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by Ken Cameron
“Harvest yields Comic Gold” – Calgary Herald
Style: Comedy
Number of Acts: Both a one-act and two act version of Harvest exist, though only rights to the two act version are available at this time
Length: One act version: 55 mins
Two act version: 45 mins + 40 mins
Total actors required: 2
Men: 1
Women: 1
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Click here for reviews of Harvest
Style and Approach:
Harvest is based on the real-life experience of my parents who live in London Ontario. They recently moved from the farm to the city and rented the house I grew up in to a lovely couple who used the house to grow marijuana. The event was both deeply disturbing and very comic for them, and they showed great perseverance in dealing with the incident.
The play has been written for two actors, who play the elderly couple, as well as every other character in the play. The initial workshop with Lunchbox Theatre proved that the story works quite well this way, and the joy of the play lies in watching the actors take on all the various roles as much as in watching the elderly couple take on drug dealers and faceless insurance companies.
Plot Synopsis:
Act One opens in the raspberry patch as Allan and Charlotte wait for news on the fate of their house. To pass the time they bring the audience up to speed on what has happened to them and their house, taking on all the roles as required. They begin by describing the need to sell the farm, touching on the refusal by either their son or daughter to carry on the family tradition. They introduce us to their Hungarian neighbour Istvan, who offers to buy the farm for far less than they were hoping, but who wants only the farm, not the house.
Allan and Charlotte move to a condo in the city and attempt to rent out the house where they raised their children. A young pilot named Ron rents the house; he is kind and outgoing, and the elderly couple do not suspect a thing. However, neither Allan or Charlotte can fully let go of the past and they continue to pick raspberries across the road, and occasionally visit their new tenants. Istvan warns them of some suspicious activities, but neither Allan nor Charlotte fully realize what is happening, until…
… they knock on the door one day to find the house deserted. Frightened out of their wits they explore the house and discover it has been devastated. The police explain that “Ron” likely used the house as a grow-op.
Faced with extensive damage, Allan and Charlotte are turned away by the insurance company and must confront the possibility of financial ruin. Even a boycott of the insurance company by the local church, Lions Club and John Deere dealership fails to thaw their cold hearts.
Their only hope is an environmental assessment, which brings us up to the present moment. It is while awaiting the fate of their family home that Allan and Charlotte realize that this adversity has brought them closer together then ever, and has allowed them to rediscover their love for one another.
Development & Production History:
- Harvest was Commissioned by Lunchbox Theatre via Petro-Canada Stage One, a program which each year commissions 6 plays from playwrights across Canada. Over the past twenty years, the Petro-Canada Stage One program has allowed Lunchbox Theatre to commission more plays than possibly any other theatre in Canada. Ian Prinsloo, formerly Artistic Director of Theatre Calgary and currently freelance director, was the dramaturge.
- Harvest was produced March 26-April 14, 2007 by Lunchbox Theatre
, Ian Prinsloo director. The headline for the review in The Calgary Herald read “Harvest yields Comic Gold”. The review itself was equally favourable.
- Harvest won the 2007 Enbridge playRites Award, which provided funds to allow for a workshop the play at a location of the playwrights’ choosing. Ken chose to workshop the play at The Ships’ Company Theatre in Parrsboro Nova Scotia and the Blyth Festival in Blyth, Ontario.
- Harvest received support from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, allowing Ken to expand the play from one act to two acts.
- August 2007: A two-act version of Harvest was workshopped and received a public reading by The Ship’s Company Theatre in Parsboro Nova Scotia featuring Charlie Rhindress and Gay Hauser. Dedicated to new work, The Ships Company has been bringing new work to rural Nova Scotia for over two and a half decades.
- June 25 - August 16, 2008 the prestigious Blyth Festival in Ontario produced the world premiere of the two-act version of Harvest. Founded in 1975 to produce theatre that reflects the culture and concerns for the people of southwestern Ontario and beyond, The Blyth Festival has become one of the very few, if not the only, “500-seat” theatres in Canada producing Canadian plays exclusively.
- 2009-2010 Harvest received four productions in four months, including Port Stanley Festival Theatre (Port Stanley ON) in July 2010, Victoria Playhouse (Petrolia ON) in July 2009, The Red Barn Theatre (Jackson's Point ON) in August 2009 and Shadow Theatre (Edmonton AB) October 2009. Funnily enough Port Stan ely, Victoria Playhouse and The Red Barn all shared the same set designed by Bill Chesney but employed different directors and casts.
- 2010-2011 Harvest will have four productions in the 2010-2011 season, including Lighthouse Festival Theatre (Port Dover ON) in July 2010, Live Bait Theatre (Sackville NB) in August 2010, Persephone Theatre (Saskatoon, SK) October 2010 and Theatre Orangeville (Orangeville ON) April 2011.
Click here to read an excerpt from Harvest
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