Selah’s Song coming to Playhouse

February 7, 2023

By Kristena Schutt-Moore

An original folk musical called Selah’s Song will be hitting the Village Playhouse stage during the Family Day Weekend on Sunday, Feb. 19, at 2 p.m. This musical is being brought to the community in collaboration between Maynooth-Madawaska Pastoral Charge, the Tweed and Theatre Company, and the producers of the play Theatre of the Beat.

Selah’s Song was originally written as a 40 person performance, but has since been reinvented so that it was possible to bring the original folk musical on the road. On Feb. 19 the show will be offered on a pay as you can basis, thanks to the support of the Maynooth-Madawaska Pastoral Charge. There is a suggestion of a donation of $20, but they are not holding audience members to that amount.

The musical was written by Johnny Wildeman, and the music is also original, written by Mennonite musician Bryan Moyer Suderman. Together they created a story that tells of a young girl named Selah, whose courage inspires her village and her song becomes an anthem of peace.

The event is being held on Family Day Weekend because it is an accessible time for many and so that area families can gather together and enjoy a show together. It’s a musical with a variety of puppets and live on stage performers.

Maynooth-Madawaska Pastoral Charge member Erin Morlock says that the Charge is working with the two theaters for this project because, “It does seem that life is a little gray right now. Not just the clouds, but there are so many things that have people feeling like life is just getting away from us. I mean you talk about inflation, talk about jobs, talk about never ending weather. Whatever it is, it just feels like life is just going along some times over us. And this play with music and humour and great singing and instruments that are live, not just a tape playing in the background, but everything working together to talk about that you can make a difference, there is hope. And I think that is a good thing for everybody to hear.”

Theatre of the Beat approached the Maynooth-Madawaska Pastoral Charge last summer to put on a performance of Selah’s Song, but unfortunately the Charge was not quite ready to put on an event after the pandemic. The play continued on travelling to other places and venues and have had such a good reception that their tour has been extended through the winter. So they reconnected and partnered up with Tweed and Co. for the Playhouse host and to bring the performance to Bancroft on the Family Day Weekend.

Tickets are available at the door of the event, but they are also available online at www.villageplayhouse.ca/selahs-song. If there is a big enough demand then they will look into adding an evening show to the event.

The event is a pay what you can event, however since there are costs involved the Maynooth-Madawaska Pastoral Charge is organizing sponsors who are helping to bring Selah’s Song to the Bancroft area. If a person donates towards bringing the Theatre of the Beat to Bancroft then the person is invited to the luncheon that will take place before the event. This is not part of the ticket sales, this is a special event just for sponsors. Those interested in becoming a sponsor are invited to contact Morlock at erin@haylakelodge.com or by calling 613-637-2675