'Funny in a very truthful way': New show to start at the Victoria Playhouse

The show runs from June 22 to July 30

Image | Benton Hartley and Wally MacKinnon

Caption: Benton Hartley (left) and Wally MacKinnon (right) play Ben and Earl in a new play hitting the Victoria Playhouse June 22. (Angela Walker/CBC)

A new show is coming to the Victoria Playhouse, hitting the stage June 22.
The Birds & The Bees is a romantic comedy written by Mark Crawford which features Martha Irving, Wally MacKinnon, Genevieve Steele and Benton Hartley.
The play is centred on four characters: Earl (MacKinnon) a farmer, Ben (Hartley) a graduate student doing a study on the dwindling bee population, Earl's neighbour Gail, who is a beekeeper, and her daughter Sarah, a turkey farmer.

Image | Birds and the Bees

Caption: Benton Hartley (left) and Wally MacKinnon (right) rehearsing for The Birds & The Bees at The Victoria Playhouse. (Submitted by The Victoria Playhouse)

"It is heartwarming, it really is," said MacKinnon when he and Hartley spoke with Angela Walker on CBC: Mainstreet.
"The first thought I had when I read the script was just how funny it was," said Hartley.
"It was funny in a very truthful way."

'Very exciting for me'

MacKinnon is back at the Victoria Playhouse after a 20 year hiatus while for Hartley, this is the first professional experience going onto his resume.
Hartley is a studying theatre at George Brown College in Toronto, but he grew up watching plays at the Victoria Playhouse.

Image | si-victoria-playhouse

Caption: It runs from June 22 to July 30 at the Victoria Playhouse. Call the box office or order your tickets online. (Victoria Playhouse/Facebook)

"To have my first professional credit be at the Playhouse, it's this kind of beautiful full-circle kind of experience," he said.
"This is very exciting for me."
Islanders can catch the play from June 22 to July 30. Performances on Tuesday through Saturday run at 7:30 p.m.. Sundays will feature a 2 p.m. matinee.