Princesses and superheroes converge on Southampton Town Hall as part of Bruce County Playhouse's Fairytale Heroes, Easter weekend.

Hub Staff

There was no safer place in the world to be than in Saugeen Shores on Saturday of Easter weekend as superheroes and princesses converged on the Bruce County Playhouse, a non-profit theatre company located at the Southampton Town Hall for their Fairytale Heroes event.

Families were encouraged to dress as their favourite characters and take part in a meet and greet prior to theatre troupe, The Nearly World-Famous Dufflebag Theatre taking to the stage with their performance of Beauty and the Beast.

Sponsored in part by Patty Underwood, Sunshine Financial, the stage production ran once in the morning and again in the afternoon. Underwood is also Bruce County Playhouse's producer and general manager.

Face painting and colouring stations were set up before the performance and excited children had a chance to get up close and personal with Captain America, Spiderman, Elsa, Belle and Cinderella. A high five from Spidey, a photo with an Avenger and a hug from a princess left enthusiastic children with big smiles on their faces.

Bruce County Playhouse Artistic Director, Natalie Robitaille said that the theatre troupe is based out of London, Ontario and that she has been working with them for 11 years. “They do all sorts of classic stories and fairy tales. They do schools in and around Toronto, mostly, but also tour clear across Canada. They've been to the United States, Malaysia....That's why they're called 'The Nearly World-Famous', they've got a couple more places to go,” she said.

The show was interactive with members of the audience being chosen to play some of the story's key characters. “It's a fun show because they bring kids up to be part of [it]," said Robitaille.

The event was a fundraiser for Bruce County Playhouse. “We're trying to raise some money to get some lights and some [window] blinds that will actually block out the light,” said Robitaille, adding that this was their first year in their new location. “We're trying to make the Southampton Town Hall our home,” she said.

Bruce County Playhouse ran one production last summer, The Kitchen Witches, at Maple Hall in Port Elgin and have two plays planned for their new home this summer: The Love List and Shirley Valentine.

“We have an end goal,” said Robitaille. “For the basics to be done, to be able to run this summer, we need to have approximately $16,000 when it's all said and done." They hope to achieve their goal through fundraising and grant applications.

To find out more about the Bruce County Playhouse visit brucecountyplayhouse.com

Making the long journey from Arendelle to Southampton, Elsa stopped in at the Bruce County Playhouse, Southampton Town Hall, where she met with five year old Skylee (L) and four year old Piper.

The Martin family were dressed the part. Seven year old Lily and five year old Lucas, along with Mom, Jenny. They also brought a villain along, a.k.a. Dad, Casey.

Bruce County Playhouse's Artistic Director, Natalie Robitaille could be found on stage for The Nearly World-Famous Dufflebag Theatre's performance of Beauty and the Beast, March 26.