2026 Summer Season
Schoolhouse, 2007. Photo by Wayne Eardley, Brookside Studio.
Schoolhouse
Written by Leanna Brodie
June 30 - July 25, 2026
Directed by Monica Dottor
Previews: June 30, July 1
Opening Night: Thursday, July 2
Tuesday to Saturday at 6 pm
With an added Monday performance on
July 20th
Set in 1938 in rural Ontario, Schoolhouse unfolds within S.S. #1 Jericho, a one-room school just outside the fictional village of Baker’s Creek. When 18-year-old Melita Linton—newly graduated from Normal School—takes on her first teaching position, she encounters a lively group of students and a community rooted in tradition. Her resolve is tested by the arrival of Ewart, a withdrawn youth recently released from a reform school and sent to work on a local farm. As Miss Linton strives to reach him, she uncovers the deep bonds and quiet fears of small-town life. Rich with humour and humanity, Schoolhouse beautifully evokes a vanished era in Canadian rural history.
Wild Irish Geese, 2025. Wayne Eardley, Brookside Studio.
BACK BY
POPULAR DEMAND
Written by Megan Murphy
August 4 - 29, 2026
Directed by Kim Blackwell
Previews: August 4, 5
Opening Night: Thursday, August 6
Tuesday to Saturday at 6 pm
With an added Monday performance on August 24th
Wild Irish Geese
Back by popular demand after its sold-out 2025 premiere, Wild Irish Geese returns to the 4th Line stage with a powerful story of migration and starting over. In the 1820s, Peter Robinson led an emigration scheme that brought hundreds of Irish families to Canada as they fled famine and poverty. More than 2,000 arrived in Scotts Plains—later known as Peterborough—and began their lives anew. Wild Irish Geese reflects on the courage, displacement, and enduring spirit of those who journeyed far to survive. Through hardship and hope, these new Canadians forged a fragile beginning in a complex colonial landscape. Planting deep roots in the Peterborough area, these Irish emigrants now have tens of thousands of descendants both locally and across the globe.