Thursday 14 May 2015

ONstage Tonight at Festival: Gore Bay Theatre

There is a familiar face in one of the directing chairs at tonight’s performance.  Andrea Emmerton, who was Theatre Ontario’s Community Theatre Coordinator from 2000 to 2007, is co-director of tonight’s performance of Agnes of God by John Pielmeier, presented by Gore Bay Theatre representing QUONTA, the northeastern Ontario community theatre association.

The company of Agnes of God
Gore Bay Theatre
Kayla Greenman, Tara Bernatchez,
Shannon McMullan
Gore Bay Theatre is a community group located on Manitoulin Island in a small town of 850.  They are busiest during the summer season, catering to a tourist audience and presenting two to three plays in repertory.  This is their fourth appearance at Festival—most recently they opened our 2012 Festival in Sault Ste. Marie with The Attic, The Pearls & Three Fine Girls by Jennifer Brewin, Leah Cherniak, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Alisa Palmer and Martha Ross.

Summoned to a covent, Dr. Martha Livingstone, a court-appointed psychiatrist, is charged with assessing the sanity of a novice accused of murdering her newborn. Miriam Ruth, the Mother Superior, determindly keeps young Agnes from the doctor, arousing Livingstone's suspicions further. Who killed the infant and who fathered the tiny victim? Livingstone's questions force all three women to re-examine the meaning of faith and the power of love leading to a dramatic, compelling climax.

At the 2015 QUONTA Festival in Sault Ste. Marie, Gore Bay Theatre won Outstanding Production, Outstanding Supporting Actress (Shannon McMullan as Mother Miriam Ruth), Outstanding Visual Production, and Adjudicator’s Awards for performance (Kayla Greenman as Agnes) and original music (Shannon McMullan, Bob Sproule, and Jean Lavalle).


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