4th Line Theatre to Brings Peterborough History to Life In World Premiere Production 'Jim Watts: Girl Reporter'

4th Line Theatre is bringing Peterborough History to life with its world premiere production of 'Jim Watts: Girl Reporter' running from July 30 to Aug. 24.

Photo courtesy of 4th Line Theatre.

According to a synopsis, the play takes audiences from Toronto to Madrid to Peterborough and features a local connection in Jim Higgins who raised his family in Peterborough and was truly heroic as a member of the Mackenzie-Papineau brigade in Spain.

“Thankfully I've had one of the best tools you could possibly have which is Jim Higgins's daughter Jeanette, compiled a memoir of his so reading through that, reading his entire life story is the biggest resource that any actor could possible have from his own words,” said Thomas Fornier (Jim Higgins).

Eugenia “Jim” Watts, was most famously known for being a Canadian correspondent for the Spanish Civil War and the only woman to join the MacKenzie-Papineaus, Canada’s Republican regiment in Spain. Her political beliefs and actions were heavily inspired by Emma Goldman, a prominent feminist at the time. Jim Watts began her political work as a theatre artist in Toronto, later founding Theatre of Action. She was a prominent figure in the theatre movement during the 1930s. Watts did more than write about the Spanish Civil War, as she was also an active participant in nursing and driving ambulances for the wounded civilians and soldiers.

“I didn't know a lot about this piece of history myself so I'm sure that other people will be learning about it for the first time as well,” said Katie Ryerson (Jim Watts). “Getting to play someone who is a real person is a real honour and a real gift and premiering a new work for the first time is always a real honour and real privilege.”

The play is written by Beverly Cooper and directed by Kim Blackwell. The production has 28 cast members and a crew of 15 people.

“I think I'm ideally suited to direct it because I helped dramaturge it and help support Bev in the writing of the piece in the past five years,” said Blackwell. “I really like directing world premieres because I always imagine it like a field of fresh snow where there are no other footprints and I get to put my footprints in that fresh snow.”

Opening night is Aug. 1 with July 30 and 31 as preview nights. Shows run from Tuesday to Saturday at 6 p.m. and tickets are available online at 4th Line Theatre’s website.

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