Robert Winslow and Celine Gadoury read from the script of a new play by Maja Ardal last Saturday at the Breaking Ground event as they monitor audience reactions to the story, dialogue and characters in “The Legend of Pearl Hart”.
Once a year, the 4th Line Theatre hosts an event called “Breaking Ground”, where they offer a glimpse into a new play under development.
The 2026 event took place on Saturday at Trent University.
Roughly forty-five members of the public came to get a sneak peek at a new play called “The Legend of Pearl Hart”, written by Maja Ardal. At the event, seven actors, a narrator and Musical Director Justin Hiscox delivered a condensed version of the first act of this play. Seated across the front of the room, the actors rose to their feet when delivering their lines and songs, in full persona of their characters but not in costume, whetting the appetite of 4th Line Theatre enthusiasts in the room.
The play is about the life of Pearl Hart, born Lilly Taylor in 1871 in Lindsay. She is best known as an outlaw in the American West, where she gained notoriety for committing one of the last recorded stage coach robberies in the US. Her skills of manipulation were so great that she convinced the jury not to convict her of this crime, but on the outraged judge’s order was quickly rear-rested on a separate crime for which she spent several years in an Arizona prison. She continued to attract attention during her imprisonment where she enjoyed an oversized cell with a yard where she entertained reporters and posed for photographs, and reputedly took the prison warden as a lover and was eventually granted a pardon by the Arizona Governor.
While some of the play is based on historical fact, there are literary liberties taken to link the story to other characters and events of the period, and for this Ardal invented a fascination with American sharpshooter and storyteller, Calamity Jane. The plot high-lighted a significant but less well-known feature of the period: it was more criminal for a female to dress as a male than to steal.
The objective of events like these are to test plays to obtain audience feedback. At the conclusion of the performance, audience members were asked about what they liked, what felt provocative, inconsistent, meaningful or particularly entertaining about the characters, the storyline or the characters. Attendees were also encouraged to provide feedback by mail or email to give them time to consider their responses.
While the event offers the opportunity to provide feedback on productions to see in their unpolished state, there are limits to the impact of viewers’ comments. One audience member asked if the main character mended her ways as the play unfolded but was told this did not happen, in the character’s life or in the play. Despite further suggestions that the character’s reform would be a desirable conclusion to the play, Ardal explained that Pearl’s narcissist nature and her ability to get what she wanted were character traits that define her as an anti-hero. Despite the terrible things she did, we still love and respect her partly because we admire her skill at getting her way and also because we understand that her actions were usually not done maliciously but out of a need for survival.
Pearl’s female power seems particularly modern when viewed in the historical context. Ardal explained that she was originally drawn to the character by her spunk, her persuasiveness and her ability to get what she wanted. During the early stages of the play’s creation, she made a quick call to Managing Director Kim Blackwell to say she felt songs coming through the play, seeking support to head in this direction. Of course the answer was yes.
The music in the play works: the original songs performed by actors accompanied by Musical Director and Composer Justin Hiscox were described by an audience member as “poetic”.
Like many 4th Line Theatre productions, The Legend of Pearl Hart features a story about the human condition set in a historical setting and told with grace, skill and humor. And yes, there will be dancing. The Legend of Pearl Hart will likely be featured in the 2027 season.
This season opens June 30th with the relaunch of “Schoolhouse” by Leanna Brodie, and the return of last year’s hit, Wild Irish Geese by Meegan Murphy. For more information, visit www.4thlinetheatre.on.ca.