The Great Kooshog Lake Hollis McCauley Fishing Derby at UCP

MORRISBURG – It’s a long title, but all people have to hear is that this is a new Norm Foster comedy and they’ll know that they are in for a memorable theatrical treat.

The Great Kooshog Lake Hollis McCauley Fishing Derby, by one of Canada’s best loved playwrights, Norm Foster, runs at Upper Canada Playhouse from September 6-30.

Foster, also one of Canada’s most produced playwrights, never fails to entertain audiences with shows that are filled with humour and heart.

Foster loves small communities and the citizens who live in them. (Think of 2017’s Playhouse hit, Halfway There). The Great Kooshog Lake Hollis McCauley Fishing Derby takes audiences to the little community of Kooshog Lake. For years, the citizens of this otherwise sleepy town have built their annual fishing derby around a truly legendary fish, one who has eluded even the most ardent fishermen for decades.

Not only has this cunning fish proved a match for generations of skilled anglers, it also bears more than a passing resemblance to a local high school shop teacher known as Hollis McCauley.

Consequently, the fish’s fame has grown: so has the Derby kitty. This one weekend of the year, Kooshog Lake is swarming with out of town visitors all eagerly casting their lines in an effort to ‘land the legend’.

All, that is, except for James Bell, a young city slicker whose car has very unexpectedly broken down, trapping him for the Derby weekend in the town.

In the course of this very colourful and exciting weekend, James will meet several of the witty, wonderful citizens who call Lake Kooshog home.

Sienna owns the local grocery store, site of spontaneous town meetings; Kirk is the bait and tackle shop keeper, who almost caught Hollis McCauley 23 years ago; Rhonda is the Lake Kooshog local entrepreneur; and Melanie, an escapee from the Big City, has chosen to spend her life in the bucolic bliss of this small town Canada.

In Foster’s play, this equals the perfect group of characters to create intrigue, adventure, romance and laugh-out-loud comedy for audiences.

The Playhouse has assembled a stellar cast for The Great Kooshog Lake Hollis McCauley Fishing Derby.

Returning to the Playhouse is Marshall Button, well loved by area audiences and indeed by audiences throughout Canada, as the hilarious and insightful New Brunswick mill worker, Lucien. He will be joined by noted actress Linda Goranson, who has been seen in such Playhouse hits as The Cemetery Club and Steel Magnolias.

Also in the cast is AnnaMarie Lea, another Playhouse favourite, who appeared in several outstanding Playhouse productions like Boeing Boeing and the Amorous Ambassador.

Rounding out this fantastic cast are two talented newcomers to Upper Canada Playhouse, Warren Bain and Katie Ryerson.

Bain has been a member of the St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival for a number of years and Ryerson has appeared at the 1000 Islands Playhouse and the National Arts Centre.

Norm Foster’s wonderful, warm and funny comedy, The Great Kooshog Lake Hollis McCauley Fishing Derby, will be at Upper Canada Playhouse in Morrisburg September 6-30.

Contact the Playhouse at 613-543-3713 for tickets and information.

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