ICEMEN
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Production Manager: Rochelle Reynolds
Stage Manager: Khaleel Gandhi
Assistant Stage Manager: Lesley Coo
Technical Director: Paul Boken
Metcalf Artistic Intern: Sabrina Merks
Associate Producers: Connor Jesso and Melissa MacGougan
Set Design: Joe Pagnan
Lighting Design: Logan Raju Cracknell
Composition and Sound Design: Mathew Magneson
Costume Design: Madeline Ius
Set Painting: Rosalind Naccarato
Set Dressing and Props Master: Brenda Thompson
Set Builder: Diane Frederick
Dramaturg: Colleen Murphy
Production Photography: Noah Hollinshead
Poster Design: Rhubarb Media
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Joe: Isaiah Kolundzic
FF: Nathan Howe
Rennie: Tom Keat
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When I first moved to Barrie, I became obsessed with the water of Kempenfelt Bay. The fact that it housed such an enormous and lucrative industry during Barrie’s often brutal winters, made it all the more bewitching. “White Gold… ready to be mined,” to quote Joe. I knew that, one day, Theatre by the Bay would need to produce a show set in this wild, dangerous, and high-stakes industry. However, I was delighted when Vern presented the idea of a show that was so ‘of the moment’ and about so much more than “just ice.” In fact, I have no doubt that the play’s topics of the death of important industries due to automation, the growing structural inescapability of poverty, and the value of water are going to become increasingly hot topics over the coming years…
I want to thank Vern for taking a chance on a little company in Barrie to present his newest world premiere and the care and craft he has brought to this local story. I saw Vern’s play, Shakespeare’s Will when I was a (rather… ‘opinionated’) teenager, and it almost single-handedly opened my eyes to how exceptional Canadian theatre can be. Now, I run a theatre company dedicated exclusively to new Canadian work, and Vern has written a show for my company, which I directed. It is a full-circle moment for which I feel truly blessed.
I also want to thank all of the artists and collaborators involved in every point of this process. The enthusiasm from everyone has been incredibly inspiring. I am delighted by what we have accomplished together and I feel like this is just the beginning. Of course, I also want to thank my wife, Marissa, for everything.
And I want to thank you, the audience, for joining us.
Thank you.
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I first discovered Vern Thiessen’s work when I was sixteen. I was taking part in the Stratford Summer Camp, where we had the chance to see a number of shows. One of those would be Vern Thiessen’s Shakespeare’s Will. I remember thinking, being the highly opinionated teen that I was, “a one-woman show by a Canadian Playwright about Shakespeare’s wife? How good could this possibly be?” Well, it was phenomenal, of course, and sprouted a love of Vern’s writing that would last.
So when TBTB received funding from the Trillium Foundation to do some playwrighting workshops, and, thanks to the pandemic, they needed to be online, we decided to ask Vern to teach one. He agreed, we kept in touch afterwards, and one day on a Zoom call he said, “you know, Iain, one of these days I am going to have to write a play about Simcoe County.” Well, of course, I pounced on this. I sent him my big list of local story/inspiration ideas, and he liked the idea of doing one set in the ice harvesting industry and thus, Icemen was born.
Working with Vern, and by extension, Colleen Murphy, the Dramaturg, was a wonderful and insightful opportunity. These are two season pros! Governor General Award-winners! But they were so collaborative and responded very well to my ideas and insights.
When we got into rehearsals, it was another dream come true. The cast, the designers, everyone was on the same page and bought into what we were trying to do.
And the pay-off: raved reviews, solid audiences, even a couple big-name industry people seeing it, and ultimately, publication of the script! Another first for me.
All in all, without a doubt Icemen has been one of my proudest accomplishments to date. A true representation of what I am capable of as a director and a great process from the seed of an idea.
