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The World's End Theatre Festival

Town/City: Fogo Island
NLAC Program Funded Under: Professional Festivals Program
Amount Funded: $10,000

The World's End Theatre Festival produces professional theatre reflecting the diversity of life on Fogo Island and Change Islands. Residents of the community participate in all aspects of the production, while the scenic islands serve as the backdrop for the stage. The company is proud to produce original performances that showcase the history, culture and experiences of the area.

This summer, the fourth annual Festival will present two shows: Kept – a newly commissioned play by Amy Anthony and Philip Goodridge, and an adapation of They Club Seals, Don’t They – an old favourite by The Mummers’ Troupe.

Q and A with Sharon King-Campbell, producer...

NLAC: How has the Festival, which is associated with the Shorefast Foundation, grown over the last four years?

Sharon: If you are out and about in St. John's, chances are you're not more than 20 feet from someone who is connected to Fogo Island. People who grew up there, or whose parents or grandparents grew up there, are thick on the ground in this province. The goal of the Shorefast Foundation is to attract as many of these ex-patriots as possible back to a life on the Island – World's End is part of that. It isn't enough simply to offer jobs to these skilled workers, Fogo Island must also offer a cultural life.

I was hired by the Foundation in the fall of 2007 to explore the possibility of starting a professional theatre company on the Island. World's End was incorporated early in 2008, and we had our first summer theatre production, Fighting Fire with Snow, that August.

In its three-and-a-half years of existence, World's End Theatre has commissioned five original plays dealing with Fogo Island stories, culture, and everyday life. The most recent of these is Kept, which will open July 16th. I think what distinguishes the World's End Theatre Festival from other festivals, is that it isn't a festival of Newfoundland theatre – it’s a festival specifically of Fogo Island theatre.

In 2008, the Festival employed 8 people and ran one production for 5 days. This year, we have a company of 14 people, two full productions, with 16 performances between them. Our audience numbers have tripled and the interest of the community has grown dramatically since I harangued four actors to be in the 2008 production.

NLAC: Who makes up the creative personelle of the company – is it mostly locals, or do you bring in artists from around the province?

Sharon: Our actors have always been local, and we bring in professionally-trained artists from across the province as playwrights, directors, stage managers, and designers. We make an effort to hire people who are connected to the Island; for instance, one of this year's playwrights, Amy Anthony, spent her childhood summers with her grandparents in Seldom, and our director, Greg White, is from nearby Twillingate and lived for more than a year in Joe Batt's Arm with his fiancee, who is a native. This year we've reached a bit of a milestone: for the first time, we've hired the Winds and Waves Artisans Guild (the local craftspersons organization) to do our design work, which is very exciting.

NLAC: Who makes up the bulk of your audience – tourists or local supporters?

Sharon: Can I say both? The community is very supportive, of course. To give you a comparison, roughly 2% of the population of St. John's regularly attends live theatre in town, and in Fogo Island, we have about 10%, which is particularly notable given that most Fogo Islanders work in the fishery and are away for long periods of time, or work 12-hour shifts during the summer. We also host quite a few tourists, many of whom are actually ex-patriot Islanders who come home for the summer.

NLAC: What has been the response to the Festival, both from the local community and audiences?

Sharon: Response has been awesome. It's particularly thrilling to hear the feedback from people who lived or are living the stories that we're telling. Last summer, we had a fantastic comedy by Krista Hann which dealt with the amalgamation of all of the Fogo Island communities into one municipality – this has since come to pass – and we played to packed houses and raucous laughter. It was the most controversial piece we had done, but everyone I spoke to loved it, no matter where they stood on the issue.

There is an email that I received after our 2008 season that I plan on keeping forever, it contains the phrase "Wow! You got it right."

We've always gotten good response from tourists as well. There is something magical about experiencing a piece of Fogo Island culture, played by Fogo Islanders, with the ocean as a backdrop.

NLAC: Tell us a bit about the two shows you’re presenting this year...

Sharon: Kept tells the story of Suzie and Norman...the pair are not friends – not even close – but when they find themselves face-to-face with a fairy, they have to work together to get themselves out of the woods. Commissioned for the 2011 Festival, it was written by Amy Anthony and Philip Goodridge – two of the most promising young playwrights this province has to offer. Kept is a fun family show filled with colour, magic, and, of course, a happy ending.

They Club Seals, Don't They? is a well-loved piece from the Newfoundland repertoire. Collectively written by the Mummers Troupe and successfully (and controversially) toured in 1978, it is an uproarious, episodic comedy which deals with issues that are still at the fore-front of Newfoundland society today. World's End Theatre is privileged to be producing this work for the first time in more than 30 years, on Fogo Island, where the Co-op continues to deal in seal meat and fur.

NLAC: Is there anything else you’d like to add or highlight?

Sharon: I'd love to acknowledge the contribution of the local folk festivals. Because we have always had a performance that toured to outdoor locations, we try to work in conjunction with the local weekend-long festivals, and this year we've done better at that than ever before. The organizers of Tilting Days, the Seldom Fisherman's Fest, the Etheridge's Point Folk Festival, and the Change Islands Garden Party have been very kind in accommodating our performances, and we're looking forward to participating in their events.