Rosebud Theatre hits the road for Heritage Park

Times Contributor  

 

Rosebud Theatre and Heritage Park have teamed up to produce Nellie’s Controversial Premier, a half-hour play celebrating the work of the Famous Five, Canadian women who, a century ago, fought for women’s right to vote, hold office, own property and legally be considered persons. 

“Here, there is mockery, wit, and an outrageous public scene … punctuated with some cheeky song and dance,” e-mailed Natalie Gauthier, who plays Nellie McClung, one of the Famous Five.

“Come and witness the events that led to Nellie McClung’s famous Mock Parliament speech,” said Adam Furfaro, Rosebud Centre of the Arts’ Executive Director, in an e-mail. “Witness (Manitoba) Premier Rodmond Roblin wither under the pointed wit of one of the Famous Five women who championed the Women’s Suffrage Movement.”

Gauthier, a graduate of Rosebud School of the Arts (RSA), plays alongside fellow grads Kendra Hutchinson and Mike Thiessen, and Alysa Glen, fourth-year RSA student. Paul Muir, RSA’s Education Director, and resident actor and director of Rosebud Theatre, directs.

Heritage Park, in celebration of its own 50th anniversary, has recently opened a replica of the Calgary home where McClung lived during the 1920s. 

“We are delighted to partner again with our friends at Heritage Park,” Furfaro wrote. Rosebud Theatre and Heritage Park join forces for Christmas in Alberta, an annual fundraiser, and in 2013, Rosebud Theatre presented Vaudeville in the Village at the park.

“Rosebud and Heritage Park share a kinship based on valuing who we are as people and as Albertans and Canadians, and where we have come from,” wrote Gauthier. “We make stories come to life.”

McClung’s history also has a special meaning for Gauthier, who played Christina Rossetti at Fire Exit Theatre last fall. She e-mailed, “Christina Rossetti and Nellie McClung are both fiery women … Stories like these help to remind me that when I embrace and focus (my own bold and fiery nature), my voice can be powerful. I feel a kinship with these women, and affirmed that … I can make beautiful changes in my world.”

“I now understand and feel a deep connection to the people who came before me,” wrote Gauthier, admitting her mind often wandered during high school history classes. “It was the telling of stories like this one that finally connected the dots for me.”

Nellie’s Controversial Premier runs all summer, Monday through Friday at 11:45 a.m., 1:30 p.m., and 2:45 p.m., at the Canmore Opera House in Heritage Park. The show is free with park admission.