4th Line Theatre Announces Casting For the 2026 Summer Season

4th Line Theatre has announced the casting for its 34th season this summer.

Wild Irish Geese. photo courtesy of 4th line theatre.

This season will feature two plays from the theatre’s canon of work: Leanna Brodie’s Schoolhouse, directed and choreographed by Monica Dottor, and Megan Murphy’s Wild Irish Geese, directed by Managing Artistic Director Kim Blackwell.

Schoolhouse will feature Alex Pearce, who is making her 4th Line Theatre debut in the role of Miss. Linton. Others that are making their debut to the 4th Line stage include Alexei DeLuca and Rainbow Kester. Returning to 4th Line for the production are Robert Winslow, Mark Hiscox, Darragh O'Connell, Padrick Wilson, Jasper Chesser and Indigo Chesser. The cast will feature 28 professional and volunteer actors/musicians.

Megan Murphy will lead the cast of her play Wild Irish Geese in the role of the Seanchaí, a Gaelic word for a traditional storyteller. Returning to the 4th Line stage in Wild Irish Geese are M. John Kennedy as Peter Robinson, Patti Shaughnessy, who also worked on the play as Indigenous Story Consultant, Matt Gilbert, Mark Hiscox, Sebastian Sage, Mikayla Stoodley, Lindsay Wilson, Paul Crough, Stew Granger, Nancy Towns and musician Fiddlin’ Jay (Jason Edmunds). Making his 4th Line debut is Isaac Harrop in the role of Sean Sullivan. Crough, Murphy, Shaughnessy, Towns and Kennedy are all descendants of Peter Robinson emigrants. The cast will feature 29 professional and volunteer actors/musicians.

"I am thrilled to welcome an extraordinary group of artists to our 2026 season,” says Blackwell. “This year’s company brings together a vibrant blend of returning favourites and compelling new voices, each contributing their own distinct perspective, talent and energy. I cannot wait for audiences to experience the power, imagination and magic they will bring to life on our stage this summer."

schoolhouse. photo courtesy of 4th line theatre.

Set in 1938 in rural Ontario, Schoolhouse unfolds within S.S. #1 Jericho, a one-room school just outside the fictional village of Baker’s Creek. When 18-year-old Melita Linton, newly graduated from Normal School, takes on her first teaching position, she encounters a lively group of students and a community rooted in tradition. Her resolve is tested by the arrival of Ewart, a withdrawn youth recently released from a reform school and sent to work on a local farm. As Miss. Linton strives to reach him, she uncovers the deep bonds and quiet fears of small-town life. Rich with humour and humanity, Schoolhouse beautifully evokes a vanished era in Canadian rural history.

Schoolhouse will run from June 30 to July 25.

Wild Irish Geese is the story of Irish settlers and their journey to the Peterborough region. Peter Robinson was the architect of an 1820s emigration plan which saw hundreds of Irish families come to Canada to escape the brutal poverty which they were facing in Ireland. Eventually over 2,000 impoverished Irish settled in Scotts Plains, later renamed Peterborough and began their lives anew. These new Canadians planted deep roots in the Peterborough area and have thousands of descendants both locally and across the globe.

Wild Irish Geese will run from August 4 to 29.

For more information or to purchase tickets, call the box office, or toll-free, visit the website, email or visit the Box Office & Administrative Centre (9 Tupper Street, Millbrook)

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