Celebrating the 25 Year Anniversary of the 4TH LINE THEATRE!
4th Line Theatre is a Canadian theatre group specializing in outdoor productions of original plays with historic and cultural significance.
The Theatre company was created and founded by Robert Winslow in 1992. Mr. Winslow explains, “4th Line has a mandate to tell stories about our history that are not well known but are interesting, especially untold stories about a rural area.” He is still surprised at the public’s appetite for historical plays.
Mr. Winslow had an established career in the more usual theatrical venues. However, he created 4TH Line Theatre on a farm – 25 years ago which was almost in the middle of nowhere. He had inherited his family’s 150-year-old farm, wasn’t sure how to keep it going, and was finding traditional indoor theatre “depressing.” So he arrived at a solution that would see him through to 25 seasons.
He embraced the challenge to create theatre out in the country in southeastern Ontario. The setting is idyllic, rural and oh so very Canadian! The company present plays written by and about Canadians, including small town stories and broad national sagas – all written to touch a nerve with the audience.
And the weather may touch a nerve as well! The natural setting includes chipmunks, the chatter of birds and of course the sun and rain. “There’s no controlling the environment. You are in it. You are a part of it.”
The season will open with the highly anticipated world premiere of Maja Ardal’s The Hero of Hunter Street playing June 28 to July 23, 2016. In August, 4th Line will remount Alex Poch-Goldin’s wildly popular The Bad Luck Bank Robbers, inspired by Grace Barker’s book of the same name, and running from August 2 to 27, 2016. Managing Artistic Director Kim Blackwell Blackwell will direct both productions.
The theatre is located in Millbrook – a great place to spend a summer afternoon. The village is centrally located – 15 minutes from Bethany, a half hour north of Port Hope, 20 minutes west of Peterborough, or just over an hour from Toronto.
Millbrook was settled in 1816 and prospered for decades before losing many inhabitants to new settlements out west, riding the rail lines that had bypassed Millbrook. Today the village offers a glimpse back into those earlier times. Many of the downtown buildings look much the same as when they were erected following the Great Fire of 1875.
Enjoy the day in Millbrook and the evening at the 4TH Line Theatre. A variety of ticket prices and packages are available including dining or picnic options. For ticket information visit: 4th Line Theatre Ticket Info.
And for more information on the Theatre go to http://www.4thlinetheatre.on.ca/ and Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/4thlinetheatre.
Bethany Ontario 