Breaking theatre boundaries: King's extends valley reach

It's not every day you get the chance to see a piece of art worth more than a half-million dollars. At least not this far down the valley. But that's exactly what people got to see, and hear, during a weekend performance at Annapolis Royal's King's Theatre. Nikki Chooi, an 18-year-old violin phenom, played an instrument worth $650,000 during a one night stop at King's.

But you're just as likely to see these types of marquee performers on the King's stage as you are to see a community hospital fundraiser or annual high school variety show. That's all part of the plan as the King's board and manager, Geoff Keymer continue efforts to expand perception of the theatre as a regional venue.

"We're the only performing arts theatre in the valley," said Keymer in an interview. "ATF is not open any longer, there was a brief pimple the end of last summer, beginning of this summer, when they opened their doors, but now they're closed again so we're the only place."

King's Theatre has a history almost as old as the region, with documentation of Lescarbot's Theatre of Neptune going back to 1606. By the late 1970s, the theatre had already been destroyed by fire, rebuilt, saw action as a movie house, then was abandoned. The building was purchased by the Annapolis Royal Development Commission in 1981 and opened its doors in 1982. The theatre has been in operation ever since, surviving economic troubles through wit, determination, and volunteer effort.

As newer and larger venues have fallen into the pages of history, King's continues to find ways to thrive and still attract performers you might never have expected to see on its tiny stage.

"Well, more than anything we've become partners with people who can help us," said Keymer. "What we've done over the course of time is to strengthen those relationships with various people. In other cases we keep our ear to the ground."

Angela Cheng played King's in 2006 through a partnership with Debut Atlantic; former Union Station banjo player, Allison Brown, just happened to have a hole in her schedule; and Keymer was able to make King's the only Nova Scotia stop for Harry Manx because the Digby ferry made it possible to bring him over from St. John. In November, George Canyon is performing at King's - and those tickets sold out within two days.

Keymer said that was due to the theatre being a member of an association able to purchase block bookings from Canyon's cross-country tour, and members pay on a scale that sees larger venues pay more than smaller venues.

"We're a 220-seat theatre in a 500-person town," said Keymer. "So we're limited in what we can do. We can't pay a lot of artists what they're worth, but we can pay them something and King's has the most appreciative audience in all of eastern Canada for sure."

As far as bringing people to the theatre on a consistent basis, Keymer said there are Digby residents on the newsletter list, many who attend regularly, and a few people from Smith's Cove will be performing in an Annapolis District Drama Group play next month. Keymer said he'd like to see more Digby residents in the house and performing on the King's stage.

"Just because it's located in Annapolis Royal, that doesn't mean Digby residents shouldn't be active participants in how the theatre is used," said Keymer. "What we'd like to have is people from throughout the valley take ownership of the theatre. And it's happening."