PORT McNEILL—Gate House Community Association hosted its annual members’ appreciation night this month with a renewed call to promote and support the arts on the North Island.
It promptly made good on the promise at Gate House Theatre Sunday with a concert featuring the folk, Celtic and Canadian stylings of the Saskatchewan-based duet Saskia and Darrell.
Sunday’s concert, well received by a small but enthusiastic crowd, was the first of several events on tap at the Port McNeill theatre, reopened in 2009 following a 23-year closure and taken over in 2011 by the Gate House Community Association.
The group, which received its non-profit society status last year, highlighted several ongoing programs, including two after-school drama programs for students in grades 5-12, through which it is working to receive grant funding.
It also unveiled a spring lineup that include another concert, a free show by the duet of Sussana Hill and David Freeman Mar. 8, and the return of Missoula Children’s Theatre in early May.
Gate House director Terry Ruth Eissfeldt, who last year produced and performed in her original play, the society’s first, announced the society will put on its second original production — a sequel to Peter Pan entitled The Revenge of Smee — this fall, and auditions and production are expected to begin this spring.
Memberships to Gate House Community Association are available for $25 per year. Additionally, corporate sponsorships were announced, on a sliding scale from $25 to $100 per month, which are tax deductible and which may include a free theatre rental.
For more details or information, visit the society’s website at gatehouseca.org or the Gate House Community Association Facebook page.