Rebellion. Scandal. Political machinations. Even murder. When the actors of Perth’s Classic Theatre Festival take to the streets to present two walking tours/plays this summer, they’re not giving you the sanitized version of this charming Eastern Ontario city’s past. It’s the real deal, warts and all.
I had a great time exploring Perth on the festival’s opening weekend via these two clever plays. Not entirely sure what to expect, I showed up for the first one (The Maid and the Merchant) at the Matheson House Museum, to find an actress in 1930s garb ensconced in the dining room, preparing to sell the house and wondering about her rich, illustrious ancestors.
Outdoors with The Maid and the Merchant. Photo by Laura Byrne Paquet.
What followed was an hour-long walking tour, delving into the story of 19th-century big-man-in-town Roderick Matheson. The style is a bit like a murder-mystery dinner theatre, with the actors directly addressing the audience and energetically drawing them into the unfolding plot. Without giving anything away, I can say that the Nancy Drew-themed story is far from the typical glowing picture of a group of Victorian worthies. It’s a lot of fun.
That evening, I took in the second production, The Lonely Ghosts Walk. Expecting a spectre-focused tour led by a cloaked figure with a lantern, spinning tales of creaking doors and unexplained voices, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that this was another full-scale historical production, unveiling more of the town’s rich and sometimes violent past. Did you know that Perth was the site of Ontario’s last fatal duel, for instance?
Scandal unfolds during The Lonely Ghosts Walk. Photo by Laura Byrne Paquet.
Both hour-long shows involve some walking and quite a bit of standing around, so they won’t be suitable for people with limited mobility. However, there’s probably only about half an hour of gentle walking on each tour, so they aren’t onerous. Wear lots of sunscreen and bring a hat for the morning show, and don’t forget bug spray for the evening performance.
In the afternoon, it was time for something completely different but no less entertaining: the festival’s production of the 1963 Neil Simon hit, Barefoot in the Park. (This one unfolded in a more traditional setting, an air-conditioned theatre.)
I may well have been the only person in the audience, maybe even the last in North America, not to know the basic plot of the show, which was made into a popular 1967 movie with Robert Redford and Jane Fonda. The story of two young newlyweds—a responsible lawyer and his free-spirited wife—gets a fun and lively production here. All four lead actors are excellent, and the show drew me right back to the Mad Men era with its evocative costumes, lights and music.
In between all that theatre, a girl has to eat, right? And I had the good luck to try two new-to-me restaurants.
I’d walked right by Michael’s Table on several previous visits to Perth, since from the outside it looks like a basic, unremarkable diner. But this was a lesson in “don’t judge a book by its cover.” The wide-ranging menu includes everything from a substantial steak salad drizzled with chimichurri sauce (which my lunch companion enjoyed) to a sweet potato burrito that I would come to eat every week if I lived in Perth.
Michael’s Table was a great stop for lunch. Photo by Laura Byrne Paquet.
My second stop was O’Reilly’s, where I had originally planned to have dinner. However, I was still a bit stuffed from the aforementioned burrito, so I split some tasty deep-fried pickles with two friends, washed down with a pint. The lively pub was packed to the rafters with an after-work Friday night crowd, and it was a fun stop in between shows.
All in all, it was a busy day, starting at 11am and wrapping up at 9pm. If you like history, scandal, classic plays or burritos, it’s definitely worth the drive.
Barefoot in the Park runs until August 2, to be followed by Wait Until Dark, a thriller by Frederick Knott (August 7 to 30). The Lonely Ghosts Walk runs until August 28, and The Maid and the Merchant (Perth Through the Ages) until August 30. For details on showtimes and prices, check out the festival’s website.
Disclosure: I attended the plays as a guest of the Classic Theatre Festival, and sampled the restaurants as a guest of the festival and the restaurants, none of whom reviewed or approved this post.
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