Puppets take centre stage in Antigonish hayfield for drive-in performance

The idea of a drive-in puppet show in a field in the Ohio Valley outside Antigonish, N.S., came together during an evening stroll and a glass of wine. 

Ian McFarlane and Laura Stinson, both part of the North Barn Theatre Collective, had to come back to Nova Scotia when a tour with Vermont-based Bread and Puppet Theater shut down in the United States due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Adjusting to the new normal, they considered an outdoor production on farmland owned by Stinson's mother. 

"Both of us have worked a lot in outdoor theatre," said Stinson. "It's kind of what we do. I've done a lot of performances on street corners, in parks and in fields." 

In the summer, McFarlane used to be busy running River Clyde Pageant on Prince Edward Island, but that's not happening this year. 

"We were going through a lot of rethinking of what we could do as a theatre company, how to get people to gather for live performance," he said. "We thought people could gather in their vehicles for social distancing. People do it for drive-in cinemas, why couldn't they do it for a puppet show?"

Audiences will drive up a dirt road through the trees to the field, and will be told where to park and what channel to tune their radios to in order to pick up the production's pre-recorded FM broadcast.

Only five cars per show will be admitted. 

The show features what sounds a lot like a late-night radio broadcast.

There's music, talk, dance and maybe even a touch of absurd spectacle. You'll see puppets in a wooden frame — some performed by theatre artists Franziska Glen and Lily Falk — but the puppets also bust out of the frame and interact with the landscape. 

"The landscape is a collaborator, it's a stage, it speaks," said McFarlane.

He said the pandemic has practically inspired the work by keeping both performers and audiences safely distanced, but has also provided thematic inspiration.

"It's certainly made me think of where I am," said McFarlane. "As an artist I find myself jumping from Vancouver, to Halifax, to France, to Vermont. It's a very transient way of living. It's really important to think of where we are, where we're invested and who we're connecting with. Certainly for me, the outbreak has made me think locally."

Stinson said she hopes the audience leaves the show thinking differently about the pandemic and "to think about different plagues on society."

"We're all aware of a plague of police brutality, and a plague of racism, and different plagues affecting our natural environment. We want people to take a step back, and think of us as part of this world, and our plague is one of many others. That's our lofty ambition, at least," she said.

Late Night Radio runs for nine shows through July. Admission is by donation, although no one will be turned away due to lack of funds.

"Expect abstract fun, and some sense in amongst mostly nonsense," said Stinson.