Meet the cast of Pinkerton Comes to Prospect | Matthew Olver as Doc
Posted on July 23, 2025
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We chatted with Matthew Olver about our upcoming production of Pinkerton Comes to Prospect. We asked why he wanted to be involved in this production, what he loved about his character, and what type of person would enjoy this show.
Matthew Olver as Doc in Pinkerton Comes to Prospect
Lighthouse Festival (LF): Why did you want to be involved in this production?
Matthew Olver(MO): I wanted to be a part of this production because it’s a comedy and a western, two of my favourite things. It’s a brand-new Canadian play written by the brilliant Jamie Williams and it’s at The Lighthouse Theatre… A match made in heaven!
(LF): What do you love about your character?
(MO)What I love about the character of Doc Hennessey is that he may be a scoundrel and a bit of a knave, but he has a good heart, and he loves the town of Prospect.
(LF): What type of person is going to love this show?
(MO): I think that all types of folks will love this show. It truly is a comedy for the whole family.
Miles: “If you don’t make a purchase then you won’t really be my first customer, will you? You’ll be my first lost sale. My first dismal failure at my new job”
People who think they know what a Norm Foster play is like will be surprised by the double bill titled Hidden Treasures current being presented by the Lighthouse Festival. Neither the first play My Narrator (2006) nor the second play The Death of Me (2007) are realistic plays in familiar settings examining common human foibles. Both plays, published together as One-Actmanship in 2008, are fantasies. My Narrator is a highly metatheatrical look at human behaviour while The Death of Me is an inquiry into the nature of fate. Both are well-acted, well-directed and beautifully designed, though, of the two, My Narrator is by far the more successful play. Together the two demonstrate that Foster’s output is more varied than is commonly believed.
As Foster says of My Narrator, “ Imagine what would happen if that little voice inside your head – the one that tells you how to behave and what choices to make – suddenly took on a life of its own?” That is what happens in the play and more. Foster’s conception of a person’s narrator is not just their inner voice but a voice that represents their character to the public in the theatre. The play begins with Barb, Lacy’s Narrator, describing the action in direct address to the audience. This situation creates a humour that only increases since the Narrator constantly makes public their character’s most private thoughts.
The play’s other human character is Miles, who sorely lacks a Narrator at the start but acquires one named Bob when he tries to pull himself together to make a good impression on Lacy. The fact that Miles and Lacy’s banal interactions are constantly being mediated by two Narrators who also try to influence the action they describe means that Foster makes us constantly aware that we are in the theatre. Of the 26 plays by Foster that I’ve seen so far, My Narrator is both the funniest and the most theatre-conscious. You might think the metatheatricality would wipe out the comedy, but Foster’s play is so well written the former only heightens the latter.
The question that propels the action is how Miles, who is hopelessly awkward socially and a failure at all he does, can possibly win over Lacy, a sensible, strong-minded woman who is so clearly out of his league. The action is funny enough when the couple’s two Narrators advise their charges on what to do. It becomes even more comic when the two Narrators begin to interact on their own. Foster has amazingly taken us to a psychic realm that can only exist in the theatre.
David Leyshon is hilarious as Miles. He shows not only how Miles makes one social blunder after another but how his self-consciousness about making these blunders only leads him to make more blunders. We cringe when Leyshon’s Miles thinks he knows better than his Narrator and proceeds to do the wrong thing. Most importantly, however, is that Leyshon manages to convey clearly that despite all his missteps, Miles has a good heart. Leyshon also shows how in trying to make himself worthy of Lacy, he actually does begin to improve. Leyshon is an expert at verbal and physical comedy whose presence on stage I have been missing for some time.
As Lacy, Jennifer Dzialoszynski, who presence I have also been missing, well plays the plucky, down-to-earth Lacy. What Dzialoszynski does so well is to show how Lacy’s opinion of Miles gradually changes from one of contempt to amusement to sympathy. Without portraying this change of emotion so clearly it would be impossible for us to believe that someone like Lacy could ever fall for someone like Miles.
Melanie Janson as Barb and Stephen Sparks as Bob are both masters of comedy. Much of the show’s humour derives from the dryly ironic view that both Narrators take of their human characters. Both Narrators are sceptical that Miles and Lacy will ever form a romantic relationship and Barb in particular tries to steer lacy away from Miles. Nevertheless, when the two Narrators see what is developing despite their advice they try to steer the story to as happy an ending as they can manage. I don’t think such super-self-awareness has ever been portrayed so delightfully on stage.
While My Narrator truly is a gem of Canadian comedy, The Death of Me is never able to reach that level. It begins with a very strong scene between the recently deceased John and the Angel of Death. The notion that the afterlife is as plagued with bureaucracy as is life on earth is a familiar one seen in such films as Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) in heaven and Heaven Can Wait (1943) in hell. In The Death of Me, John, an unfailingly polite and considerate young man, is unhappy that he has died so soon and thinks it must me a mistake. Yet, he is even more unhappy that it will likely be his mother who will discover his body when she visits after a three-day weekend.
The Angel of Death at first is cold and unmoved by John’s concerns and is anxious that he fill out the voluminous forms required for entry to heaven. Yet, John is so obviously a good person whose entry to heaven is certain that the Angel decides to give John a chance to return to earth sort out the few things that need sorting before he returns to her desk.
The main question John wants answered is why his fiancée Cassie jilted him at the altar on their wedding day four years ago never to be heard from again. What did he do that was so wrong? It happens that John discovers that Cassie is working at the licence renewal office and never went to university as she claimed she was going to do. What is worse is that Cassie seems to be suffering from paranoia. Once we realize that Cassie’s strange behaviour is a symptom of a psychological condition, there is nothing Foster can do to make the interactions between John and Cassie at all funny.
We start to wonder whether Cassie showed signs of paranoia before the wedding, whether the wedding preparations somehow triggered her paranoia and, if so, why her paranoia has lasted for four years after what would have been her wedding day. Unfortunately, Foster gives us no answers to these questions. It seems that Foster wants to show us that John has actually had a lucky escape by not marrying Cassie. Yet, John’s leaving Cassie without suggesting she get help leaves us unsatisfied.
John’s next meeting is with the Doctor who failed to notice the aortic aneurysm that killed John. John finds that the Doctor is callous, self-centred and hates seeing patients so much he tries to get them to leave his office as soon as he can.
The Death of Me ends with a surprise revelation back in the office of the Angel of Death which I will not relate. Foster assumes we can fill in the various steps that lead to this conclusion, but it is certainly not as clear as it should be.
David Leyshon plays John as a kind-hearted man who is genuinely perplexed why he should have died so young and is more concerned for the grief those left behind will feel than he is for his own death. In contrast to Leyshon’s moving portrayal of human sorrow is Melanie Jansen’s comic officiousness and unconcern for John, the latest in an infinite number of clients waiting to see her. What Jansen does so well is to show that underneath the Angel’s attitude of deep boredom dimly gleams the recognition that John has been hard done by. The Angel will not admit there could ever have been a mistake, but her ability to send John back makes us think rules governing the afterlife are not as strict as the Angel claims they are.
As Cassie, Dzialoszynski gives such a finely detailed depiction of paranoia that our worry for Cassie silences any humour that could be attached to the condition. Similarly, Sparks’s portrayal of the obnoxiously flippant Doctor tends to make us dislike the characters rather to laugh at him. In both cases these are flaws in the play rather than flaws in acting.
Not requiring the realism in design that most Foster plays require has allowed set designer Beckie Morris’s imagination free rein. The result is spectacular. Morris has given the stage at the Lighthouse Theatre an angular off-kilter proscenium inside the theatre’s regular proscenium that signals as soon as we see it that the world of these plays will be quite unusual. The off-kilter proscenium contains lights that change colour to reflect the changing mood of the action.
My Narrator features moveable set pieces in dazzlingly bright colours that can cleverly be shifted and recombined to represent different locations. Alex Amini’s costumes for Miles and Lacy follow the same bright colours. The Narrators, however, she clothes in lavender from head to toe. In The Death of Me Morris imagines the afterlife all in white with touches of grey associated only with John. The Angel, clad in white, sits on a white chair at a white desk. Only the blade of her scythe, amusingly hung on a hook of the wall, is silver. When the Angel takes on her role as the Grim Reaper, she dons the expected long hooded cloak of black. When we travel back to earth for the scenes with Cassie and the Doctor, we return to the vivid colours of My Narrator.
Hidden Treasures is worth seeing if only to experience the My Narrator, surely one of the best Canadian comedies ever written. This is a play and a production that no lover of theatre should miss. If The Death of Me fails to equal My Narrator as a play, it is still made enjoyable by the fine acting of the cast and witty design. Few artistic directors programme double-bills even though there are innumerable one-act plays out there that never get staged. Kudos to Jane Spence for having the insight to programme Hidden Treasures and to stage it with so much zest.
PORT DOVER—It’s double the laughs and double the fun on the stage of Port Dover’s iconic Lighthouse Theatre this month, with ‘Hidden Treasures,’ a collection of two one-act plays written by Canadian playwright Norm Foster and brought to the stage with energy and style by Lighthouse’s newest Artistic Director, Jane Spence.
Over the course of a breezy two hours, the two shows are brimming with non-stop, fast paced zingers aplenty, performed with gusto by a quartet of seasoned performers.
First up is ‘My Narrator.’ In the opening act, patrons are introduced to Lacy and Miles, played by Jennifer Dzialoszynski and David Leyshon, a pair of down on their luck adults who stumble into each other’s lives through a chance encounter.
Spicing up this love story are the two characters’ inner narrators, performed by Melanie Janzen and Stephen Sparks. The play smartly inserts the narrators into every scene, offering biting criticism of the unfolding romance, and later flipping the script in surprising and humorous ways.
All four actors acquit themselves well, clearly relishing the juicy one-liners and awkward moments served up to them through Foster’s inspired script.
The show marks Dzialoszynski’s Lighthouse debut. Given her perfect comedic timing and shining presence on the stage, it likely won’t be her last time under the bright lights.
A short intermission later (with a stop at Lighthouse’s well-stocked bar for a signature show-exclusive cocktail or a cold craft beer), the lights rise on the show’s second act, titled, ‘The Death of Me.’
In it, John (played by Leyshon) finds himself sitting in an all-white office facing none other than the Angel of Death herself, played by Janzen in a role that brings to mind Elizabeth Hurley’s turn as the devil in the 2000’s era comedy classic ‘Bedazzled.’
This grim reaper may have the hood and the scythe, but she also has a wicked sense of humour and is prone to granting her victims a second chance if they really deserve it.
John, faced with his untimely death, finds himself pleading his case with urgency, worried that in his attempts to be a nice, good person, he lived a life that left no mark. Given 12 hours to go back and change that fortune, John embarks on a mission that brings him in contact with the woman who left him on the altar years prior, played by Dzialoszynski, and a checked-out doctor, played by Sparks, who cares more about the ingredients in his lunch sandwich than he does about the aneurysm that’s set to end John’s life for the second time in mere hours.
It’s a madcap story with a good, timely message about the decisions we all make in life and where they lead us.
Taken together, the two shows make for a fun, highly entertaining evening out of the house. Director Spence keeps the action flowing brilliantly with a simple, versatile, and brightly colourful set that is easily re-arranged and re-purposed throughout the runtime by the actors onstage.
Foster credited Spence with the idea of combining the two plays, written in 2007 and 2008, stating, “I’m so pleased with the result.”
‘Hidden Treasures’ will be on the Port Dover stage until July 26, and then at Port Colborne’s Roselawn Theatre from July 30 to August 10. For tickets or more information, visit lighthousetheatre.com or call the box office at 1-888-779-7703.
After studying journalism at Humber College, Mike Renzella desired to write professionally but found himself working in technical fields for many years. Beginning in 2019 as a freelancer, he joined the team full-time later that year. Since then, Mike has won several awards for his articles thanks to his commitment to presenting an unbiased, honest look at the important news and events shaping our community.
Meet the cast of Pinkerton Comes to Prospect | Jessica Sherman as Widow Hazard’s Friend
Posted on July 16, 2025
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We chatted with Jessica Sherman about our upcoming production of Pinkerton Comes to Prospect. We asked why she wanted to be involved in this production, what she loved about her character, and what type of person would enjoy this show.
Jessica Sherman as Widow Hazard’s Friend in Pinkerton Comes to Prospect
Lighthouse Festival (LF): Why did you want to be involved in this production?
Jessica Sherman(JS): I wanted to be in this production because, firstly, I would be in anything Steven Gallagher loves or directs. Also, the script had me at “howdy”. It’s fun, it’s energetic, it’s the perfect summer theatre piece. And who doesn’t want to perform within a stone’s throw of a swimming hole (or Great Lake)?
(LF): What do you love about your character?
(JS): What I love about Widow Hazard’s Friend is she’s like a dog with a bone. She knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to put herself out there to get it.
(LF): What type of person is going to love this show?
(JS): So many people will love this show; anyone who loves a farce, a western, a romance, a rom-com, or this cast!
Norm Foster’s plays have long been a pillar of the Lighthouse Festival’s programming, with multiple often appearing in the same season. Usually, that means full-length works — frequently, world premieres. But this summer, the Port Dover/Port Colborne-based company is diving into Foster’s back catalogue and producing a pair of rarely staged one acts from the mid-2000s.
Melanie Janzen, Stephen Sparks, David Leyshon & Jennifer Dzialoszynski in Norm Foster’s Hidden Treasures.
In the spirit of rediscovery, Lighthouse is calling the double bill Hidden Treasures. A single cast performs both of the four-person comedies, and at intermission, Becky Mode’s set completely transforms.
Foster was initially surprised that artistic director Jane Spence wanted to produce the plays — previously paired together in the 2008 collection One-Actmanship— because in his experience Canadian theatres rarely consider shorter works worthy of a full production. “I don’t write many one-act plays,” he told me over Zoom. “They’re not much in demand… Theatres prefer to do the big [ones]. Doing two together is a good idea, because it stretches it to the same [run]time as a regular play.”
Beyond the trouble of getting them produced, Foster noted that one-acts pose unique challenges to him as a writer. “There’s not much time for character development, like there would be in a long play,” he reflected. “You have to… make it satisfying, and to have it come around to a plausible ending. It can’t just be a skit… So, it’s actually a little tougher to write.”
The first half of Hidden Treasures, called “My Narrator,” tells the story of an unlikely romance between Lacy, a down-to-earth painter, and Miles, a socially awkward drifter who meets Lacy while working at his uncle’s clothing store. The twist is that both characters’ inner voices appear onstage as narrators. “You know that voice in your head that tells you ‘don’t do that, don’t do this, you shouldn’t do that,’ and sometimes we listen to it, but sometimes we don’t? That’s what this play is about,” said Foster.
A subplot of “My Narrator” is that Lacy’s narrator, Barb, thinks the artist’s landscape paintings are too lighthearted. “The bright colours, the sunny skies… She thought it was time to try something different,” the narrator says. “Perhaps a darker approach would lend more weight to her work and put her into favour with the critics.”
Stephen Sparks & Melanie Janzen in Norm Foster’s Hidden Treasures.
Foster said this thread about criticism is “absolutely” intended as a wink at the reception to his own early work.
“I used to get a lot that my plays were ‘pedestrian,’” recalls Foster. “I got compared a lot to Neil Simon. I never used to like that. But I mean, Neil Simon is the most successful playwright ever, aside from Shakespeare. Why would I not like to be compared with [him]?… Critics have their own agenda, that doesn’t bother me anymore.”
In Hidden Treasures’ second half, “The Death of Me,” John, a run-of-the-mill young man, appears in heaven after dying from an unexpected aneurysm. His last remarks were uninspiring (“Ah! Ooh! Eee!”), and nobody is likely to find him until the next morning, when his mother makes her routine Saturday visit to his apartment. John discusses these circumstances with the Angel of Death, who does the paperwork for new entrants to heaven. He then tries furiously to “to bargain his way out [and] undo the death,” as Foster put it in our conversation.
Both one-acts depict ordinary people as somewhat beholden to the whims of powerful, unreal figures (though in both cases, the protagonists maintain a degree of agency to advocate for themselves). According to Foster, these sorts of fantastical figures appeal to him because they mean he doesn’t have to worry about logic as much. “You can go anywhere with [the play] when it’s not [only about] a real person,” he said. “It frees me from some of the boundaries you ordinarily have when you write… [Because] who knows what an Angel of Death is like? It makes it easier on me.
“I’m always looking for easy ways to do things,” he jokingly continued. “I’m not a hard worker… Any of my high school teachers will tell you that.”
Self-deprecation aside, Foster is constantly working (he’s long been called “Canada’s most produced playwright”) — and Spence’s idea of Hidden Treasures has inspired him to start thinking seriously about one-acts again.
“After she did that, I [wrote] two Christmas-themed plays… and I put these two together in a collection to try to sell them to theatres for Christmas time,” he said. “So I’m glad that Jane put these two plays together.
“It was a great idea.”
Hidden Treasures runs in Port Dover until July 26, and in Port Colborne from July 30 to August 10. Tickets are available here.
Lighthouse Festival is an Intermission partner. Learn more about Intermission’s partnership model here.
Meet the cast of Pinkerton Comes to Prospect | Ryan Bommarito as Herschel Penkerten
Posted on July 10, 2025
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We chatted with Ryan Bommarito about our upcoming production of Pinkerton Comes to Prospect. We asked why he wanted to be involved in this production, what he loved about his character, and what type of person would enjoy this show.
Ryan Bommarito as Herschel Penkerton in Pinkerton Comes to Prospect
Lighthouse Festival (LF): Why did you want to be involved in this production?
Ryan Bommarito(RB): I wanted to get involved with Pinkerton Comes to Prospect because I grew up in Norfolk County and am thrilled to be performing for my friends and family. Also, there’s so much physical comedy in this show and I love the opportunity to be a wily buffoon who with absurd dance moves.
(LF): What do you love about your character?
(RB): I love Herschel’s hypnosis persona.
(LF): What type of person is going to love this show?
(RB): I think the type of person who will love this show is the type of person who loves a good dose of physical comedy, slapstick and silliness with a dash of heart and a whole lotta love.
Opinion: Found in Port Dover – Norm Foster’s ‘Hidden Treasures’ (Hamilton Spectator)
Posted on July 8, 2025
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Right now, Foster is busy looking to the past. He’s pulled two one-act plays from his theatre trunk and they’ll be performed in tandem at Port Dover’s Lighthouse Festival Theatre.
Norm Foster is without a doubt Canada’s favourite playwright.
The fact is, in many ways, Foster’s comedies express indelibly what you might call a Canadian sense of humour.
“I am certainly Canadian, and I write as a Canadian,” Foster says. “I think that just naturally comes through in my work. I don’t try to sound like a Canadian. I don’t have to. It’s there in my DNA. I love it when people refer to me as that, ‘Canadian playwright Norm Foster.’”
He loves working with Canadian theatre companies and the talented folks who make his plays so successful here on his home turf.
“All those talented actors, actresses, designers and directors are terrific. There is such a wealth of talent here on the Canadian theatre scene, and I’m lucky I get to experience it firsthand. It’s just so satisfying.”
So far, Foster has written 83 plays, and he’s not planning on stopping any time soon.
“They’ve all been produced at least once,” Foster says, “Except for the latest ‘Kate Pays a Visit.’ It’s up for grabs,” he says. “Anyone interested?”
Right now, Foster is busy looking to the past. He’s pulled two one-act plays from his theatre trunk and they’ll be performed in tandem at Port Dover’s Lighthouse Festival Theatre.
“Written around the same time in my career, they weren’t meant to be performed together. But they have a similar feel about them, so they should work as a pair.”
Foster believes they’ll give audiences big things to laugh at.
“I hope these are laugh-out-loud comedies,” he says. “I don’t write plays people are meant to snicker at.”
Performed under the blanket title, “Hidden Treasures,” “My Narrator” and “The Death of Me” are comedies all right, but with a darker edge.
“It was Lighthouse artistic director Jane Spence’s idea to call the pair ‘Hidden Treasures,’” Foster says. “And I suppose in a way they are. One-act plays are not performed that often today. Written in 2007 and 2010 these two are like extended sketches.
“I wrote ‘My Narrator’ because I thought it was a good idea to have characters who have a narrator telling them what to do. The other play, ‘The Death of Me,’ is about a man who dies and doesn’t realize he’s dead, until the Angel of Death breaks the news to him.”
Foster says he writes to please himself, not to fulfil the expectations of his audience.
“If I think something is funny, chances are audiences will find it funny, too. I’m a middle-of-the-road kind of a guy. And I’m sure if I tried to write to please an audience I would fail.”
Foster believes his writing style has changed over the years.
“When I first started I would map out a play from start to finish before I began writing it. But now, with growing confidence, I just start with an idea and begin without knowing where it’s going. And yes, the characters take over and almost write themselves. I was finishing a play last month, and as I got to the point where a play usually finishes up, around page 80 or 85, I thought to myself, ‘I can’t wait to see how this ends.’”
Foster believes audiences come to his plays because they can identify with them. They see someone on stage they know. He doesn’t like to name favourites, but he definitely has some.
“‘The Melville Boys’ is near to my heart because that’s the play that put me on the map, the one I’m best known for. ‘Jonas and Barry in the Home’ is up there, too, because I toured with it as Jonas, doing hundreds of performances. ‘On A First Name Basis’ is what I consider to be my most intelligent play. I punched way above my weight with that one. I’m proud of it.
“The one that surprised me most though was, ‘Halfway There’ which has become my most produced play. It’s about the friendship between 4 women. Four nice people. Good human beings. And I am very happy that it has caught on with audiences.”
Foster is philosophical about success.
“If I have a play that doesn’t do as well as the others I can usually tell you why. It just wasn’t as good. It can be for a number of reasons. Subject matter. Character development. Not funny enough. The reasons become very obvious to me.”
Foster’s new work now frequently has a darker undertow that battles the comedy for attention.
“I guess that comes from living life. We’ve all gone through dark periods. I’m fortunate I can use those as fodder for the heartfelt moments in my plays. I am a firm believer if you haven’t had any difficult times you can’t be a complete writer,” Foster says.
“The greatest pleasure in my life has been to be able to earn a living and support a family writing plays. I don’t consider it work. But it is work, of course. I’m very lucky. I’ve never had to work as hard as my parents did, not for one day in my life.”
When you ask Foster if he feels we value our playwrights and artists in this country, he demurs.
“I can’t say for sure. I feel valued, but I’m one of the lucky ones.”
Opinion articles are based on the author’s interpretations and judgments of facts, data and events. More details
Gary Smith has written about theatre and dance for The Hamilton Spectator, as well as a variety of international publications, for more than 40 years.
Meet the cast of Pinkerton Comes to Prospect | Adrian Shepherd-Gawinski as Amos
Posted on July 7, 2025
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We chatted with Adrian Shepherd-Gawinski about our upcoming production of Pinkerton Comes to Prospect. We asked why he wanted to be involved in this production, what he loved about his character, and what type of person would enjoy this show.
Adrian Shepherd-Gawinski as Amos in Pinkerton Comes to Prospect
Lighthouse Festival (LF): Why did you want to be involved in this production?
Adrian Shepherd-Gawinski (ASG): When I acted with Jamie Williams in Baskerville back in 2017, he was working on his first play. Now he’s got a whole passel of hilarious plays under his belt, and I’m thrilled to be in one finally! I also had an incredible time working with Steven Gallagher last summer on Murder at Ackerton Manor, so I was very, very excited to say yes to this part.
(LF): What do you love about your character?
(ASG)My character, Amos, is a total riot. He’s got some of the funniest lines in the show and the wildest physical gags. But there are some surprises there – he might have more of a brain and more of a heart than you expect!
(LF): What type of person is going to love this show?
(ASG): This show has everything: physical comedy, wisecracks, romance, fights, Texas accents. If you like a little action mixed in with your comedy, you’ll love this show.
Meet the cast of Hidden Treasures | Stephen Sparks as Bob/Doctor
Posted on July 3, 2025
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We chatted with Stephen Sparks about our upcoming production of Hidden Treasures. We asked why he wanted to be involved in this production, what he loved about his character, and what type of person will enjoy this show.
Stephen Sparks as Bob/Doctor in Hidden Treasures
Lighthouse Festival (LF): Why did you want to be involved in this production?
Stephen Sparks (SS): I want to be part of this production because Lighthouse theatre is part of my family.
(LF): What do you love about your character?
(SS): I love that my two characters are very different. One is confident and suave. The other is very, very flawed.
(LF): What type of person is going to love this show?
(SS): I think anyone who has ever been in a relationship, or tried to start one will love this show.
Andrew Scanlon, Sweeney Macarthur and Jonathan Ellul in Lighthouse Festival’s 2025 production of “The Hound of the Baskervilles.” | Photo Credit: Aidia Mandryk
The great Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is no doubt spinning in his grave.
The master of moody mystery surely never intended his dark and demonic work about a howling hound to give voice to peals of exuberant laughter. Death on the English Moors cloaked by fog and fear is surely more what this 19th-century author had in mind.
No matter, Sir Arthur and his fearsome Baskerville Hound are served up by British playwrights Steven Canny and John Nicholson in a boldly comic vision that is sending audiences home happy.
In a slam-bang Lighthouse Theatre production, directed with style and intentional hambone histrionics by Derek Ritschel, you might wonder if the essence of Sir Arthur’s frightening tale survives in this arc of fresh new laughter.
Mostly, I’d say yes, though the original story does get somewhat lost in the non-stop silliness.
There’s plenty of gratuitous humour, for instance, of a pretty flimsy kind. If you think seeing a man shuffling across the stage in his underwear, trousers around his ankles is hilarious, this one’s for you.
If you think a man with a beard, wearing a dress and seductively flapping a fan is the height of comic invention, you just might laugh yourself silly.
You get the picture. The comedy here is of a British pantomime level that’s aimed at adults rather than children.
Don’t look for witty repartee; this Hound doesn’t run to that. But if you can satisfy yourself with bombast and visual high jinks, you just might have a swell time.
Sweeney Macarthur and Andrew Scanlon in Lighthouse Festival’s 2025 production of “The Hound of the Baskervilles.” | Photo Credit: Aidia Mandryk
Director Ritschel keeps things in perpetual motion and his skilful cast of three makes the 17 characters they play entertaining.
Thank heavens for these mitigating factors. The pace of the shenanigans here suggests perpetual motion. There’s no time to stop and question the ridiculous goings on.
If you are a fan of Sherlock Holmes mysteries, however, you might not enjoy seeing this classic one sent so far up the comedy scale. You might not be so willing to suspend annoyance with the way Arthur Conan Doyle’s play has been frantically massaged in this comic version that kids the pants off everything.
If, however, you’re willing to play along, three fine actors with handsome pedigrees will make you woof with laughter.
In truth, these guys work like dogs to make this Hound bark. All three actors have terrific credits with major international theatres, and they work here like some finely oiled machine that keeps right on ticking through multiple costume changes and physical action.
Andrew Scanlon is wily Sherlock Holmes, imbuing the character with appropriate ego and panache. Jonathan Ellul is his canny Watson, trying to be in charge, even when we know he’s clearly not. And Sweeney Macarthur plays Sir Henry Baskerville with bravado and style.
Of course, all three have fun with the other rambunctious characters who turn up on the Lighthouse Festival stage. It would be wrong to spoil your fun by telling you who they are. If you want to know you’ll have to head to Port Dover, or Port Colborne, to find out.
Set designer William Chesney’s suggestion of the play’s multiple settings is definitely more functional than inspired. Its parameters also forced Ritschel’s staging too frequently to the stage right side of the theatre. There was a blandness to the look of this production that is unusual for Chesney, who is normally a designer of great style. Similarly, Emerson Kafarowski’s lighting failed to suggest vital mood and atmosphere.
This is the second time in three years that Lighthouse Festival Theatre has included a Sherlock Holmes play as part of its season. Last time it was Canadian playwright Peter Colley’s “The Real Sherlock Holmes” that brought Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of the sleuth in the deerstalker hat, to Port Dover in a play that posed some interesting thoughts about how Holmes came to be such a quintessential character.
Of course, the old black and white films starring Basil Rathbone and the TV series with elegant Jeremy Brett inhabiting the heart and mind of Holmes still remain perfect Holmes nostalgia.
I don’t think anyone has come up with such an outrageous spoof about the man with the pipe and the big time ego, as Canny and Nicholson have with their slapstick take on “The Hound of the Baskervilles.”
So, is this “Hound” a dog? Not if you like comedy that chases its tale to make you laugh.
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Gary Smith has written about theatre and dance for The Hamilton Spectator, as well as a variety of international publications, for more than 40 years.
PORT DOVER—Pictured on ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ set are (l-r) Sweeney MacArthur as Sir Henry, Andrew Scanlon as Sherlock Holmes, and Jonathon Ellul as Watson. —Submitted photos.
PORT DOVER—Hijinx are afoot, a murderous hound is loose on the moors, and a steady stream of laughter awaits all who join world famous detective Sherlock Holmes and his dimwitted assistant Watson as they uncover the mystery of the supernatural beast at the centre of The Hound of the Baskervilles.
While many are likely familiar with the classic mystery written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, which revolves around the death of Sir Charles Baskerville – allegedly murdered by a spectral hound on the moors of the English countryside – it’s unlikely you’ve seen a version quite as unpredictable and laugh-out-loud funny as the one currently gracing the stage at Lighthouse Festival Theatre, the second show of their 2025 summer series.
Scriptwriters Steven Canny and John Nicholson originally wrote the play 20 years ago and have returned to revise it routinely as the show travels the world following its initial run in London, England.
With a cast of just three, ‘Baskverville’ is a fast-paced, madcap romp that never takes itself seriously for a second, instead gifting audiences with the sublime comic trio of Jonathan Ellul as Watson, Sweeney MacArthur as Sir Henry Baskerville, and Andrew Scanlon as a scene-stealing, larger-than-life comedic version of the world’s most famous detective.
As Sir Henry, MacArthur brings a hapless boy energy to the role of the last remaining Baskerville, fresh off the boat from Canada to inherit his family’s estate following his uncle’s death.
Despite the alleged hound out to murder him, Sir Henry must constantly be thwarted in his attempts to cross the moors to see his love Beryl Stapleton (played by Scanlon, scoring big laughs in one of several additional roles he plays).
As Watson, Ellul is wonderful, playing Holmes’ trusty sidekick as an oft-bewildered, out-of-his-depth, would-be detective. His chemistry with Scanlon is great, batting jokes back and forth with ease.
Lastly, as Holmes and a stable of other characters, Scanlon gives a standout performance here. It’s not his first time playing a detective on the Lighthouse stage, having previously starred in last summer’s ‘Murder at Ackerton Manor,’ another mystery-spoof that brought the house down.
As Holmes, Scanlon has the accent, the chops, and the comedic timing needed to bring such a heightened, farcical take on the character to life.
The shaggy, lighthearted approach extends to all aspects of the show’s production, with sharp claps of thunder and lightning and comically timed gunshots aplenty, and several hilarious scenes where characters encounter the hound approaching in the distance and try to outrun him across a field of moors plagued by patches of quicksand.
Dummies, fake beards, and terrible wigs all add to the show’s charm, and director Derek Ritschel’s deft hand ensures things never lag, with the action taking place at a brisk pace that means the next laugh is never far away.
“As a director, my greatest joy comes from working with artists who are fearless, and this cast delivers that in spades,” said Ritschel. “Watching them navigate this high-stakes mystery while shape-shifting from butler to baroness to bloodhound is a feat worth witnessing.”
The Hound of the Baskervilles is on the stage at the Lighthouse Festival Theatre on the shores of Port Dover until July 5, and then from July 9-20 at Port Colborne’s Roselawn Theatre. For tickets and information, visit lighthousetheatre.com or call 1-888-779-7703.
If you’re in need of a night full of hearty chuckles, laugh-out-loud moments, and even the odd guffaw, hurry down to Lighthouse and see this one while you can!
After studying journalism at Humber College, Mike Renzella desired to write professionally but found himself working in technical fields for many years. Beginning in 2019 as a freelancer, he joined the team full-time later that year. Since then, Mike has won several awards for his articles thanks to his commitment to presenting an unbiased, honest look at the important news and events shaping our community.
Meet the cast of Hidden Treasures | Jennifer Dzialoszynski as Lacy/Cassie
Posted on June 21, 2025
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We chatted with Jennifer Dzialoszynski about our upcoming production of Hidden Treasures. We asked what she loved about her character, what type of person would enjoy this show, and what the audience might be thinking on their way home from the show.
Jennifer Dzialoszynski as Lacy/Cassie in Hidden Treasures
Lighthouse Festival (LF): What do you think the audience members will be thinking on their way home from the show?
Jennifer Dzialoszynski (JD): I hope audiences will be thinking about what it would be like to get a second chance in their own lives, or what it would be like to have a personal narrator, and what they would do differently, if anything, if they did.
(LF): What do you love about your character?
(JD): I play two different characters, and what I like about them is how different they are from each other. I get to explore various creative directions, and I love stretching my creative boundaries.
(LF): What type of person is going to love this show?
(JD)I think the type of person who will love this show is someone who likes to think about the “what ifs” in life, with a grain of salt and a good laugh.
