Meet Patti Shaughnessy at the Artist Talk on April 18th.
4th Line Theatre’s spring Artist Talk series, Kim Blackwell in Conversation with… is back. On Saturday, April 18th, Managing Artistic Director Kim Blackwell will explore the career of director, performer and artistic producer Patti Shaughnessy. This events will whet the appetite for the upcoming season which features two returning plays: Schoolhouse and Wild Irish Geese.
Shaughnessy is a member of the Michi Saagig Anishnaabeg from Curve Lake First Nation #35 and a descendant of Darby and Alice Sullivan, whose story is featured in Wild Irish Geese. She has directed at the National Arts Centre and Tarragon Theatre and worked for over a decade with the National Theatre of Greenland. This year will mark her fourth summer performing with 4th Line Theatre, where she also performed in Crossings: The Bell of Batoche (2000), The Berlin Blues (2011), and Wild Irish Geese(2025). Last year she portrayed a variety of characters in Megan Murphy’s Wild Irish Geese, as well as providing guidance in the development of the script as an Indigenous Story Consultant.
At the April 18th event, Kim Blackwell will meet with Shaughnessy to discuss her career and journey through Wild Irish Geese. This free event will take place at 2 pm at the Peterborough Museum & Archives. Seating is limited. To reserve seats, contact the 4th Line Theatre’s Box Office at 705-932-4445 or via email at boxoffice@4thlinetheatre.on.ca. The Peterborough Museum & Archives is located at 300 Hunter St E., Peterborough, ON. There is plenty of free parking available and the museum is fully accessible. Overflow parking available at the Kaawaate School lot located at 250 Hunter St E, Peterborough, ON.
The second event takes place closer to home, on Thurs-day, April 30th at 7 pm at the Millbrook & District Lions’Club, where Blackwell will sit down with playwright and actor Megan Murphy to discuss her career and experience writing and performing Wild Irish Geese. This original play tells the story of the impoverished Catholic Irish settlers who emigrated to the Peterborough region in the early 19th century under an emigration plan overseen by Peter Robinson, an elected official representing the Upper Canadian ridings of York and Simcoe. Roughly 2,500 settlers arrived in Canada from their homes in County Cork through this initiative, settling in the Ottawa and Peterborough regions. Playwright Megan Murphy and Patti Shaughnessy are both direct descendants of Peter Robinson emigrants.
Seating is very limited for this event as well. To reserve a spot, call 4th Line Theatre’s Box Office at 705-932-4445 or via email at boxoffice@4thlinetheatre.on.ca. The Millbrook & District Lion’s Community Centre is located at 920 Larmer Line, Fraserville.
For more information or to purchase 2026 summer season tickets, gift certificates, or to make a donation, call the box office at 705-932-4445, visitwww.4thlinetheatre.on.ca, email boxoffice@4thlinetheatre.on.ca or visit our Box Office & Administrative Centre at 9Tupper Street, in Millbrook which is open Monday through Thursday.