The show represents aspects that set Port Hope’s theatre aside from large-markets, progressing the arts scene in the area.
Rob Kempson, Artistic Theatre Director at the Capitol, says he feels that they’ve hit the goals they set out for artistically.
The show ran a total of 4 weeks in theatres, and set a meaningful precedent to hire local artists to work on the show.
Kempson says they enlisted Brandon Kleiman to design the set and local carpenter James McKernan to execute the construction.
The result is a set that swings open like a book and homes the band at the top of the play’s titular flower shop.
Kempson says they’ve hit out of their weight-class to rival the best of Ontario theatre.
Critics agree. Intermission Magazine noted that “The performances in Little Shop of Horrors at the Capitol Theatre in Port Hope are proof that there is formidable talent in theatres out of town that aren’t part of the Stratford and Shaw festivals.”
Diversity was at the forefront of the themes Kempson’s directed. As mentioned before, Kempson feels Little Shop of Horrors carries controversial themes that can be relit and recontexualized to a modern audience. He says working that into the cast was a detail he fell in love with.
Kempson points to lead love-interest Audrey, played by Tahirih Vejdani, to illustrate this.
Four shows remain. Friday September 1 at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m.
Tickets are available through the Capitol Arts website. Cameco Capitol Arts Centre – Little Shop of Horrors (capitoltheatre.com)
Once Little Shop leaves, Port Hope will have to stay hungry for more, awaiting the ‘Big Green Mama’ to return.
Written by: Noah Lorusso
