The island of green gables and red mud has formed a confederation with our city.
There is a road to Avonlea for local theatre professionals Ted Price and Anne Laughlin, connecting P.G. and P.E.I. The veterans of Canadian drama have now made a habit of working each summer for Victoria Playhouse at the picturesque village of Victoria By The Sea not far from Charlottetown and in the thick of the booming Prince Edward Island tourist trade.
Price and Laughlin are getting packed for the annual trip they've made each May since 2012 to take on the jobs of director and stage manager, respectively. The Honda Civic will soon be purring through the miles from one side of this giant continent to the other.
"Yes, we always drive there," said Laughlin.
"We never get tired of it. It's such an amazing country to travel across. People seem to think it would be so much effort; it's not. The car does all the work. And P.E.I. is this wonderful grand finale to the trip."
She called the freshly plowed red earth and ocean breezes "a little piece of Eden" they are called to each spring.
Waiting for them in Victoria By The Sea is managing director Pat Stunden Smith who not only entrusts Price with the directorial reins, but also the choice of script and the casting of the play they collaborate on each May.
The theatre season at the Victoria Playhouse runs counter to many professional companies in Canada.
To dovetail with the PEI tourist surge, they run plays from spring through to fall, and the Price/Laughlin show always starts the season off.
"Now it feels like a family when we go back there," Price said. "This year we are starting off with The Melville Boys, and I have already worked with three of the four cast members, so it will have a sense of familiarity and comfort right from the word go. Corey Turner is in it, and you'll remember that he was in the charity production we did here in Prince George this past winter (Miracle On South Division Street)."
Price said, as a freelance director and designer, having this annual gig makes the rest of his schedule easier to program, which is why he and Laughlin have the ability to create a winter professional production in Prince George with the proceeds going to charity. Their next one in P.G. opens on Feb. 17 with the Spirit Of The North Healthcare Foundation set to be the beneficiary.
The work to raise that curtain is already underway, but it slows as the theatre couple puts their efforts on The Melville Boys on the other side of Confederation Bridge.
"Your work environment (at Victoria By The Sea) begins to feel like a stay at a holiday resort, and you're getting paid to be there," Price said.
"Everyone still works hard, but the sun is shining, you're on the waterfront, day after day the mood is light and optimistic."
