Posted by: Paul Keen and Cynthia Sugars

Good news! The City of Ottawa has withdrawn the Bylaw charges against The Company of Adventurers from two years ago. We would like to extend our enormous gratitude to Emilie Taman of Champ and Associates and Michael Polowin of Gowling WLG for steadfastly supporting and defending us pro bono these last two years. This process took a very long time and entailed a great deal of work, in part because of delays related to the COVID-19 situation. Thank you, both! We would also like to say a huge thank you to Sunnyside Wesleyan Church for offering us their space for rehearsals during the height of the heat this past August. For two years, they’ve extended compassionate support to us when we needed it. Thank you, Sunnyside!

We will be offering the community one weekend of shows at our residence at 57 Glen Avenue this Sept. 9, 10, and 11; and a second weekend at The Gladstone Theatre, Sept. 16, 17, and 18. The hiatus of the past two years has left us sorely missing our neighbourhood gatherings. Please come out and see us!

This year’s show is Romeo and Juliet, a play that has everything: love, death, sword fights, potions, dancing, and thumb-biting (that’s right, thumb-biting, a provocative insult in Shakespearean times). There may even be a magician! We’ve added a twist to the classic this year by having the two sparring families on two sides of the language divide: French and English. This means that our English-speaking Romeo is courting the French Juliet, with a good deal of humour that arises as a result. Don’t worry, the show is mostly in English, with a soupçon of French!

As always, the shows are FREE. We have always presented our backyard shows as a fundraiser for a local charity by passing a hat after each performance. This year’s charity is Carty House, an organization supporting female refugees in Ottawa. The Gladstone Theatre has also generously donated their space to us for one more year, on the weekend of Sept. 16, 17, and 18. These shows are also free, and will be a fundraiser for the Gladstone.

We would love to welcome you back again to celebrate everyone’s emergence from the past two years of isolation (COVID-19 and otherwise). The show is great for all ages, so bring your family! No need to book tickets. We are limiting the audience size at our place to 40 people, first come first served. At the Gladstone, the audiences can be larger. Welcome back, everybody! Please feel free to contact Cynthia for info at csugars@uottawa.ca.

Paul and Cynthia organize The Company of Adventurers and live in OOS.

Featured in the September 2022 OSCAR.

Romeo and Juliet show dates:

57 Glen Avenue (weather permitting)

  • Friday, Sept. 9, 5:30 pm
  • Saturday, Sept. 10, 2:00 pm (day of the OOS Porch Sale!)
  • Sunday, Sept. 11, 2:00 pm

The Gladstone Theatre (910 Gladstone, at Preston Avenue)

  • Friday, Sept. 16, 6:00 pm
  • Saturday, Sept. 17, 1:00 and 6:00 pm (two shows on this day!)
  • Sunday, Sept. 18, 1:00 pm