FOLLOWING the success of its scaled-down summer productions outdoors under a tent at The Links at Dover Coast, Lighthouse Festival Theatre is moving back indoors.
The Main Street theatre will reopen for the first time in 19 months for two productions in the late fall. Performances will begin in November and run to the first week in December with 78 patrons for each performance all seated socially distanced.
“We have been waiting to welcome our patrons back into our beautiful theatre for more than a year and finally the time is right,” said Artistic Director Derek Ritschel.
There will be some differences to the experience theatre-goers are used to with the new vaccination checks, contact tracing and the wearing of face masks, but Mr Ritschel promises the stories will draw you in the moment the lights go down.
Kicking off the re-opening is The Wonder Of It All, a one act play by Mark Weatherley, a playwright, composer, lyricist, director, and actor from Stratford.
Mr Weatherley and Monique Lund star as a married couple whose 25 years of marriage has dissolved into finding immense pleasure in being irritating and bothersome to each other, until one day a surprise from their past meddles with the certainty of their future and they must decide if it’s too late to discover the redemptive power of love. The Wonder Of It All will run from Nov. 2 to 13.
The second production will be Old Love by celebrated Canadian playwright Norm Foster, returning to Lighthouse after having its world premiere on the Port Dover stage in 2008.
This two-act play follows the chance meetings of Bud and Molly over 30 years. Each encounter left Bud more enamored with Molly but the timing was never right. Now a recently divorced Bud and newly widowed Molly are reconnecting. Old Love is a story of romance, courtship, and relationships between older adults with Norm Foster’s trademark wit and charm and will run from Nov. 17 to Dec. 3.
Mr Ritschel says “Lighthouse Festival would like to thank Execulink Telecom for being the season presenter of both the summer productions and these upcoming fall productions.” Funding is also provided by the Government of Ontario.
Tickets go on sale to the public on Oct. 12. Keeping with health and safety regulations, tickets will be sold in pairs and patrons will need to show proof of vaccination upon arrival and wear a face covering inside the building.
The re-opening of Lighthouse Theatre will also be supported in part by the theatre’s digital 50/50 which is running until Oct. 17. The theatre says in a statement that proceeds from the 50/50 draw will help to ensure the historic theatre can rebuild and return to their full year of programming in time for 2022.
Visit www.lighthousetheatre.com for full details about the shows, the 50/50 cash lottery as well as Covid-19 regulations and requirements for attendance.
Originally published October 6, 2021.
