Onion Skins & Peach Fuzz: The Farmerettes, or the Teen Girls Who Saved Canada's Crops During WWII

08/12/24 • 39 min

We all know about Rosie the Riveter and the women who kept our factories afloat during WWII. But did you know thousands of young women (some as young as 16) took to our fields and farms as well? These girls kept the country (and the troops) fed, but their contribution was largely forgotten once the war was over.

The Blyth Festival sets out to right this wrong with a new play called Onion Skins and Peach Fuzz: The Farmerettes. Written by Alison Lawrence and based on original research by local historian Bonnie Sitter, this new work brings all the hijinks and hardships of six fictionalized Farmerettes to joyous life.

Join host Joanne Wallace for a discussion with actors Lucy Hill and Alicia Salvador and director Severn Thompson about the book and the play that restore these hard-working young women to their proper place in Canada's war history.

Tickets on sale now! 1.877.862.5984 | www.blythfestival.com
We love your feedback. Send us your thoughts any time: [email protected]
The Blyth Festival is supported by many generous sponsors, along with our loyal Blyth Festival Members. Onion Skins & Peach Fuzz is sponsored by The Royal Canadian Legion Branch 420 and The Legion Ladies Auxiliary to Branch 420. Our season sponsor is Bruce Power. Thank you all for this critical support.
More about Severn Thompson, Lucy Hill and Alicia Salvador.
More about Bonnie Sitter's book and an upcoming Farmerettes documentary here.
Credits: Research/writing/host: Joanne Wallace | Sound design/production/editing: Jim Park
Music: Wicked Man and The Nightingale is Singing Our Song, Martin Landstrom via Epidemic Sound. Ukulele music by kind permission of Heidi Wai-Yee Chan | Theme Achaidh Cheide, (c) Kevin MacLeod, licensed under CC BY 3.0

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The last witch in Canada? Beverley Cooper and Ann-Marie Kerr on The Trials of Maggie Pollock

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Rural Ontario isn't exactly known as a hotbed of paranormal activity. But it turns out Canada's last official charge of witchcraft was laid right here in Huron County. In 1919.

Yes, you read that correctly. A Canadian woman was charged with witchcraft long after the telephone, the radio and the automobile had been invented. And playwright Beverley Cooper confronts this ridiculous reality in her new play, The Trials of Maggie Pollock.

Join host Joanne Wallace as she sits down with both Beverley and the play's director Ann-Marie Kerr to explore what it takes to bring a piece of real history to life for an audience, and what it is about female power that seems to strike such fear and loathing in those around them.
Tickets on sale now! 1.877.862.5984 | www.blythfestival.com
Bus transportation available from Stratford, Kitchener and London for select dates. Performance dates and details: https://blythfestival.com/tickets/stratford-bus/
We love your feedback. Send us your thoughts any time: [email protected]
The Blyth Festival is supported by many amazing sponsors, along with our loyal Blyth Festival Members. Maggie Pollock is sponsored by The Margaret and Andrew Stephens Foundation. Our season sponsor is Bruce Power. None of this could happen without you!
More about Beverley Cooper here, and Ann-Marie Kerr here
Credits: Research/writing/host: Joanne Wallace | Sound design/production/editing: Jim Park
Music: Original music by kind permission of Heidi Wai-Yee Chan | Theme Achaidh Cheide, (c) Kevin MacLeod, licensed under CC BY 3.0

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2025 Blyth Festival Season Preview with Artistic Director Gil Garratt

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We’re back! And we’ve got the scoop on everything you’ll want to see this summer at Canada’s theatre - the Blyth Festival.

Podcast fave and Blyth Fest Artistic Director Gil Garratt is here with his best stories about all five shows in this season’s lineup. The playbill includes two hotly anticipated world premieres, a remounting of a renowned Canadian classic and lots more.

Dive in, and get ready for another summer of amazing Canadian theatre – all home-grown, right here in beautiful Blyth, Ontario. We can’t wait to welcome you to the theatre!

Tickets on sale now! 1.877.862.5984 | www.blythfestival.com

Got something to say? Send me your thoughts any time. I read everything you write: [email protected]

The Blyth Festival Podcast is presented by our Exclusive Communications Partner, Tuckersmith Communications Co-operative (TCC). Thank you!

Credits: Producer/Host: Joanne Wallace | Sound Designer/Engineer: Jim Park

Music: River Run Dry: Gotta Give Me Something, Easy to Imagine via Epidemic Sound; CKNX Barn Dance: "It's The Saturday Night Barn Dance, Volume 2," 1998 compilation cassette (Rodeo RPL5 8047), featuring artists who performed on the original CKNX Barn Dance, via YouTube/Golden Age Media; CKNX Circle 8 Ranch/Ernie King: My Little Red Wagon, via YouTube.