Guild Festival Theatre’s The Drowning Girls Opens in Scarborough
As summer in the city draws to a close, so too does the Guild Festival Theatre’s 2023 season.
After a successful 2022 season that saw multiple Dora nominations and wins, the Scarborough-based theatre festival expanded their programming this summer. The 2023 festival featured four shows, including a reimagined remount of last year’s sold-out Alice in Wonderland.
Although three shows have ended, it’s not too late to visit the festival. The company’s final production is the multi-award-winning play The Drowning Girls, a true crime tale about three women married to and murdered* by the same man.
Written in 1999 and revised in 2008 by Beth Graham, Charlie Tomlinson, and Daniela Vlaskalic, The Drowning Girls follows the lives of Bessie, Alice, and Margaret, three ghostly brides determined to gather evidence against their womanizing, murderous husband. Directed by Guild Festival Theatre co-artistic director Helen Juvonen, the production features Blythe Haynes, Alicia Barban, and Georgia Findlay.
“This play has been haunting me since I saw the original production,” said Juvonen in a press release. “The playwrights have beautifully balanced the dark content of the story with a strong sense of humour. I can’t wait to dive into this script with these three talented performers and take our audiences on this gripping journey.”
Rounding out the all-female production team are assistant director and sound designer Sierra Haynes, with Kalina Popova as production designer.
Tickets and passes are still available for the production, so grab your bug spray, pack your sunscreen, and head on over to Scarborough’s only professional theatre festival to witness the mystery of The Drowning Girls.
The Drowning Girls runs as part of the 2023 Guild Festival Theatre’s season August 17–27, 2023. Tickets are available here.
*This production contains mature content and is recommended for audiences 13+. For more information, please contact the Guild Festival Theatre or visit their website.
Jessica Watson
Jessica is a former associate editor at Intermission, as well as a writer, classically-trained actor, and plant enthusiast. Since graduating from LAMDA in the UK with her MA in acting, you can often find her writing screenplays and short plays in the park, writing extensive lists of plant care tips, or working on stage and screen (though she uses a stage name). Jessica freelances with various companies across Canada, but her passion lies in working with theatre artists and enthusiasts.
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