Environment Canada has issued a fog advisory for Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, and Northumberland for Saturday morning (September 26).
Areas of locally dense fog have formed over the region. This fog will continue for a few more hours early Saturday morning before dissipating.
Travel is expected to be hazardous due to reduced visibility in some locations.
If visibility is reduced while driving, turn on your lights and maintain a safe following distance.
The three students of Adam Scott Collegiate Vocational Institute in Peterborough who have tested positive for COVID-19 know each other and all three cases have been connected to travel outside of Peterborough.
During a joint media briefing held Friday (September 25) with representatives from the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board, Peterborough Medical Officer of Health Dr. Rosana Salvaterra described each student’s illness as “mild” but added contact tracing has resulted in a total of 40 people — a combination of mostly students but also some staff — directed to self-isolate.
In addition, the household contacts of each student case have been directed to self-isolate.
“Our preliminary investigation revealed all three (students) had spent some time in the school during the period when they could have been shedding the virus,” says Dr. Salvaterra.
Dr. Salvaterra would not confirm or deny if the three students are in whole, or in part, members of the same family but she did make it clear “they are known to each other.”
Peterborough Public Health advised the high school at 175 Langton Street of the three positive cases on Thursday afternoon (September 24). The school immediately sent an email to all Adam Scott families and posted a notice on the school’s website, advising that the health unit would be contacting close contacts of the three cases.
“By 7:30 p.m. last night (Thursday) we had identified the staff and student cohorts that would need to excluded as possible high-risk contacts,” Dr. Salvaterra said. “Public health staff were able to call all but three of the contacts last night to advise them to stay at home. By early this morning (Friday), everyone had been contacted.”
“At this time we don’t believe transmission occurred within the school. These cases are known to each other and had contact outside of a school setting. For this reason, we have not declared an outbreak (at Adam Scott). The school was advised that it could safely open today and continue to operate until further notice.”
According to Peterborough Public Health, the provincial government defines a school outbreak as transmission between two or more cases in a school setting. A school setting, notes Dr. Salvaterra, isn’t restricted to the school — a school bus or a before- and after-school program also fall under the school setting designation.
However, it does not include social settings outside of the education system where students get together.
“A party at someone’s home on a Friday night is not a school setting,” says Dr. Salvaterra.
“In Ontario we are seeing transmission amongst younger adults and youths and that is not necessarily occurring in schools. It’s occurring at unorganized social gatherings.”
According to Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board chair Diane Lloyd, any student exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms or “is any way sick” is immediately moved to a designated location within the school and kept isolated until he or she is taken home as soon as possible.
Lloyd added doctor’s clearance has to be obtained before the student would be allowed to return to school.
Under current provincial public health protocols, all students in grades 4 to 12 are required to wear a mask while on school property. Jennifer Leclerc, director of the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board, says students who don’t adhere to that directive “will be dealt with very seriously.”
To parents anxious about the safety of their children at school, be it at Adam Scott or any local school, Dr. Salvaterra advises, “Take a deep breath … we’ve got your back.”
“We’re working closely with the schools. I’m very confident that we’ve been able to identify those people that should be self-isolating. To members of the public, if you need to take any special precautions, you will hear from us.”
Meanwhile, Peterborough’s Fairhaven Long-Term Care Home remains in outbreak after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19 last week. Dr. Salvaterra says the situation at Fairhaven is “stable” and, barring no new cases “hopefully that outbreak can be declared over next week.”
With Ontario reporting 409 new COVID-19 cases for the second day in a row, the government has announced all strip clubs across the province will be closed and bars, nightclubs, and restaurants will no longer be allowed to sell alcohol after 11 p.m.
In addition, except for takeout and delivery, all establishments must close by midnight and remain closed until 5 a.m., and alcohol cannot be consumed on the premises (including by employees) from midnight until 9 a.m. All the new measures come into effect at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday (September 26).
The government says it’s implementing the new restrictions because of outbreak clusters in restaurants, bars, and other food and drink establishments, including strip clubs, with most cases in the 20 to 39 age group.
Half of today’s 409 cases are in Toronto (204) with smaller increases in Peel (66), Ottawa (40), York (33), Halton (12), Durham (12), Simcoe-Muskoka (9), and Middlesex-London (8). The remaining 25 public health units are reporting 5 or fewer cases, with 13 reporting no new cases.
Of today’s new cases, 65% are among people under the age of 40. There is 1 new death, with hospitalizations stable. The backlog of tests under investigation has increased by 11,387 to 65,227 — the highest number of tests under investigation since the pandemic began.
There are 29 new cases to report in Ontario’s publicly funded schools, including 10 student cases, 10 staff cases, and 9 cases among people who are unidentified. There are 2 new child cases in licensed child care settings.
In the greater Kawarthas region, 1 new case is being reported in Kawartha Lakes and 1 new case is being reported in Prince Edward and Hastings counties. There are no new cases in Peterborough, Northumberland, or Haliburton County. There are currently 9 active cases in Peterborough, 6 in Northumberland, 1 in Kawartha Lakes, and 1 in Prince Edward and Hastings counties,
Although the Ontario report of cases in schools and child care settings does not identify any in the greater Kawarthas region, Peterborough Public Health reported 3 student cases at Adam Scott Collegiate Vocational Institute on September 24.
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 116 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (105 resolved with 2 deaths), 179 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (159 resolved with 32 deaths), 43 in Northumberland County (36 resolved with 1 death), 15 in Haliburton County (15 resolved with no deaths), and 53 in Hastings County and Prince Edward County (47 resolved with 5 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Northumberland on September 8.
Province-wide, there have been 48,905 confirmed cases, an increase of 409 from yesterday, with 42,169 (86.2% of all cases) resolved, an increase of 283. There have been 2,837 deaths, an increase of 1 from yesterday, with 1,831 deaths reported in long-term care homes, an increase of 2 from yesterday. A total of 3,722,479 tests have been completed, an increase of 41,865 from yesterday, with 65,227 tests under investigation, an increase of 11,387 from yesterday.
This report is based on data supplied by the province’s integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS), as well as any additional information supplied by health units. This information is at least 24 hours old, so it is not real-time data. Note that each health unit reports the information in a different way.
Peterborough Public Health’s service area is the City and County of Peterborough and the Hiawatha and Curve Lake First Nations.
Confirmed positive: 116 (no change)
Active cases: 9 (no change)
Deaths: 2 (no change)
Resolved: 105 (no change)
Total tests completed: Over 28,200 (increase of 200)
Institutional outbreaks: Fairhaven (no change)
The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit’s service area is the City of Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland County, and Haliburton County.
The health unit provides reports on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, excluding statutory holidays. These numbers are from September 23 and will be updated when a report is issued by the health unit later this afternoon.
Confirmed positive: 236, including 178 in Kawartha Lakes, 43 in Northumberland, 15 in Haliburton (increase of 2 in Northumberland)
Probable cases: 0 (no change)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 15 (no change)
Deaths: 33 (no change)
Resolved: 209, including 159 in Kawartha Lakes, 35 in Northumberland, 15 in Haliburton (increase of 1 in Northumberland)
Active cases: 7 in Northumberland (increase of 1)
Institutional outbreaks: None (no change)
Hastings Prince Edward Public Health’s service area is Hastings County (including Bancroft) and Prince Edward County.
The health unit provides reports on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, excluding statutory holidays.
Confirmed positive: 53 (increase of 1)
Active cases: 1 (increase of 1)
Deaths: 5 (no change)
Hospitalized: 0 (no change)
Hospitalized and in ICU: 0 (no change)
Hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 0 (no change)
Recovered: 47 (no change)
Total tests completed: 35,545 (increase of 3,132)
Institutional outbreaks: None (no change)
Confirmed positive: 48,905 (increase of 409)
Resolved: 42,169 (increase of 283, 86.2% of all cases)
Hospitalized: 87 (decrease of 1)
Hospitalized and in ICU: 25 (increase of 2)
Hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 13 (increase of 2)
Deaths: 2,837 (increase of 1)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 1,831 (increase of 2)
Total tests completed: 3,722,479 (increase of 41,865)*
Tests under investigation: 65,227 (increase of 11,387)
*This number includes test volumes that were not reported on September 24 due to a technical issue.
For more information about COVID-19 in Ontario, visit covid-19.ontario.ca.
Police are asking for the public’s help in finding the person or persons responsible for the theft of items — which include the remains of a family member — from a Kawartha Lakes home on Thursday (September 25).
City of Kawartha Lakes OPP say that, sometime between 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. on Thursday afternoon, somebody broke into a home on Waite Road in Pontypool.
A number of items were stolen, including the remains of a family member that were contained in a thick cardboard box wrapped in a dark red velvet bag with gold drawstrings.
Police are asking the public to keep an eye out for the stolen remains, and are looking for information on any suspicious vehicles or people observed in the area of Ballyduff Road and Waite Road between 2:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Thursday afternoon.
Anyone having information on this crime is asked to contact the City of Kawartha Lakes OPP at 1-888-310-1122. Information can also be reported anonymously by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or by going to www.kh.crimestoppersweb.com and submitting an anonymous tip online.
Two Peterborough residents are facing gun and drug charges after a police investigation on Thursday afternoon (September 24).
After police executed a search warrant at a residence on Paterson Street, investigators located and seized a quantity of suspected cocaine, along with drug paraphernalia, cellular devices, a loaded M14 rifle, a sawed-off shotgun, and over 1,600 rounds of ammunition.
As a result of the investigation, Richard Cobourn, 33, of Paterson Street, and Hilary Fleetwood, 34, of Armour Road, have been charged with possession of a Schedule I substance for the purpose of trafficking (cocaine), knowledge of unauthorized possession of a firearm, unauthorized possession of a firearm, and careless storage of a firearm, weapon, prohibited device or ammunition.
Both Cobourn and Fleetwood were held in custody and will appear in court on Friday (September 25).
Three cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed at Adam Scott Collegiate Vocational Institute, the secondary school announced on Thursday night (September 24).
“We were notified late this afternoon by Peterborough Public Health that we have three confirmed cases of COVID-19 at Adam Scott CVI,” the school writes on its website. “An email with more information has been sent to all Adam Scott families.”
A copy of the email sent to families is included at the end of this story.
Peterborough Public Health identified the three new cases in its daily report on Thursday afternoon. While the school has not indicated whether the confirmed cases are among students or staff, Peterborough Public Health advised kawarthaNOW on Friday (September 25) that the cases are among three students.
Adam Scott says that Peterborough Public Health is not declaring an outbreak at the school at this time, “because it is not believed that these cases were transmitted through the school.”
Peterborough Public Health confirmed to kawarthaNOW on Friday that, because the health unit believes there was no transmission within the school, an outbreak has not been declared. According to the health unit, the Ontario government defines a school outbreak as transmission between two or more cases in a school setting.
“We are working closely with the health unit to identify close contacts who may have been exposed to these individuals while they were infectious,” the school writes. “The health unit is calling close contacts directly tonight and advising them as to any next steps they must take, such as self-isolation and/or testing.”
The school says it will remain open, and those who have not been contacted by the health unit may continue to attend school, but are asked to continue to self-monitor for signs and symptoms of COVID-19.
Peterborough Public Health and the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board are holding a joint media briefing at 11 a.m. on Friday, which kawarthaNOW will be covering.
PDF: Email sent to families from Adam Scott CVI Principal Wilf Gray
Email sent to families from Adam Scott CVI Principal Wilf Gray
This story has been updated with further information provided by Peterborough Public Health.
On August 31st, the Electric City Culture Council (EC3) in Peterborough launched “Essential”, a photography project that raises awareness of the precarious situation of local artists and arts organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Part of EC3’s Peterborough Arts Alive initiative, the Essential project is a series of 17 photos by local photographer Julie Gagne that depicts 20 local artists during the pandemic. Each of the photos feature an artist or artists in their home or workplace and is accompanied by an artist statement about their experience of the pandemic.
Twice each week until the end of October, kawarthaNOW is publishing photos from the series. Today, we feature cellist Joy Simmonds and singer Colin MacAdam.
The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on both individual artists and arts organizations in Peterborough. Performance venues and galleries have been closed, concerts cancelled, exhibitions postponed, entire seasons abandoned. Organizations and facilities are trying to grapple with the loss of revenue and an uncertain future. “Reopening” is not straightforward, to say the least.
Individual artists have lost their creative income and the opportunity to work together to create — something that is absolutely vital to them and to their audiences. Many have pivoted, and developed and presented some great virtual and digital projects. But nothing replaces live performance in front of a live audience and the catalytic energy that comes from being together to rehearse, discuss, and plan projects, to gather at an opening or artist talk.
Isolated at home, cut off from their communities and the lifeblood that is their artistic practice, local artists still found ways to keep our cultural life alive. Silenced and almost invisible, they kept working. But it hasn’t been easy.
Local photographer Julie Gagne began photographing a number of Peterborough residents in their homes during the earlier stage of the pandemic and posted the photos on Facebook. The eloquent, haunting images of her “Within” portrait project included some artists, and those incredibly moving images caught the eye of EC3 executive director Su Ditta.
Julie’s photos made us think. We have all benefited from the work of artists during the pandemic: we’ve listened to music, read books, watched films, toured virtual exhibitions, tuned in to living room concerts. What has it been like for the artists? Will people remember how essential the arts were to getting through the pandemic when it comes to recovery funding and budget planning? Will arts organizations be supported in a robust recovery plan?
EC3 asked theatre artist Sarah McNeilly to curate and coordinate, and approached Julie Gagne to do a distinct series of photos that spoke to the experience of local artists and what art means to our lives, in good times and in bad. It’s essential.
This arts awareness project is both a witness to the struggles of, and a testament to the courage and contributions of this community during the COVID-19 lockdown. Our heartfelt thanks go out to Julie and everyone in the arts community who have kept us going.
The number of new COVID-19 cases in Ontario climbed past 400 again today, including 4 new cases in Peterborough.
Most of today’s 409 cases are in Toronto (151), Peel (46), Ottawa (82), York (34), and Waterloo (26), with smaller increases in Middlesex-London (12), Durham (12), Halton (11), Hamilton (7), and Brant (6). The remaining 24 public health units are reporting 5 or fewer cases, with 14 reporting no new cases.
Of today’s new cases, 63% are among people under the age of 40. There is 1 new death, and no change in hospitalizations. The backlog of tests under investigation has increased by 5,761 to 53,840.
There are 31 new cases to report in Ontario’s publicly funded schools, including 24 student cases, 3 staff cases, and 4 cases among people who are unidentified. There are 3 new cases in licensed child care settings, including 2 child cases and 1 staff case.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 4 new cases to report in Peterborough; 2 existing cases have been resolved, leaving 9 active cases. Reports are unavailable today for Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland, Haliburton, and Prince Edward and Hastings counties. However, as of September 23, there were 7 active cases in Northumberland. None of the new cases in schools or child care settings are in the Kawarthas region.
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 116 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (105 resolved with 2 deaths), 178 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (159 resolved with 32 deaths), 43 in Northumberland County (35 resolved with 1 death), 15 in Haliburton County (15 resolved with no deaths), and 52 in Hastings County and Prince Edward County (47 resolved with 5 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Northumberland on September 8.
Province-wide, there have been 48,496 confirmed cases, an increase of 409 from yesterday, with 41,886 (86.4% of all cases) resolved, an increase of 286. There have been 2,836 deaths, an increase of 1 from yesterday, with 1,829 deaths reported in long-term care homes, a decrease of 1 from yesterday. A total of 3,680,614 tests have been completed, an increase of 30,634 from yesterday, with 53,840 tests under investigation, an increase of 5,761 from yesterday.
This report is based on data supplied by the province’s integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS), as well as any additional information supplied by health units. This information is at least 24 hours old, so it is not real-time data. Note that each health unit reports the information in a different way.
Peterborough Public Health’s service area is the City and County of Peterborough and the Hiawatha and Curve Lake First Nations.
Confirmed positive: 116 (increase of 4)
Active cases: 9 (increase of 2)
Deaths: 2 (no change)
Resolved: 105 (increase of 2)
Total tests completed: Over 28,000 (increase of 200)
Institutional outbreaks: Fairhaven (no change)
The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit’s service area is the City of Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland County, and Haliburton County.
The health unit provides reports on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, excluding statutory holidays. These numbers are from September 23.
Confirmed positive: 236, including 178 in Kawartha Lakes, 43 in Northumberland, 15 in Haliburton (increase of 2 in Northumberland)
Probable cases: 0 (no change)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 15 (no change)
Deaths: 33 (no change)
Resolved: 209, including 159 in Kawartha Lakes, 35 in Northumberland, 15 in Haliburton (increase of 1 in Northumberland)
Active cases: 7 in Northumberland (increase of 1)
Institutional outbreaks: None (no change)
Hastings Prince Edward Public Health’s service area is Hastings County (including Bancroft) and Prince Edward County.
The health unit provides reports on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, excluding statutory holidays. These numbers are from September 23.
Confirmed positive: 52 (no change)
Active cases: 0 (no change)
Deaths: 5 (no change)
Hospitalized: 0 (no change)
Hospitalized and in ICU: 0 (no change)
Hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 0 (no change)
Recovered: 47 (no change)
Total tests completed: 32,413 (increase of 1,234)
Institutional outbreaks: None (no change)
Confirmed positive: 48,496 (increase of 409)
Resolved: 41,886 (increase of 286, 86.4% of all cases)
Hospitalized: 88 (no change)
Hospitalized and in ICU: 27 (increase of 3)
Hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 11 (increase of 2)
Deaths: 2,836 (increase of 1)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 1,829 (decrease of 1)
Total tests completed: 3,680,614 (increase of 30,634)*
Tests under investigation: 53,840 (increase of 5,761)
*Due to a technical issue, this number is incomplete. Missed volumes will be included in tomorrow’s report.
For more information about COVID-19 in Ontario, visit covid-19.ontario.ca.
Treetop Trekking has been named the top outdoor attraction in Ontario by Attractions Ontario, a non-profit trade association in Ontario dedicated to the attractions sector of the tourism industry.
The company operates an adventure park at the Ganaraska Forest near Port Hope, as well as at five other locations in Ontario including Barrie, Brampton, Hamilton, Huntsville, and Stouffville.
Over the past six months, Attractions Ontario held its 5th annual Ontario’s Choice Awards, where the public voted for their favourite tourism attractions in eight categories. Treetop Trekking received the most votes in the Top Outdoor Attraction category.
“Like for most people and businesses, 2020 has been such a challenging year for us,” says Mike Stiell, marketing director for Treetop Trekking. “For most of the spring we didn’t even know if we would be able to open at all.”
“So to go from that to now being awarded Ontario’s Top Outdoor Attraction, we are so honoured and proud. This is a testament to the effort and passion of every single member of our team.”
Treetop Trekking is also one of three finalists for the Attraction of the Year Award, along with Science North and Carrousel of Nations. The winner of that award, which is based on the attraction that received the most votes in all eight categories,will be announced on Wednesday, October 28th at the Ontario Tourism Awards of Excellence.
Offering outdoor activities for a variety of ages and abilities, Treetop Trekking opened its first location in 2006.
The timing for the Open Spaces Theatre Festival is perfect. In fact, it couldn’t be better. From Thursday, September 24th to Sunday, September 27th, live performance will make it’s triumphant return to downtown Peterborough.
Surviving six months in a global pandemic has been difficult, to say the least. We have done our very best to carry on despite the numerous and varied challenges we have faced, both individually and collectively. We have done our best because it is all we can do. But surviving is a grim struggle. Living in survival mode, constantly cycling through fight-or-flight response is soul-sucking. It’s exhausting.
Fortunately, our nervous systems also have the capacity for transformative states of bliss that activate when we still our minds and are truly present; when we feel connection, understanding, and love. When we experience joy, we venture further into a sense of authentic well-being; we prosper, we flourish, and we thrive. We deserve to thrive.
Theatre is a sophisticated expression of a basic human need — it’s part of what makes us human — it gives us much needed catharsis. In a time when our entire lives revolve around screens, it is so important for us to be able to safely come together; to bear witness; to contemplate; to laugh; to be provoked, inspired, and moved.
This weekend, Peterborough audiences have the opportunity to do just that. Here’s a sneak peek at the programming for the Open Spaces Theatre Festival, presented in association with 4th Line Theatre of Millbrook.
Illuminated by the dappled autumn light, an aged apostle John, performed by the show’s writer Mark Finnan, beckons the audience into his world. Through John the apostle’s story-telling, with the help of enchanting musical accompaniment by Tori Owen, the audience is transported to the ancient city of Ephesus in 97 CE, where the apostle John tells the story of his exile by the Romans to the Isle of Patmos and the extraordinary vision he had there.
Though John’s story from the book of Revelations is 2,000 years old, elements of his tale are relatable to current world events. Tales of apocalypses, uncertainties, and conflicts seemed, at times, to be alluding to our current news cycle. John even mentions a sorcerer, who tormented villagers with his deceit and trickery, and recalls eating berries while he made a cave his sanctuary.
Enlivened by each other’s presence, as we bear witness to John’s remarkable tale of the struggle between light and darkness, we are reminded to seek more conscious, spiritually attuned lives.
Whether or not you are a believer, there is something truly beautiful about being told that we are sons and daughters of love.
Performance location: Ashburnham Realty parking lot (116 Hunter Street West at the northeast corner of Hunter and Water streets)
Performance dates:
Does anyone remember laughter? Surviving Canada will certainly jog your memory and have your possibly atrophied abdominal muscles working hard to help rid you of your COVID-19 … pounds!
Award-winning comedians Stephan Dyer and Juan Cajiao share their immigrant experience in a show that combines improv, stand-up, storytelling, and audience interaction.
Laughter is the great leveller. As Russian literary scholar Mikhail Bakhtin notes, laughter marks a temporary mastery not just over the sacred and even over death; it also signals “the defeat of power, of earthly kings, of the earthly upper classes, of all that represses and restricts” (Rabelais and His World, 92).
Neither self-deprecating nor rant-y, the observational humour in this interactive show about the hardships and culture shock of moving to Canada playfully subverts power-relationships and mocks dominant assumptions.
Performance location: Ashburnham Realty parking lot (116 Hunter Street West at the northeast corner of Hunter and Water streets)
Performance dates:
Written and directed by Alessandra Ferreri and produced by Dane Shumak of Cordwainer Productions, this delightfully playful musical show follows “future star-crossed lovers” (or not?) as they bear witness to one another, after-hours in a bar.
Ophiuchus, the oft-excluded 13th zodiac sign, played by Ryan Hancock, walks into a bar in hopes of securing a spot on the highly coveted open mic set list. There he meets a barista and expert astrologer, played by Tanya Filipopoulos, as she closes the bar.
The show’s original music, written by Caitlin Currie and Kevin Lemieux, performed by an ensemble comprised of the two songwriters, along with Justin Hiscox and Sam Quinn, was such a treat to hear. The instrumental performances beautifully accompanied the duets, sung in perfect harmony, by Hancock and Filipopoulos.
The tension between the two characters is as playful as Ferreri’s use of archetypes and tropes. Yet, as their encounter goes on, the audience is provoked to question the stars: is everything inevitable? Perhaps, we’ll never know.
Performance location: The Theatre On King parking lot (171 King Street, between George and Aylmer streets)
Performance dates:
4th Line Theatre’s Kim Blackwell will premiere her debut script, which examines family estrangement, at the Open Spaces Theatre Festival.
Daughter is a story of tragic error; of the failings of love that become true failings. The heart-wrenching piece contemplates (mis)communication, abandonment, love, betrayal, contempt, inertia, persistence, and beholding.
Dani Breau and Peyton Le Barr, directed by Lindy Finlan, deliver spectacular and nuanced performances as the estranged mother and daughter who each tells their own side of the same story.
There is no villain; rather, both women are victims of their own actions (or lack thereof). While both mother and daughter cling to an untenable, bygone past that perhaps never was and never will be, there is yet a strange hope in the resignation: “sometimes life has other plans.”
Performance location: The Theatre On King parking lot (171 King Street, between George and Aylmer streets)
Performance dates:
Festival organizer Christina Adams, with the support of 4th Line Theatre, is providing Peterborough artists and audiences an opportunity to thrive.
As festival personnel meticulously and painstakingly prepared for opening night by measuring distances between chairs, double-checking safety procedures, and making last-minute adjustments to protective barriers built into the sets, I realized what a gift the Open Spaces Theatre Festival is. It is a gesture of love.
Right now, perhaps with the exception of retreating to a blanket-fort in the confines of your home, the Open Spaces Theatre Festival is one of the absolute safest activities you can partake in. Future-you will be so grateful to have gifted yourself the transformative, cathartic bliss Open Spaces generously offers (especially if it turns out to be your only chance to see theatre this year). Regardless of what our future may hold, you certainly do not want to regret your absence.
Tickets are $17 each per performance or $60 for a festival pack. Purchase tickets and gift certificates by phone at 705-932-4445 (toll free at 1-800-814-0055), online at 4thlinetheatre.on.ca, or at 4th Line Theatre’s box office at 4 Tupper Street in Millbrook.
Patrons are asked to bring their own chairs and to wear masks until safely seated. Lunch box items, in partnership with Black Honey, will be available for $13 for patrons to enjoy before, after, or during the performances.
kawarthaNOW.com offers two enews options to help readers stay in the know. Our VIP enews is delivered weekly every Wednesday morning and includes exclusive giveaways, and our news digest is delivered daily every morning. You can subscribe to one or both.
