In an exciting new partnership with the Capital Crime Writers of Ottawa, the Classic Theatre Festival, in conjunction with its mystery thriller Dial M for Murder (running August 8 to 31) is hosting a series of pre-show readings with some of Canada’s top crime and mystery writers. The Saturday Night Specials, taking place over three consecutive weekends at 7 pm (before the 8 pm performance of Dial M for Murder) will feature a pair of authors reading from their works, an opportunity to ask questions, purchase books, and get them signed, all under the pre-show tent at the Classic Theatre Festival’s venue at 54 Beckwith Street East. Entrance to the readings is free for Festival ticketholders and $10 for non-ticket holders. “Mystery on the stage, crime writers, and a warm summer evening,” says Michael Murphy of Capital Crime Writers, makes for  “a Saturday Night Special to die for.” The Ottawa-based group has been in existence since 1988, when it was founded by Linda Wiken and Audrey Jessup. Barbara Fradkin and Vicki Delany The premiere Saturday Night Special on August 16 will be hosted by Barbara Fradkin and Vicki Delany. Fradkin is a retired psychologist and two-time winner of the Arthur Ellis Best Novel Award. The prolific author has published numerous short stories and eleven mysteries (two Cedric O’Toole novellas and nine in the gritty, award-winning novel series featuring quixotic Ottawa Police Inspector Michael Green). Two new books are in production, including the tenth Inspector Green novel, None so Blind, due out in October. Fradkin’s co-host, Vicky Delany, is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers. Under Cold Stone is the seventh book in the Smith & Winters police series. She also writes the light-hearted Klondike Gold Rush books and novels of gothic suspense.  Having taken early retirement from her job as a systems analyst, Vicki enjoys the rural life in bucolic, Prince Edward County, Ontario.  According to the London Free Press, “It’s a crime not to read Delany.” R.J. Harlick and Linda Wiken On Saturday, August 23, the reading series continues with R.J. Harlick and Linda Wiken. Harlick writes the popular wilderness-based Meg Harris mystery series set in the wilds of Quebec, which so far has six titles to its name.  The 4th, Arctic Blue Death was a finalist for the 2010 Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel. The latest, Silver Totem of Shame, has been named one of the top ten summer crime fiction reads by The Globe and Mail. Wiken is a former mystery bookstore owner in Ottawa. Writing as Erika Chase, she has penned four books in the Ashton Corners Book Club Mysteries and is working on the fifth. Book Fair and Foul came out earlier this month. She is also working on the Culinary Capers Mysteries, which will debut next year under her own name.   She also maintains a blogsite, Mystery Maven Canada, with news, schmooze and reviews about Canadian mystery writers. Brenda Chapman and Thomas Curran The closing set of readings on August 30 will feature  Brenda Chapman and Thomas Curran. Chapman began her writing career with the Jennifer Bannon… Continue reading

  Visitors and townfolk alike may be forgiven for thinking they have walked into a time warp starting June 25 as costumed characters from Perth’s past come to life five mornings a week this summer. “Perth through the Ages”, a historic, theatrical guided walking tour, is a youth training project organized by the Classic Theatre Festival and Matheson House Museum, running through August 31, Wednesday to Sunday mornings at 11 am. This project features an original play, “The Preacher and the Leading Lady,” which was researched and developed by the troupe in tandem with director Laurel Smith and local historian Susan Code. It tells the story of the Reverend William Bell, an early Perth Presbyterian minister, and famed actress May Bell-Marks, both of whom mysteriously find themselves in 2014 Perth. As they journey through the town, they witness key events and characters that have formed part of the town’s storied 200 years while often sparring about their respective views on everything from the state of women’s attire to smoke-belching horsecarts (or cars, as we know them today). Bell, played by local actor Sean Jacklin, and Bell-Marks, performed by Ottawa’s Jasmine Bowen (a veteran of that city’s Haunted Walk), are perfect foils whose comments on what they have seen historically and now will allow audiences to appreciate the importance of signature events in Perth history. With an equal mix of drama, history, and humour, the play’s cast also includes some additional up and coming talents that Perthites have likely seen on both high school and community stages, including Bobbie Cordick, Meaghan Brackenbury, Adam Reid and Madison Reid. The tour route will begin at Matheson House Museum (11 Gore Street East) at 11 am sharp beginning June 25, and will follow down the streets of Perth to the Courier building (where viewers will watch the moment when women’s suffrage was won in Canada), as well as a stretch along the Tay River where there is a confrontation over the Tay Canal Scandal (a key moment in which funds designated for canal construction were pocketed by wealthy investors). Other scenes near the Crystal Palace will allow historic characters to remark upon the remarkable changes they have witnessed, and scenes both at the Legion and along Beckwith Street East will be touching reminders of the human cost of both world wars. Elizabeth Hughes, the Perth woman over whom the last fatal duel in Canada was fought, makes an appearance. The tour finishes at St. James Anglican Church, site of many historic events and the new home for the Classic Theatre Festival. The “Perth through the Ages” project is the product of an intensive period of research facilitated by local historic animator Susan Code and collective creation and writing led by Laurel Smith, the Classic Theatre Festival’s Artistic Producer. Troupe members also had the privilege of interviewing residents of the Lanark Lodge long term care home to gain insights into the Perth of days past. “We have a terrific group of young people working with… Continue reading