About The Cape Breton Stage Company

The Cape Breton Stage Company is a local theatre company that was formed in 2007 with the purpose of producing local, original theatre works in downtown Sydney. The company has produced numerous productions over the past three years, including this summer's Play This Summer Theatre Festival and The Cape Breton Stage Company Hits the Streets which is an outdoor theatre festival that is part of Sydney's Action Week Celebrations.
The Cape Breton Stage Company was started by drama teachers and directors Wayne McKay and Michael McPhee. For years, they had been complaining about the lack of live theatre in downtown Sydney and finally decided to do something about it. In the summer of 2007, the group created their first production Eddy in the Ditch, a modern tragedy based on Oedipus Rex. This play was created by the cast and directed by Wayne McKay. It was performed outside at the Hospital Hill green space in Sydney. That same summer, the group presented their first summer festival of plays during Action Week. This has grown into a summer tradition called The Cape Breton Stage Company Hits the Streets. Each summer, the group stages numerous plays in outdoor locations throughout downtown Sydney, including parking lots and parks. This festival is an outstanding success and is growing every year. All proceeds are donated to the local Transition House. In 2009, the group donated $600 to this worthy charity.
Since 2007, the productions have been non-stop. Most recently, the company has staged three plays as part of the Play This Summer Theatre Festival in partnership with the Cape Breton University Dramagroup. These plays included the political comedy, Prime Minister for a Day, written and directed by James FW Thompson, The Last Laugh (Before We All Go Broke) by Michael McPhee, Aaron Corbett and Lindsay Thompson and With a Strong Hand: The Jack Munroe Story by Wayne McKay. With a Strong Hand was also performed in Elk Lake, Northern Ontario as part of that town's Centennial Celebrations. The company also had one of their shows in the Toronto Fringe Festival. Waiting for Dad, an improvised one man show by Aaron Corbett was performed in Sydney to great acclaim and went on to represent the Cape Breton Stage Company at one of North America's biggest fringe festivals.
The company has also become well known for doing challenging, experimental and thought-provoking theatre. Mike McPhee's Now-Nothing challenged audiences to tackle the problems of chasing the Western Canadian Dream. Now-Nothing, a tragedy in the spirit of Death of a Salesman and Of Mice and Men, was presented in June 2009 at the Upstairs Club. Every winter, the company presents Notes, which is an experimental collaboration with members of the local music scene. Local musicians submit original songs and directors are chosen to create dramatic works based on the songs.
With such an exciting history and so many wonderful upcoming presentations, the Cape Breton Stage Company has re-established a theatre scene in downtown Sydney. And it will only grow from here.