For the first time in seven years, a show at the Blyth Festival will get an extension into the fall, as additional dates for the The Wind Coming Over the Sea have been added.
The show premiered on June 28 and has been sold out ever since, prompting the theatre to make the rare decision to extend the run, with shows from September 25 to October 5.
Rachael King, General Manager of Blyth Festival said everything just lined up.
"All the stars aligned — the space is available, the performers are available and there is a waiting list to join us in September — it just made sense," she said. "The last extension we had here was in the fall of 2018 for The New Canadian Curling Club, and prior to that, it had probably been about 10 years since there had been an extension."
King says some of the increased attention is due to the award-winning author who wrote the play, Emma Donoghue. The musical is the first ever one written by the Irish-Canadian, who famously authored Room and The Wonder.
"That has also meant a greater attention on Blyth and the region and brought out a larger and wider media presence which has helped us to spread the word about Blyth Festival and bring a lot of new patrons to the town as well."
Based on the true story of a young married couple, Henry and Jane Johnson, who left Ireland in the 1840s in search of a better life, King says the show has a particularly deep connection with Southwestern Ontario.
"The original letters that the show is based on are in the University of Western Library. The original blanket which we replicate on stage that was brought across the ocean and made in the early years of the couple marriage is actually in a museum in Strathroy-Caradoc. It's quite visceral," she said.
Originally set to end August 12, a slate of new shows for The Wind Coming Over the Sea, was announced this week.
Tickets for the shows go on sale Thursday, July 24. They can purchased online at blythfestival.com or by calling 519-523-9300.