What will they think of us? That’s the question asked by the characters in “100 Years from Now,” an original musical about World War I coming to the Rene M. Caisse Memorial Theatre in Bracebridge on Oct. 26, 2024.
Based on the remarkable story of Mae Belle Sampson, one of the first women to enlist in the Canadian Army Medical Corp., “100 Years from Now” tells the story of the Great War from the perspective of two brothers and the women they loved. As they write to each other in the years surrounding the war, Sampson and her friends tell the story of Canada’s coming of age in the conflict that changed the country forever.
“The Canada we know today was fundamentally shaped by the Great War,” says show writer Jason Murphy. “The show aims to tell that story in a new and deeply personal way, including by highlighting the contributions of women on the battlefield and the home front.”
The drama on stage is accompanied by stunning archival imagery from the war years and a stirring Celtic music score by the Shipyard Kitchen Party band, creators of the musical “Tom Thomson’s Wake” which visited Huntsville recently to enthusiastic reviews.
“It’s the kind of music that will make you stomp your feet in some parts of the show, laugh in other parts and maybe wipe away a tear here and there,” says Murphy. “If Great Big Sea was telling you a story about the war, this might be what it sounded like!”
Murphy is also asking community groups and individuals to help make local images from the war years part of the performance. “It’s something we try to do whenever we perform 100 Years,” he says. “We ask the community to share their images from the war years with us. We take a selection and incorporate them into the show’s opening sequence of photos. It’s our way to pay tribute to local history and show how the war touched lives in every community across the country.” Community members who would like to submit an image for consideration can send them to [email protected].
Tickets for “100 Years from Now” can be purchased here.
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