Plays

The Long Journey Home

Strange as it sounds, our prairie town did have a ship—the H.M.C.S. Morden. During World War II, the Royal Canadian Navy named its corvettes in honour of Canadian communities that provided strong support for the war effort.

The Long Journey Home is a one-man play based on the experiences of a sailor on the H.M.C.S. Morden. Scripted by Larry Danielson and performed by Nick Pharaoh, this 90-minute production depicts the courage of a young man in the Battle of the North Atlantic, braving the peril of U-boats and the danger of winter storms to ensure that food, fuel, and critical war supplies reached England.

Inspired by Ed O’Connor’s book The Corvette Years: The Lower Deck Story, this play premiered at Morden’s historic Kenmor Theatre June 27-29th. The play also travelled to our fellow recipients of the 2008 Cultural Capital Award - Sackville, N.B. in November 2008 and received national CTV coverage. For more information about the play contact the author - Larry Danielson at 822-3104 or Email.

Trip To Sackville, N.B. - As part of the Cultural Capitals of Canada project, this play was taken to Sackville, N.B. in November of 2008. Sackville is one of the other communities to win the 2008 Cultural Capitals of Canada Award. The play had great reviews and received national CTV coverage while in Sackville. The local "Live Bait Theatre" company assisted our crew with the production. The photo to the right is the crew - Left to Right Back Row: Rick Stewart, Nick Pharaoh, Larry Danielson and Front Row: Moe Butler , Josh Pharoah.

Sackville Mayor Patricia Estabrooks presented the crew with a mounted photo of the two ships, H.M.C.S. MORDEN and H.M.C.S. SACKVILLE, with the inscription: -

"Celebrating two communities connected through History and Culture"
Sackville New Brunswick & Morden, Manitoba
Presented November 12, 2008 by the Town of Sackville
Cultural Capitals of Canada

Visitors to Morden may wish to see this mounted photo along with the original wheel and the bell of the H.M.C.S. Morden, which are proudly displayed at the Morden Civic Centre.

WHEN THE STONE SPEAKS PLAY

Gerald Pauls and players from "The Poor Theatre Company" developed this collective creation play. The play was based on images from the Metis rock art of Natalie Rostad, who began her visual arts career as a member of the Pembina Hills Arts Group.

The central theme is around the healing stone which is located at the Winnipeg Forks. This 30-minute drama stimulated broad interest in the stories behind Natalie's rock art. It was performed in the Chautauqua Celebration tent on September 26th & 27th with approximately 1600 in attendance.

To download the program document for this event click on the icon to the right.