Gemstones, rock shows, and Brand New Stages

You’re reading the February 27, 2025 edition of the Peterborough Currents email newsletter. To receive our email newsletters straight to your inbox, sign up here.

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Hello, and welcome to the arts and community newsletter from Peterborough Currents. I’m Alex, and I send this newsletter every week to catch you up on what’s happening in Peterborough.

The second annual Brand New Stages Festival puts the power of storytelling centre stage over the next few days, with a range of one-person shows, theatre workshops and other events at the Market Hall and The Theatre on King.

Also in this week’s newsletter:

• Peterborough’s 30th annual Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show
• Local mainstay musician Gailie Young’s birthday show 
• Plus, some things to do around town this weekend

Let’s get started!

“You just can’t beat that electricity”: Theatre festival celebrates the art of storytelling

From hilarious to heart-wrenching, the Brand New Stages Festival showcases the power of dramatic storytelling. Running until this Sunday, March 2, the week-long celebration of theatre includes four plays at Market Hall, five late-night events at The Theatre on King, and four theatre training workshops. 

This year’s festival launched on Tuesday with Fireside Munsch, a one-man show performed by M. John Kennedy, which brings to life the stories of beloved Canadian children’s author Robert Munsch.

Before diving into some of the author’s classics, Kennedy made his way through the audience to talk with the kids. Little ones gathered on rugs in front of the stage were delighted when he asked about their favourite Munsch tales.

Soon, Market Hall was filled with laughter as Kennedy stomped, spun, and somersaulted, telling stories like the Paperbag Princess and Mortimer with a larger-than-life exuberance.

The festival continues tonight, February 27, with the Peterborough debut of another one-man show, Magic Lies: An Evening with W.O. Mitchell.

Married Trent University professors Orm and Barbara Mitchell wrote the play in 2009. It’s a character study of Orm’s late father, the Canadian author who put Saskatchewan on the literary map with his novel Who Has Seen the Wind. Canadian actor Martin Julien will emulate W.O. Mitchell’s unique presence as he shares the man’s stories.

“There’s a real connection between the storyteller and the audience,” Orm said of the play. “It’s, I think, one of the reasons why theatre will never die. You know, you just can’t beat that electricity.” 

To learn more about the Brand New Stages Festival or to purchase tickets, visit the Market Hall website.

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“Fascinated by the beauty”: Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show returns to Peterborough

All that sparkles is at the Healthy Planet Arena this weekend for the 30th annual Peterborough Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show. From Friday to Sunday, tens of thousands of pieces will be on display, according to organizer Mark Stanley. 

Admission costs $5 for adults. Kids get in for free and can dig for their own gemstones to take home in the huge children’s sandbox. “The whole idea about that part is to get rocks into kids’ hands,” said Stanley. 

Stanley said one of his favourite parts of organizing the annual event is introducing children to rock collecting. “Sometimes they’ll bring rocks in that they don’t know what it is, but they know it’s something special,” he said. 

He recalled a child once asking him to identify a piece of flint they found along the St. Lawrence Seaway. He explained that he believed the stone would have originated in England as many as 200 years ago, when pieces of flint were loaded onto massive ships to weigh them down for easier sailing.

Stanley started the Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show three decades ago as a single-day event on his farm near Norwood. The long-time collector said he still helps run the event all these years later because he is simply “fascinated by the beauty and by the science behind minerals and rocks.”

With the support of the Kawartha Rock and Fossil Club, the annual show has grown into a weekend-long attraction for collectors across Ontario.

This year’s show will feature 24 vendors selling meteorites, mineral specimens, gemstone jewelry, and rocks of all kinds, Stanley said. 

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Longtime local rock and roller celebrates her birthday onstage

Gailie Young is a familiar sight at The Black Horse Pub, where she’s known for performing covers of songs by the Beatles and other British Invasion bands of the 1960’s. She’s been hitting the stage at the pub with her husband Rick every Monday night for the last twenty years, she said. They’ve been accompanied by their ensemble, the Crash and Burn Band, for much of that time.

Keeping up an annual tradition, Young and the band will play a special birthday concert at The Black Horse this Friday, February 28 to celebrate her 74th birthday. It gets started at 5 p.m.

It’s hard to think of a more fitting way for a musician who said she was “born into music” to celebrate her big day.

“My parents had a country band, bluegrass,” said Young, who was born in 1951. “[My mother] was wearing stiletto heels playing the doghouse bass while she was carrying me.”

While the Black Horse is her “home base,” Peterborough as a whole is a great place for live music, according to Young.

“Every genre of music is here,” she said. “Yes, you can buy canned music and go to big concerts, but go see your local bands, because they’ll always be here for you.”

Young said her birthday bashes at the Black Horse have been missing one thing in recent years: her friend and fellow Peterborough musician Buzz Thompson, who passed away in 2018.

“Buzz was a year to the hour older than me, and we celebrated our birthdays together every year,” she said. “I miss him terribly, and I miss sharing my birthday with him.”

To learn more about Gailie Young and the Crash and Burn Band, check them out on social media.

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What’s happening in Peterborough this weekend?

• Tapeworm presents a free film screening at Sadleir House this Friday, February 28, at 6:30 p.m. This month’s film is the 1994 horror comedy Tammy and the T-Rex. The event will also include dinosaur-themed trivia and prizes.

• Local country musician Melissa Payne will perform with folk artist Graven for a late-night show at Jethro’s Bar and Stage this Friday at 10 p.m. 

• The Peterborough Singers, accompanied by local instrumentalists, will bring The Music of ABBA to life at Emmanuel United Church on Saturday, March 1, at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $40 for adults and $10 for students. 

• Peterborough’s monthly Repair Cafe will take place at Trent University’s Gzowski Atrium (1 Gzowski Way) this Saturday, from 1 to 4 p.m. Volunteers will be on hand to assist with fixing things like clothing, small electronics and other items. Volunteers will also be there to collect hard-to-recycle items like cigarette butts, egg cartons, milk bags, pop can tabs, oral care items, razors and spray bottle tops.

• On Monday, March 3, from 5 to 8 p.m., community members are welcome to join Trent University’s African and Caribbean Student Union (TACSU) for a special cooking workshop. Participants will learn to make yam pottage and zobo drink. The workshop costs $5 and online registration is required.

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