Wishful Seeing cast members, 4th Line Theatre
Friends contacted us earlier last week with a last-minute proposal. Other mutual friends had come down with COVID and couldn't use their theatre tickets for an outdoor play at the 4th Line Theatre north of Port Hope. Would we like to join them? We did, and the period piece drama was quite enjoyable.
This is a portion of the press release:
Maja Ardal's "Wishful Seeing," based on the novel of the same name by Janet Kellough, tells the story of saddlebag preacher Thaddeus Lewis, who stumbles upon a murder mystery on the shores of Rice Lake in 1853. A historical thriller with a colourful cast of characters set against the backdrop of a rapidly growing pre-confederation Canada...
One of our friends joked beforehand that he was fairly certain that the preacher was not the murderer. I commented that I would rather he be a murderer than the conniving or milquetoast pastors we usually see in dramas. It turned out that he was a decent enough guy, an aging Methodist circuit rider who was determined to solve the murder.
At one point he comments that serving a number of communities on horseback was a pain in the ass, literally. Methodist circuit riders were intrepid souls often travelling through life-threatening weather to serve their various congregations.
When church union occurred in 1925 to form the United Church of Canada the majority of the congregations were Methodist, and several of the congregations I served were Methodist in background.
In outport Newfoundland, where I began ministry after ordination, nearly all the congregations had been Methodist. One of the five still had Sunday evening altar call services, which were always adventures. An ancient former minister would come to visit in the summer and told me about the Winter Sundays when he would travel by dog-team. On nearby Fogo Island a minister perished after ignoring advice not to set out in a blizzard.
The drama was playful at times but maybe the best scene was a debate during a camp meeting between Rev. Lewis and the Baptist pastor over the merits of immersion baptism or Methodist sprinkling. Thaddeus washed up. Others in attendance may not have enjoyed the scene quite as much.
It was a lovely evening with friends, the rain held off, and the preacher prevailed. What's not to like?
I have red a number of Janet's novels, and enjoyed tales of the local history, as well as the Methodist minister character and his family.
ReplyDelete