By Jacob Fehr

What do you do when life gives you lemons?

That’s the topic at the heart of A Glass Half Full, a play to be staged by Art with Heart Studio’s Drama Kidz program in Port Dover next week. The Maple Leaf spoke to Nikki Campbell, co-founder of Art with Heart and author of the play, to learn more.

Art with Heart is a “non-profit youth arts organization” that Ms. Campbell started with Leanne Zyba in Port Dover before moving it to Simcoe in 2019. One of its programs is Drama Kidz, an “intro theatre program where kids ages seven to 12 learn drama skills and are able to be part of a theatre production.”

“I write the scripts for these productions, tailoring the characters and stories to each child/group,” Ms. Campbell said.

She explained that A Glass Half Full has its origins in Art with Heart’s tumultuous move to Simcoe six years ago.

“The move was only supposed to leave us without a studio space for a month due to renovations, but what followed was a series of unfortunate circumstances beyond our control, including county permit issues, contractor theft, nightmare renovations, and even a flood. [That] led Art with Heart Studio to be closed for many months longer than anticipated, depleting our financial reserves and causing much stress and turmoil.

“During this time, while we worked hard on renovating and just staying afloat, I did what I do best when things are difficult: I wrote a play about it, and our music director [Jessica Rayner-Bieri] composed the music.”

The result was A Glass Half Full, a play “about resilience, strength, [and] friendship with a mantra of ‘when everything’s going wrong, just keep going.’” Based on Ms. Campbell and Ms. Zyba’s experience, the show tells the story of two kids, Ricki and Leeman, who persevere despite many obstacles inhibiting the success of their lemonade stand.

In January 2020, they began bringing the show to life with a 31-person cast through the Drama Kidz program.

“We rehearsed, we gathered our props and costumes, [and] we recorded a cast album of the music.”

On March 7, 2020, Art with Heart finally reopened at its Simcoe location. It was a jolly celebration for all, with ribbon cutting and speeches from local politicians. After the hardship her organization had endured to get there, it might have seemed like they’d reached the light at the end of the tunnel.

But life wasn’t done handing her lemons.

“Just about one week later, everything was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including our new studio, including A Glass Half Full, which was set to take the stage just two weeks later,” she said.

“Our cast and creative team were devastated. What do you do when ‘the show must go on’ is not even an option?”

What they did was the best they could do. In summer 2021, they held “a socially distanced video table read of the story” wherein each actor was filmed individually, and those videos were edited together. The following year, they screened the completed video for the actors.

That could have been the end of A Glass Half Full—a passion project borne from and stunted by frustrating circumstances. But Ms. Campbell, Ms. Rayner-Bieri, and Ms. Zyba never gave up on bringing the play back when circumstances were more favourable.

“We really wanted to do it this year because it just felt like it was time. And gosh, I think we were right,” Ms. Campbell said.

They started work on the current production of the play in January with auditions, rewriting, and rehearsals. She said that since she tailors each role in the show to someone in the Drama Kidz program, she had to rewrite some parts to fit the 17 new cast members.

“But also, when you revisit something you write so many years later, I think you can always find ways you could improve on it!” she said. In this case, improving meant adding a new scene to the play based on a humorous anecdote she remembered during the rewriting process “because the story just didn’t feel complete without it.”

The new production of A Glass Half Full has six cast members and one crew member from Port Dover. Ms. Rayner-Bieri, who wrote the original music for the play and will perform live on guitar and piano when it takes the stage next week, is also from Port Dover. And Art with Heart started in Port Dover. So, it’s fitting they will stage the play at Port Dover Community Centre.

A Glass Half Full has four scheduled viewings: three for schools and one for the public. Ms. Campbell explained that when Drama Kidz put on a play, “our cast brings school letters to their teachers inviting them to see their classmates on stage.” Students from Lakewood Elementary School, Lynndale Heights Public School, and West Lynn Public School will attend the first three performances.

Ms. Campbell’s daughter Ayla Schram is returning from the original production in a new role. Ayla’s brother, Brady Schram, has joined the cast.

As Ayla has aged from seven to 12, she’s taking on a larger role both in the show and behind the scenes this time.

“She also helped me write the new scene in the show and does warmups with the cast at rehearsals sometimes. If they are interested, I always try to give my oldest cast members more leadership roles, I think it is so important!” Ms. Campbell said.

Ayla said, “It’s nice to be doing it again because I never thought I’d be doing it since I was really distraught the first time we weren’t able to do it. Changing roles, I feel like I got a big level up from my previous role, [and] even though I was really excited about my first role, I’m even more excited about my role this time!”

Her brother is excited about the play, too.

“Well, I wasn’t in the last play, I was just there and I kind of wanted to be in it, but I was only five so I was too young! Now I’m excited and I realize how much work it is, but it’s really fun!” he said.

And they’re not the only ones jazzed up about performing this week.

“Everyone is buzzing! The final few weeks before a performance are always filled with such excitement. Our crew has been working tirelessly on set pieces, props and costume elements, and the kiddos are memorized, practising their dance moves and songs. It’s almost time and we can’t wait!” Ms. Campbell said.

As the playwright who carved the story from her experience, she’s elated and thankful to see A Glass Half Full shine under the spotlight at last.

“I am not sure I could even begin to describe what this show means to me. I wrote it during a very difficult time in my life, poured my heart and soul on those pages, directed and produced it only to have it shut down by COVID…

“As someone who grew up working in theatre, ‘the show must go on’ was ingrained in me and never had I ever worked on a show that had to cancel outright in this way. I was devastated; it felt unfinished for so long, and I always knew we had to make it happen again. Live, on stage.

“I am so grateful I had a team of people and a cast who also felt the same and encouraged me to make that dream a reality. One of the main themes in this show is resilience in the face of hardship and by doing what we are doing now, we are demonstrating that. How cool is that? When life imitates art and art imitates life.”

She said the efforts made by her colleagues, cast, and crew to showcase the story on stage have moved her.

“I’m just so proud of everyone involved in this show and their dedication to telling this story. I think I have teared up a little (or a lot) during every single rehearsal at one point or another as I watch the kids nail a scene or sing a song! It’s all finally coming [together] and I am so so so so so grateful to be doing this with all of them.”

A Glass Half Full takes the stage for a public performance at 7 p.m. on Friday, May 9. Tickets will be available at the door.

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Originally published April 30, 2025