Grassboots Theatre Company Launches First Ever Play

Peterborough’s newest theatre company Grassboots Theatre—created by Peyton Le Barr and Chris Whidden—is set to debut their first ever performance, Repatriation to the Moon, a new work inspired by theatre created by the underground Polish resistance during the WW2.

In Repatriation to the Moon playing at Artspace, a janitor and an engineer fall in love in a shoe factory. One is Polish, the other Italian. The play, set in a time of war, is a comical and heartwarming story of two lovebirds who attempt to escape persecution in the most absurd way imaginable.

Stars Chris Whidden and Peyton Le Barr (show photo by Andy Carroll)

The story was written by Whidden and the play created and performed by Whidden and Peyton Le Barr. The Havelock-based tandem are currently renovating a hobby farm to become a new theatre space and artists’ retreat.

Chris has written multiple plays performed in Toronto including Roaring Robert, which was presented by Shadowpath Theatre to a soldout run at the Toronto Fringe. This will be his first production in Peterborough.

Repatriation to the Moon is inspired by a performance from the 1940s by Polish artist Wladyslaw Dutkiewicz, who created dozens of plays for the underground Polish resistance including a work titled Repatriation to the Moon.

Show photo by Andy Carroll

Repatriation to the Moon runs from August 14th to August 17th at Artspace, with performances starting at 8 p.m. each evening. Tickets cost $15 and are available here.

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