigenous artists. That this season asks questions about our national identity through that work. That this season looks at what Canada has been, but it looks at the future of Canada and what Canada could be.”
“Theatre should be representative of who and where we are, but I don’t think it’s only that. My season is a response to us celebrating who we are and standing up for who we are, and acknowledging who we are is actually a whole bunch of different things. The who we are drives us to tell these stories.”
Meanwhile, asking Kempson to choose a 2027 production as the one he’s most excited about is like asking a parent to name a favourite child — you have an answer but it’s best for all involved to keep it to yourself.
Still, when prodded, Kempson touches on a few that he’s sure to be popular, including a restaging of 2025’s Rez Gas, written by Alderville First Nation singer-songwriter Cale Crowe and Cobourg playwright Genevieve Adam.
The project grew out of a 2021 performance by Crowe at the Capitol attended by Kempsen, who subsequently invited Crow to join the theatre’s Creators’ Unit and proposed that he develop an Indigenous musical. Kempson paired Crowe with Adam, with Crowe composing the music, Adam writing much of the script, and the two developing the characters and plot together.
The play was recently shortlisted for a national award from the Playwrights Guild of Canada.
“Part of the reason why I’m bringing it back is because there’s more we want to do with it — there’s more we want to share with people,” says Kempson, noting that after its Capitol return, Rez Gas will be staged at Ottawa’s National Arts Centre for a two-week run in fall 2027.
“It’s going look and feel a little bit different,” he promises of the 2027 restaging. “You’re going to notice some changes to it, which is really exciting because that’s how good new work is developed.”
Also exciting, says Kempson, is a partnership forged with Outside The March, a Toronto-based presenter of theatre in unconventional spaces.
Performance Review, written and performed by Rosalind Small, will be presented in real time at Milly’s Market, a Port Hope eatery, before a limited audience of about 50 people. There, working as a waitress, Small will share seven stories about the seven worst days at seven jobs, all while she serves coffee.
“I saw this show during its premiere run in Toronto in a coffee shop and I was absolutely bowled over,” Kempson recalls.
“I just couldn’t help but think that in a place where we have a community hungry for new experiences, creating the opportunity for them to see a profoundly powerful and hilariously funny show in a coffee shop outside of the theatre is an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”
And then there’s Urinetown: The Musical, the three-time Tony Award winning production that’s billed as “the funniest musical ever written — with the most unfortunate title.”
Kempson admits staging Urinetown represents “a bit of provocative choice” but he did so confident “my audience is going to love it.”
“I know them well enough to know that now, but I didn’t know that when I started,” he says.
Subscription packages for the 2027 season are now on sale, with 20 per cent off if purchased before midnight on October 8 and 15 per cent off if purchased by the end of the year. Newly available for 2027 is a full season subscription for all 11 productions. Single show tickets will be available in early 2027.
For details and to purchase subscription packages, visit capitoltheatre.com.
Capitol Theatre’s 2027 season
Mainstage Ensemble Productions
Salt-Water Moon
May 14 to 30, 2027
By David French
Directed by Rob Kempson
It’s a splendid moon-filled night in Coley’s Point in 1926. Eighteen-year-old Jacob Mercer has returned from Toronto to the tiny Newfoundland outport, hoping to win back his former sweetheart Mary Snow. But Mary has become engaged to wealthy Jerome McKenzie, and she is still hurt and bewildered by Jacob’s abrupt departure a year earlier. She will not be easily wooed.
The Birds & the Bees
June 11 to 27, 2027
By Mark Crawford
Directed by Jill Harper
Sarah has just left her husband and moved back in with her mom Gail, a divorcée of 20 years herself. Sarah’s a turkey farmer who spends her days artificially inseminating turkeys, and Gail’s a beekeeper whose honeybees keep dropping dead. Add to the mix frisky farmer Earl and inexperienced entomology student Ben and the feathers start to fly.
Urinetown: The Musical
July 16 to August 8, 2027
Music and lyrics by Mark Hollmann, book and lyrics by Greg Kotis
Directed by Rob Kempson
Music direction by Shane O’Regan
Choreography by Lyndsey Britten
In a Gotham-like city, a terrible water shortage has led to a government-enforced ban on private toilets. The citizens must use public amenities, regulated by a single company that profits by charging admission. Amid the people, a hero decides that he’s had enough and plans a revolution to lead them all to freedom. Urinetown is a hilarious musical satire of the legal system, capitalism, social irresponsibility, populism, environmental collapse, privatization of natural resources, bureaucracy, municipal politics, and musical theatre.
Rez Gas
August 20 to September 5, 2027
By Cale Crowe and Genevieve Adam
Directed by Herbie Barnes
Orchestrations and music supervision by Jeff Newberry
Music direction by Sarah Richardson
Choreography by Monica Dottor
Described by the writers as Come from Away meets Corner Gas, Rez Gas is about a young man coming to his own understanding of home. After moving away from his home reservation to pursue a music career, he stumbles back into town with unexpected car trouble and lands at the Wide Wigwam, the diner at the centre of the community. There he finds many of those who he left behind who want to remind him of his history and his place in the community.
The Emperor’s New Clothes: A Pins and Needles Panto
November 19, 2027 to January 1, 2028
Written and directed by Rob Kempson
Arrangements and music supervision by Jeff Newberry
Music direction by Alexa Belgrave
Choreography by Genny Sermonia
When the clothing-obsessed Emperor is told about a most magnificent new fabric, visible only to those who are worthy of his respect, he cannot wait to commission the most beautiful outfit for the upcoming parade. But his pride gets the best of him, and everyone ends up showing off their birthday suit.
Second Stage Series (Sculthorpe Theatre and Milly’s Market)
Songs for Blondes
June 1 to 6, 2027
Written and performed by Julie Lumsden
Throughout the last century, the stages of the world have been littered with blondes. Whether fictional or real, the blondes of the theatre have shown their true colours, explored their identity, and demolished nasty stereotypes for throngs of adoring fans. But do blondes really have more fun? In this world premiere Capitol Theatre presentation, Juno Award-nominated (and proud brunette) Julie Lumsden (Beverley in 2026’s Come From Away) tackles that very question through the songs of Elle (Legally Blonde), Glinda (Wicked), Cinderella, Dolly, and more.
Performance Review: An Outside the March Experience
July 6 to 11, 2027
Written and performed by Rosamund Small
Directed by Mitchell Cushman
On a young woman’s first day at her first job, a man tips her $15. The next day, he tips her $100. Then $150. She’s not that good at making cappuccinos. So begins the first of seven stories about seven worst days at seven jobs by award-winning playwright Rosamund Small. Inspired by true events, Performance Review is a shockingly funny and just plain shocking examination of power dynamics in the workplace, told by Small as she serves coffee to a 50-person audience in real time at Milly’s Market Port Hope.
Playlist
August 11 to 15, 2027
Written and performed by Ivan Coyote
Writer and performer Ivan Coyote has crafted a playlist of stories that sing to us about how they managed to discover a coded but very possible queer future hidden in the music coming out of the AM radio in the kitchen, lurking in their parent’s record collection, and leaking out of the lyrics in their elementary school musical. Combining Coyote’s equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking stories, Playlist will have you hitting rewind on the list of songs that helped shape you.
Music Lovers’ Series
Piano Heist
March 12 to 14, 2027
Created and performed by Nico Rhodes and Patrick Courtin
Drawing inspiration from the masterpieces of legendary composers, songwriters, and performers over the last three centuries, lifelong friends Rhodes and Courtin have crafted a hilarious show that spans the spectrum from classical piano masterpieces to vibrant boogie-woogie, romantic ballads, and epic 1980s synth battles.
Over the Rainbow: The Harold Arlen Story
April 16 to 18, 2027
Conceived and directed by Adrian Marchuk
Musical arrangements by Chris Tsujiuchi
Go behind-the-scenes to learn about The Wizard of Oz composer Harold Arlen, the mystery man behind such hits as “Stormy Weather,” “Get Happy,” “Paper Moon,” “The Man That Got Away,” “If I Only Had A Brain,” “Come Rain or Come Shine,” “Let’s Fall in Love,” “One for My Baby,” and “Over the Rainbow.”
Feelin’ Bublé
October 1 to 3, 2027
Created and performed by Jay Davis
Feeling Bublé is a world-class concert celebration of the music and style of Canada’s favourite crooner, starring acclaimed Canadian vocalist Jay Davis. Backed by a sensational live band, the show captures the charm, sophistication, and infectious energy that have made Bublé one of the world’s most beloved entertainers.
