The Spirit of Aspy Bay
Last Saturday evening I had the pleasure of attending the third sell-out performance of “The Spirit of Aspy Bay” in the converted United Church (circa 1868) in Cape North. Accompanied by three generations of my family, both from here at the northern tip of Cape Breton as well as “from away”, I witnessed the first of what hopefully will be many annual performances hosted by the North Highlands Community Museum. With my mother-in-law visiting from “the Boston States” and my son and his wife home for the long weekend from Halifax, my wife and I chuckled our way through two hours of song, dance, comedy mixed with drama, and constant historical reminders of how life was lived in this northern region prior to the establishment of the Cape Breton Highlands National Park.
The play, written and directed by Bev Brett, Artistic Director of the St. Ann’s Bay Players and president of Playwrights Atlantic Resource Centre, billed itself in its advance promotion as “A Celebration in Comedy, Drama and Song”, and it lived up to this claim on all fronts.
Set at Big Intervale, (the present northern boundary of the Cape Breton Highlands National Park, just southwest of the village of Cape North) in 1975, the play employs a flashback narrative recounted by “Murdoch Dan MacDonald”, convincingly played by Robert Costelo of Cape North, to his young acquaintance “Hughie MacDonald”, who is effectively played by 14-year old Garry MacDonald of Dingwall. Murdoch Dan’s anecdotal recollections of the late 1800’s are reinforced by his wife Mary (Joanne Dunphy, Dingwall), and are brought to life by a flashback technique that introduces the audience to an 1890’s Murdoch Dan (Daniel Murray, South Harbour) and the focus of his affections, the young school mistress Mary played by Ashley Padelt-Robinson of Cape North / St. Ann’s.
Throughout the performance the time period alternates between the late 1800’s and 1975, with Brett skillfully weaving local history into her fact-based fictional tale, and embellishing it with subplots involving themes both past and present, such as the entrance of women into the fishery, the out-migration of youthful residents towards the promise of a better financial future “out west”, the local perception of the RCMP, the hardships of 19th century life in northern Cape Breton, the traditional belief in ghosts and spirits relating to the myriad shipwrecks of the area, and the survival of the Gaelic culture in the face of the pro-English Nova Scotian educational bureaucracy.
Strong performances from the mostly-youthful cast add credibility to the production, with Murray and MacDonald joined in their endeavor by Padelt-Robinson and Kerianne Dowling of North Ingonish (whose bio emphasizes that she is “…related to some of the Frickers in Neil’s Harbour…”), who turns in an especially convincing performance as a Neil’s Harbour teen unknowingly pushing the principles of feminism in the rural fishery of northern Cape Breton.
Most of the main performers do double duty with alternate roles, and are aided in their endeavors by a supporting cast and chorus that move smoothly and professionally from scene to scene, hefting props under subdued lights and emerging to sing or dance in their alternate personae as the lights again rise.
As home-grown performances go, this one has it all, from the historical foundation Brett has assembled from her research at the museum and employs in her writing, to the use of a local cast, some of whose family histories date back to the setting of the play. Add to this Brett’s use of a local chorus and musicians, the inclusion of step and square dancing, traditional and original instrumental and vocal pieces (Erin Costelo, recently of Cape North), and the impressive, almost intimate acoustics of the refurbished United Church itself, (maximum seating of 100), and the bottom line is total satisfaction and standing ovations.
But it doesn’t end there: there’s the intermission, and although an intermission seldom enters into the text of a review, it deserves mention here. As I “took a turn outside” with my wife and son during the break, I gazed around at the darkening mountains of the Aspy Scarp, the beaches of Aspy Bay, and the forests of northern Cape Breton, and then turned back to the buildings adjacent to the 138-year old church…Morrison’s Restaurant, with its renowned collection of local antiques, and nearby, the North Highlands Museum from whose artifacts and displays Brett took her theme. I took it all in and thought “Damn, it all really happened right here!”.
Suddenly the feeling of impending nightfall in the nearby mountains blended with the remnants of sunset on the distant beaches…all adding their presence to Brett’s script…and I felt myself touched by the Spirit of Aspy Bay.
The Spirit of Aspy Bay runs through August 13th at the United Church Hall in Cape North.
Phone the North Highlands Museum 902-383-2579 for times and tickets.
Byline:
Dennis Doyon is a free-lance contributor living in northern Cape Breton.
