Kroehler Girls
It’s the bottom of the inning, a full count with two down. The Kroehler Girls socked two hits and their heavy hitter is a star with the willow, is it enough to bring the title home?
Furniture and Softball. It’s the early 1950’s and Stratford’s all girls softball team is known for building furniture by day and dominating the ball diamond by night. Can the Kroehler Girls live up to their reputation after a devastating loss the previous season? Times are changing at a breakneck speed in these post-war days and this team, along with their hometown, have to prove they have what it takes.
A new comedy that celebrates all that is Stratford in the early 50’s: the remarkable furniture company and their legendary softball team.
“We'll sing you the song of our ball team, it’s the finest team in all the land.
We'll tell you about all the players and we’ll tell you the truth if we can.”
September 7th - September 26th
Cast and Creative
Creator / Director : Severn Thompson*
Associate Director : Keira Loughran*
Creators / Performers : Andy Pogson*, Kelly McIntosh*, Stacy Smith*, MadeNell, Graham Hargrove
*“The participation of these Artists is arranged by permission of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association under the provisions of the Dance Opera Theatre Policy (DOT).”
Severn Thompson
Severn is a theatre creator, actor, dramaturge, award-winning director and associate artistic director for the Blyth Festival. As an actor, she’s worked in theatres across the country, including both the Shaw and Stratford festival, as well as appearing in a variety of tv and film roles. Her directing credits include Measure for Measure (Canadian Stage’s Shakespeare in High Park), Peter Pan (Soulpepper & Manitoba Theatre for Young People), Team on the Hill (Blyth Festival) and The Pigeon King (Blyth Fest./National Arts Centre). Severn dedicates her work on this play to the annual Thompson Ball Game that has been on hiatus along with everything else.
Stacy Smith
Stacy is an actor and arts educator. Appearing onstage with Drayton Entertainment, Theatre Aquarius, Neptune Theatre, Theatre New Brunswick, Eastern Front, Ships Company, Atlantic Theatre Festival, Luna Sea and Off The Leash. She has worked extensively in television and film, selected credits include Frankie Drake, Designated Survivor, Murdoch Mysteries, The Detail, Rookie Blue, Sex & Violence, Sebastian, Blackbird, Jessie Stone, Robson Arms, Relative Chaos, Blessed Stranger, Single Mom, Marion Bridge, Wake, New Waterford Girl and many more. Stacy also does a whole bunch of other stuff and loves to play tennis (she hopes practicing softball will help her with her tennis serve). https://stacysmith.ca
Andy Pogson
Andy is so excited to be on the team with the rest of the Kroehler Girls. Past credits include:
Peter in Ed’s Garage, Dr. Sean in Halfway There (Port Stanley festival Theatre) Caleb in Five Alarm (Lighthouse Festival Theatre), Clay in Cracked: A New Light on Dementia (Possible Arts), Bob Cratchit in A Christmas Carol (Theatre Northwest), Greg in I'll Be Back Before Midnight (Drayton Entertainment), Lawrence in Calendar Girls (Grand Theatre), MacDuff in Macbeth (Driftwood Theatre), Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew (Theatre By The Bay), Leo in Leading Ladies (Victoria Playhouse Petrolia) and two seasons at the Stratford Festival. He has also appeared in various films and in your TV on shows like Murdoch Mysteries, Saving Hope, Flashpoint, The Girlfriend Experience and Mayday. Welcome back to live theatre and enjoy the show!
Kelly McIntosh is a Canadian actor and collaborative playwright with extensive experience in collective creation. Kroehler Girls is the second play conceived by McIntosh honouring stories about women in Stratford, the first being Ladies of the CNR.
She has performed on stages across Canada, the US, and with the Royal Shakespeare Company (The Penelopiad). Her classical roles include Hermione (Dream in High Park), Lady Macbeth (Caravan Farm Theatre) Luciana (Theatre by the Bay). McIntosh has been involved in a multitude of multi-seasonal outdoor productions ranging from classical works to original shadow play for the Blyth Festival, Caravan Farm Theatre & 4th Line Theatre.
Her collective creation work includes: The Outdoor Donnellys, Hippie, Death of a Hired Man, (Blyth Festival) The Convict Lover (Theatre Passes Muraille), The Bremen Town Band and Ladies of the CNR.
Most recently Kelly co-wrote the critically acclaimed In the Wake of Wettlaufer with Gil Garratt for the Blyth Festival.
She lives in Stratford with her most prized co-creation, her daughter MadeNell, and in their home co-produces and records Better Already, a non-fiction friendship podcast about surviving a global pandemic.
She is a winner of the K.M. Hunter Award for having an impact in theatre in Ontario.
Keira Loughran
Keira Loughran is an award-winning artist with over 25 years as an actor, director, playwright, dramaturg and producer. She was the inaugural Associate Producer for the Forum and the Laboratory at the Stratford Festival (2012-2018) where she spearheaded organizational change to support new work, diversity, inclusion and Indigenous reconciliation. From 2005-2007 she was Artistic Producer of the SummerWorks Festival in Toronto. Her company K’Now Theatre produced two original plays which collectively garnered 7 Dora nominations including two for Loughran for Outstanding New Play (Little Dragon) and Outstanding Direction (Pu-Erh). Other selected directing credits include 4 productions at the Stratford Festival (Wendy and Peter Pan, The Comedy of Errors, The Komagata Maru Incident, The Aeneid), Deportation Cast (York University), and Titus Andronicus (Canadian Stage). As an actor, Keira has performed in theatres across the country including Alberta Theatre Projects, Persephone Theatre, Theatre Passe Muraille, Nightwood Theatre, Young Peoples’ Theatre and the Stratford Festival. She has appeared in several movies, short films and television, most recently on Hallmark Channel’s Good Witch. Keira lives in Stratford with her partner and kids, where she also trains Aikido, in which she holds a 3rd degree black belt.
MadeNell
MadeNell is a confident stage performer having appeared yearly alongside her father, renowned actor Cedric Smith, on stage in her hometown of Stratford.
MadeNell’s unique and charming on-camera presence is can be enjoyed on the the TVO kids series “Backyard Beats” in the Ukulele Episode.
She is the winner of numerous tennis awards, and regular opener for Juno Award Winning musician Dayna Manning: Hughes Room, The Grand Theatre McManus Stage, Revival House Stratford.
Graham Hargrove
Graham Hargrove is a Stratford based percussionist. He studied percussion at the University of Victoria and University of Toronto and has played professionally on four continents. He has performed 12 seasons at the Stratford Festival, playing in the orchestras, onstage in-costume and on recordings. He is active as a chamber musician, and has performed with a diverse array of ensembles including the Evergreen Club Gamelan, Continuum, COC, Esprit Orchestra, London Symphonia and Inner Chamber as well as with Celtic group Dan Stacey and the Black Swans. Recent awards include a shared Dora (2015, Composition and Sound Design) and second and third place finishes at the All-Ireland Bones Competition (2017, 2019).