With Hogtown Collective Halifax’s production of Great Harbour being hosted at the Alexander Keiths Brewery, this is not your typical sit down in your seat and look up at the stage kind of production. Co-written by Drew Carnwath and Sam Rosenthal, Great Harbour embraces the concept of being able to choose-your-own-adventure, which seems to be becoming more popular with audiences nowadays. Audience should be prepared to explore rooms and tunnels of the brewery to catch multiple scenes and scenarios unfold. If there is a certain character you find intrigues you then why not just follow them – your decisions will determine what kind of experience you have.
Sam Rosenthal, Hogtown Collective Halifax’s Artistic Director, as well as director for Eastern Front Theatre, brought the idea for Great Harbour along with him from Toronto; having directed past productions he is quite familiar with giving the audience an immersive experience.
Starting off in the dining room we find ourselves in the year 1925. Watching as two mayoral candidates get in a heated debate over alcohol restrictions and who will be the best fit as mayor. The candidates include Sam McBride (Jeff Schwager) hoping to regulate alcohol sales and John Murphy (Steve Baker) whose political platform revolves around the restriction of alcohol sales. These two men will do anything they can to win which includes trying to broker a deal with union leader and kingpin Bob Delacourt (Lee Campbell) to get his support.
For the first half of the production the audience is led through different rooms where they are introduced to key characters and the main plot line of the story. After this introduction the audience are then set free to explore and dive deeper into characters that peak their interest.
Larger groups tend to form around key scenes but some of the best parts can be discovered by veering away from the crowd and finding a one-on-one experience with the actors. The cast was excellent and fully committed to their roles, whether they were playing to one person or a crowd.
Throughout your journey there are about twenty-three performers playing characters ranging from gangsters and showgirls, to jazz musicians and bootleggers. Each has their own story that revolves around the central political plot, some being funny while others touch on social problems such as women’s rights or protests.
Heading down to the speakeasy it’s possible to grab a drink at the bar, but if you do choose to indulge try not to find yourself face to face with the Temperance league who are fighting to maintain prohibition and the re-election of Mayor John Murphy. Here we meet speakeasy hostess Cali-Mays (Michelle Piller), The White Hot Jazz Band , and a few flappers who entertained us with a lovely 1920’s dance number. Maddy Murphy (Erin Wilson), John Murphy’s daughter, dances in the White Hot Jazz band but tonight we find her trying to keep a secret while looking for assistance from Libby Prowse (Kelin Boyd), who just so happens to be canada’s first female doctor.
A walk next door reveals an illegal gambling den, where bets can be placed on horse races, and the opportunity to sample the best Antigonish moonshine available from bootleggers Taner (Taylor Olsen) and Jackson Busch (Kyle Gillis).
After the audience have had sufficient opportunity to run around with the characters they are herded back to the main part of the speakeasy for the night to be wrapped up by news reporter Ben Stein (Jamie Bradley) who has been trying to chase the truth all night.
The multiple story-lines made Great Harbour fun to watch, and the acting was also very well done. The actors reached out to involve me in the scenes which kept it exciting and made me feel included in what’s going on. With so much happening it is impossible to see every story unfold, of course you are going to miss certain things if following one character over the other. This would be the only downfall as you start feeling like you may be missing something important in another room; however it does make you want to go back and re-watch the production as you can make each experience different than the last.
Great Harbour will run until March 1 with show times at 7:30pm located at the Alexander Keith’s brewery. Be ready to see this production come back around in 2020 if this week’s trial run is deemed successful.