Annie Kempton descendants to attend performance

With her will be her mother and father, Gilda and Perry Abriel of Halifax, says playwright Rupert Haley.

Sarah Abriel is a descendent of Annie’s brother Ernest, who is mentioned but is not portrayed in the play. Abriel’s mother, who is a great-niece of Annie, was a Kempton before marriage.

The Abriels are bringing a large photograph of Annie from the 1890s before her death, for which Peter Wheeler was hung.

Haley said the Abriels have offered to take the photo to the Friday night performance in the Community Theatre at Digby Regional High School. The photo measures 26 by 30 inches in size and is in a large ornate frame,

The picture will be displayed for the audience at the front of the theatre. On Saturday, a high quality reproduction of the picture will be displayed, as the original will have returned to the Abriels’ home.

The Abriel family is donating the reproduction to the Digby and Area Theatre Society and Haley said the society intends to offer it for display at the Admiral Digby Museum.

The photo shows Annie Kempton while on a railway journey in her youth. It is a treasured family heirloom in the Abriel household.

Haley’s play raises some doubt about the guilt of Wheeler, who was hanged Sept. 8, 1896, near the Digby Courthouse. Annie Kempton had been killed on Jan. 27 of the same year.

The play’s audience is left to decide about his guilt or innocence, and about the wisdom of executing him under the circumstances.

The play features Ariel Van Tassell of Digby as Annie Kempton while Peter Wheeler is played by Donald Carter of Bear River. The supporting cast of 28 other local actors and actresses range in age from 10 to 70.