Welcome back to Eastern Ontario’s newest summer tradition: a day trip or overnight stay in beautiful Heritage Perth, and a matinee or evening show at the Classic Theatre Festival. Every summer, we bring to Perth some of Canada's top professional talent from the worlds of Canadian theatre, film, television and radio. With accessible pricing, terrific fine dining, unique boutique shopping, and heritage accommodations, all the ingredients are here for a perfect summer getaway.

Now in our third year of producing professional productions of works from the Golden Age of Broadway and the London Stage, we have a growing and dedicated audience whose feedback is almost unanimous: keep doing what we're doing. The combination of laughter and thoughtful subject matter in the plays we choose has certainly struck a chord, and 2012 promises more of this winning formula.

One of the most rewarding parts of running the Festival is meeting people who have never, in their entire lives, attended live theatre, but who have, after enjoying one of our shows, found a new passion in their lives.

The plays we have chosen for our third season will appeal both to theatre first-timers as well as lifelong lovers of the stage. They reflect a moment on Broadway when new works reflected a desire for more mature subject matter than much of the fluff that was produced in the 1950s. These shows deal with real-life issues, yet remain vastly entertaining. Whether it's the quirky, comic romance of Two for the Seesaw, which originally starred Henry Fonda and Anne Bancroft, or the hilarity of Jean Kerr's Mary, Mary, audiences will respond to these richly drawn characters, the kind you'd like to have over for dinner. Why? Because they have interesting stories to share, and can leave you laughing hysterically at one moment, or listening quietly, at another.

They're the types of shows that leave you cheering for the characters right until the final curtain in the same way we root for people in our own lives. When you see them, you'll understand why both enjoyed long runs on Broadway (with Two for the Seesaw running almost two years and Mary, Mary breaking records to the point where it still remains the 8th-longest running play in Broadway history!)

It's no mystery why people continue to attend live theatre in a world gone digital, virtual, and hyper hi-tech. There's something about the live theatrical experience that is unmatched by anything in our culture. The interplay between actors and an audience, a playwright's words on paper being brought to life by an artistic team, the dimming of the lights and the raising of the curtain into an imaginary world that can both take us away from our troubles and help us deal with them. All of these things come together on the stage, and it has been my privilege to make theatre my lifelong vocation.

We invite you back this summer if you’ve been before, and we also invite you if this is your first time here to see why the Classic Theatre Festival will rapidly become part of your summer plans in years to come.

Located in Heritage Perth, we’re closer than you think, yet a magical world away. And please, stay in touch. One of the great joys of this work is the feedback we receive from you, our audience.

Laurel Smith
Artistic Producer