The Sooke Region Museum is bringing the history and people of Sooke to the stage with a series of original plays.
Thanks to the financial support of a CRD Arts and Culture Services grant, the museum is in the process of writing and producing Stories of Sooke, a play of at least five vignettes focused on a different historical figure and their unique stories.
“We wanted to focus on people and place and to really celebrate Sooke,” said Wendy Johnson, manager of public programs and one of the play’s writers. “We kind of splice everything together, which was taking place around the same period.”
Johnson said everything about the plays is original, from the script to the multimedia elements to the music, written and performed by Sooke musician Katrina Kadoski. While each vignette will focus on one historical figure, the series will be woven together by recurring characters and narrators in the form of telephone operators – themselves an important part of the community’s history.
In one vignette example – the first to be teased with a trailer on the museum’s YouTube channel – the play takes a look into the life of Harry Vickers of the Sooke Alpine Club.
“He had a really neat connection with nature in the area,” said Johnson. “He developed these really neat relationships with the animals in the forest and then through his artwork and photography captured these animals and documents his relationship with them.”
While there is still work on the productions to get them stage-ready, Johnson said the plan is for one vignette to be performed each night during the Sooke Night Market season, which runs from June to September. There is also the possibility of combining all of the vignettes into one large performance.
“It’s a fun and engaging way to look at history. I think people can expect to be entertained while learning some new stories from the community.”
To stay up to date as the play progresses and details are finalized, stay tuned to the Sooke Region Museum and Visitor Centre on YouTube and the museum’s other social media pages.
READ MORE: New curator takes reins at Sooke Region Museum
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