New outdoor play turns the tide at Rising Tide Theatre

CBC

4 hours ago

A theatre company in Trinity, N.L. is breaking from tradition this summer with a new offering.
The New Found Lande Trinity Pageant, ran by Rising Tide Theatre each summer since 1993, will be replaced with a fresh take on the stories of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians today.
"The pageant is an extremely important part of our story. It's the reason why we ended up in Trinity," artistic director Mallory Clarke told CBC Radio's Newfoundland Morning.
The pageant took audience members on an outdoor tour of Trinity, and re-enacted some of the most defining moments in Newfoundland and Labrador's history. The new play will be similar, just with different stories.
Clarke said the decision to make the adjustment was a result of feedback from businesses and community groups in the area, which suggested it was time for new programming. Over half of the theatre's programming this year is brand new.
"We get a lot of the tourist audience, which is so wonderful and so important," Clarke said. "But I also think it's really important … that we're also providing some programming that really appeals to the local audience."
Elizabeth Burry runs a jewelry studio in Trinity.
"I could probably play any one of those parts in that play … because I've seen it so many times, and I don't get tired of it," Burry said.
The pageant brought visitors from around the world into her studio, she said, and it's an important part of the town's tourism industry.
Burry said she's disappointed to see the program go, but also that she has noticed the audience dwindle over the years.
"As a local, I want to see something new as well, you know, a new play and a new history piece that will bring what the pageant brought to the area," she said.
Actress Petrina Bromley stepped in.
Bromley adapted the new outdoor play, This Marvellous, Terrible Place, from a photography book by the same name. The book depicts the day-to-day experiences and hardships of rural and outport life through the personal accounts of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.
"Our mandate is Newfoundlanders telling their own stories in their own voices," Clarke said. "So what that looks like now in 2025 is quite different than what it looked like in 1993 when we arrived in Trinity."
The play opens on June 21, and runs on Wednesdays and Saturdays over the summer.