During the 1970’s, the name was changed to Kanata
Theatre. Marg
Allen and I started the Newsletter (now “Greasepaint”). Margot
Beak and Cheryl Knight, two teenagers, opened a bank account
to start a “building fund” with the cloakroom donations. Jim
Keneford and Tony Bryant, assisted by Earl McLaughlin,
introduced a champagne bar at intermission. Barrie Kirk and Jim
Holmes put reserved seating and season tickets in place. And
finally, Ron and Jane Maslin started the clown face painting at
Mayfair and at the Ottawa Exhibition. This latter endeavour
provided the major impetus for our building fund. Ron, and the
largely teenage crew, raised $100,000.00 towards a permanent
home, as it was becoming more and more difficult to produce
our plays at the Earl of March.
In 1996 the Ron Maslin Playhouse was built and the rest, as they
say, is “ history”. From a group of 10, more than 600 different
members have been involved in 148 major productions. Children’s plays, One-Acts, workshops, and summer play-
readings, have all been part of Kanata Theatre’s activities. As we
end our 35th season, I believe we can truthfully say that the “roots”
are well and truly established and the “plant” is healthy and
thriving. Kanata Theatre continues its tradition of “Community”
in every sense of the word.
