Perchance Theatre at Cupids
Led by artistic director Danielle Irvine, Perchance Theatre produces and presents classical theatre with a focus on Shakespeare each summer in Cupids, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
A breathtaking community on Newfoundland’s east coast, Cupids (pop. 790) is the oldest English colony in Canada. The town was established by Englishman John Guy in 1610 and turned 400 years old in 2010.
As part of the Cupids 400 celebrations, a beautiful performance space was built that was modelled after Shakespeare’s famous open air Globe theatre in London – a theatre with which the English colonists coming to the New World may have been intimately familiar.
Perchance Theatre features some of the province’s best stage actors and captures stories reminiscent of John Guy’s England, particularly what the settlers might have seen, heard, or written about in 1610.
Perchance Theatre continues to provide established and emerging artists an environment for ensemble creation and professional development, and create unique experiences for audiences, inspired by open-air Elizabethan playhouses.
Our History
Founded as New World Theatre Project in 2010 by Geoff Adams, Aiden Flynn and Brad Hodder as part of the Cupids 400 celebrations, the inaugural season of New World Theatre Project focused on the cultural landscape of 1610.
Marking the founding of the first English settlement in North America, the company approached these celebrations with an imagined narrative of John Guy and his 39 settlers, who brought with them not only their ambition and daring sense of adventure, but also their stories and songs. Some of these stories would have played out on the stages of theatres like The Globe, The Rose and The Curtain.
These shared cultural experiences had a direct effect on those who first settled in Newfoundland and continue to have a significant impact on those who live here today.
The cast of Henry V (2014). Back (L-R): Erin Mackey, Bruce Brenton, Alison Woolridge, Darryl Hopkins, Willow Kean. Front (L-R): Janet McDonald, Paul Wilson, Brian Marler, Gaston LeTourneau (Photo by Ross Leslie)
Perchance Theatre 