FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Theatre Royal’s Motherlode touring road show is taking the musical story of the discovery of gold and the birth of British Columbia to BC communities this summer during a three-month railroad and road tour celebrating BC’s 150th anniversary.
“Added to our summer shows at Theatre Royal, Barkerville we have added this second road show to our summer programming,” says producer Richard Wright. “The show has just completed a month of touring with the Spirit of 150 train which saw us perform for thousands of people from Cranbrook along the CP tracks to Vancouver. Now we take our cast on a tour up and down the Cariboo Road.”
The BC rush for gold from 1858 through the 1860s was the greatest world migration of the time and included people from every continent. They arrived in a country populated by First Nations and a few Europeans in scattered HBC posts. Motherlode centers around a meeting of several 1860s characters who find themselves sharing an evening at a roadhouse on the Cariboo Road.
“The musical play explores and highlights the multi-cultural make-up of the thousands of pioneers who participated in the creation of the Cariboo Road and the very establishment of the province as a part of Canada,” says partner Amy Newman.
The musical production and the accompanying workshops are an initiative of the New Pathways To Gold Society, and Newman & Wright Theatre Company, at Theatre Royal, in Barkerville Historic Town.
“Until recently the arts and culture of early BC has not been well exhibited, with the exception of the efforts made by a few heritage sites. Barkerville’s Theatre Royal will bring the stories, poems and songs of this time to audiences,” says Newman.
The Motherlode group will come into a community for two days, explains Wright. On the first two days the group will conduct a workshop with community members, working toward them telling a story of their community. This short vignette will then be part of the performance on the second evening.
“So far we have worked in Walhachin, Ashcroft, Wells, and Barkerville,” says Wright, “and the format is working well. Next to the story the best part is that there is no cost to communities. The tour is being supported by the New Pathways to Gold Society through funding from various partners.”
Information on the tour and workshops is available by calling the Theatre Royal at 250-994-3225 or Richard Wright at 250-994-3340.