What's Happening in Newmarket, ON…

York Region’s Shadowpath Theatre will be bringing the 10th-century play Callimachus to a modern audience with an upcoming immersive play.

Callimachus is a work by Roswitha, also spelled Hrosvitha, the first-known female playwright. The play tells the story of the titular Greek scholar who becomes obsessed with a woman named Druisana. In addition to translating the original text from Latin to English, the Shadowpath Theatre version transforms a static play into an immersive walking experience down Main Street Newmarket.

Audience members will receive video pads and a guide to help them follow the action of the drama. The production will both use video and live performance to tell Callimachus’ story.

The play is part of Shadowpath Theatre’s efforts to highlight the works of historical female writers, which have also included a series of live readings that took place over Zoom. Accessibility options are available for the performance, and a dinner theatre version is in the works.

The theatre will continue to present experimental work with a one-night interactive performance of Joanna Baillie’s The Dream in Woodbridge on May 28 and Stories of the Alphabet in Newmarket this June. Local theatrical productions, typically advertised through tools such as flyer printing and social media, give emerging artists room to experiment.

Callimachus will be performed between May 6th and 15th, with performances beginning at the Newmarket Library and concluding in a secret location.