Festival Season in the Hamlet of Lowville - two weekends of some of the best music and acting you will see this year.

By Pepper Parr

July 4th, 2106

BURLINGTON, ON

Summer is festival time – those pleasant summer days when one gathers in chairs you brought with you or on blankets you’ve spread out on the ground and listened to music or watch a play.

It is pleasant summer stuff – not overly noisy or loud.

Burlington blows it brains out on the Sound of Music – but that is June – doesn’t count as a summer event.
The city doesn’t have a tradition of festivals that are smaller is scale. Nothing happens north of the QEW during the summer. The Performing Arts Centre has begun to make use of their space for Jazz events in August – no word yet on what they plan for this year.

The hamlet of Lowville has been around since 1863 – before Confederation.

The word on the second annual Lowville Festival is out – peruse the program and note the dates.
The two week event is a moving feast – sort of like a bunch of gypsies that park their wagon were they think they will find an audience.

July 17th
The first event takes place at Thinkspot in Lowville – where Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew will be performed by the Driftwood company at a “pay what you can” price. They politely suggest $20 would be appropriate.

Summer theatre – it doesn’t get much better.

Performers take to the stage at 7:30 – food is available at 6:30 This is the third time Debra Pickfield of Thinkspot has sponsored the event.
Last year the Driftwood did Hamlet – the year before they did Tempest – all on a stage set up in a small field that is shaded by mature trees a stone’s throw from the babbling Bronte Creek.
Summer theatre at its best. The Driftwood people have been doing this – very well – for years.

Friday, July 22 7:30pm
Music for a Summer Night – Classic and Classical – St. George’s Church Hall
A gala concert to launch our second annual festival which features some of the finest classical, jazz, musical theatre, pop and crossover musicians from Burlington, Hamilton, Guelph and Toronto.
Tickets $25 online (advance) $30 at the door;
Featuring: Lowville Festival Choir, Wayne Strongman, Conductor
Featuring James Gordon, David Warrack, Renee Barabash, Robert Missen, Lorretta Bailey, Simone Caruso, and Charles Cozens

The Lowville School house

Saturday July 23, Afternoon 2:00pm
Workshop for Children with Dufflebag Theatre Company
Old Lowville Schoolhouse

Tickets $25 for both workshop & show
For ages 5-10 years and the lucky adults who come along
What’s more fun than watching a terrific theatre show… acting in it! Get your children involved in this workshop so they can discover the joy of theatre and creative expression.

3:00pm
Robin Hood by Dufflebag Theatre
Old Lowville Schoolhouse
Tickets $15 for show
For ages 5-10 years and the lucky adults who come along.

A rollicking good time will be had with Robin Hood and his Merry Men in the forests of the Niagara Escarpment. This traditional story of “rebalancing resources” in our society will be told with humour and lots of action! Presented by the nationally acclaimed Dufflebag Theatre.

Evening: 7:30pm
Folkies’ Delight: The Best of The Singer/Songwriters
Lowville United Church
Tickets $25 advance (online); $30 at the door
We’ve selected eight of the greatest singer/songwriters in folk-rock music and then chosen 2 of their most iconic songs. Who better to interpret these songs than: Jude Johnson, Ariel Rogers, Andy Griffiths and Stuart Laughton, four of the region’s finest performers.
This will be an evening of hit after hit. Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Cat Stevens, Stan Rogers, Carole King, Buffy St. Marie, and Gordon Lightfoot.
How Canadian can you get?

Sunday July 24,  3:00pm

Love Letters by A. R. Gurney

Lowville United church

Lowville United Church

Tickets $25 online (advance); $30 at the door

Two renowned Canadian actors, Lorretta Bailey and Eric Trask, will perform this celebrated play by Buffalo playwright A. R. Gurney whose many plays have been hits on Broadway and throughout the world.

Required to find a pen pal at summer camp, our two characters continue to write to each other throughout their eventful lives.  We get their insights into what is going on with their dates, spouses, children, jobs and friends.  Funny, sarcastic, witty, angry —- and then they fall in love.

Tickets for all events except the ThinkSpot event are available on line.