Calling up a classic at 4th Line Theatre
New season opens with a new production of 1997’s Crow Hill: The Telephone Play
This coming summer season, 4th Line Theatre will be mounting its third iteration of Ian McLachlan and Robert Winslow’s Crow Hill: The Telephone Play. Directed by Deb Williams, the production will run from July 3-28.
Co-writer Robert Winslow will be reprising the role of Dr. Logie, a part he played in the original 1997 production and the remounting in 2004.
More than 20 years after first writing the play with McLachlan, Winslow looks forward to bringing this story about evolving communication back to the farm in Millbrook, especially in the current age of communication evolving at a breakneck pace.
“In the last 14 years, communication technology has grown even more, and I think it’s an interesting topic to revisit in light of the current situation,” said Winslow.
Crow Hill: The Telephone Play is the story of a local country doctor who opens the first telephone service in a small Ontario Town and 15-year-old Alice Cameron (Sarah McNeilly), who takes a job as a switchboard operator. The impact of bringing this newfound communication technology to the rural community has profound effects on the lives of Doctor Logie, Alice, and their small town.
The story of Crow Hill, while fictional, is inspired by the life of Ona Gardner, a switchboard operator for a doctor in Garden Hill for more than 30 years.
“It was so compelling, she’s a great storyteller,” Winslow said, adding that he hopes they can have Gardner come to 4th Line for a performance this season.
Now at a later point in his life, Winslow says that scenes of an older, more reflective doctor will take on a different energy than he had in the original 1997 run.
Crow Hill follows the good doctor until his death, and unlike earlier productions, the 65-year-old playwright doesn’t think the makeup department will need to perform the same wizardry as Dr. Logie nears the end of his life.
“I don’t know what I'm going to do this time, because I don’t really have to pretend to be old,” Winslow laughed.
Even after 35 years in theatre, and after having written or cowritten 16 plays for 4th Line, Winslow still finds inspiration in local and national history for engaging new works onstage. For Winslow, proper research in important for bringing historical pieces to life and creating a nuanced and worthwhile piece of theatre.
“You find a way to engage with the audience while they’re learning this history without it seeming like it’s being passed onto them in a boring way,” said Winslow.
Still, one of the troubles with researching is that there’s always more to do.
“The trouble with research is that you could never stop,” Winslow said. “I don’t know how many years I’ve got, but I could spend the rest of my life just doing research.”
Tickets for the 2018 summer season at 4th Line are now on sale for Crow Hill: The Telephone Play in July, and the inaugural production of Who Killed Snow White? in August.
Tickets can be purchased by phone (705-932-4445), online at 4thlinetheatre.on.ca, at 4th Line Theatre's Box Office at 4 Tupper St., Millbrook or at the ticket outlet at the Peterborough Museum and Archives on Armour Hill in Peterborough.