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Caravan Farm Theatre

Professional outdoor theatre company based on an 80 acre farm, 11 km NW of Armstrong British Columbia.. Its origins are in a company founded in 1970 by Paul Kirby and Adreanna (Nans) Kelder as a puppet troupe touring Vancouver Island and named the Little People's Caravan. In 1975 the name was changed to the Caravan Stage Company. In 1984, Kirby and Kelder went, with horse and wagons, on a three year tour of the western United States culminating at Expo 86. Nick Hutchinson, remaining behind, founded the Caravan Farm Theatre on the property the company had purchased in Armstrong.

Artistic Director Nick Hutchinson was succeeded by: Allen Cole (1994-1998), Jennifer Brewin (1998-2005), Estelle Shook (1998-2010), and Courtenay Dobbie (2010-2016). Estelle Shook is the company’s current Artistic and Managing Director (2016-).

The shows range from classics by Shakespeare and Brecht, to original works like Horseplay,Cowboy King, and The Dog and the Angel (2000) by Martha Ross. Annual productions include a Fall shadow play, a Winter one-act sleigh ride show, and in Summer, a full-length musical.

CTE photo
A Night in the Woods. Photo by Tim Matheson.

In 1993 Kirby and Kelder began to build an 80ft sailing vessel adapted to live theatre. They tour up and down the eastern seaboard and abroad performing original Canadian theatre under the name Caravan Stage Company, although they now promote themselves as the Caravan StageBarge.

Website: www.caravanfarmtheatre.com

Further Reading: Richard Bruce Kirkley. "Caravan Farm Theatre: Orchestrated Anarchy and the Creative Process." Theatre in British Columbia: Critical Perspectives on Canadian Theatre in English Vol. six. Ed. Ginny Ratsoy. Toronto: Playwrights Canada P, 2006: 103-109.

Last updated 2020-09-01