Saturday, April 18 & Thursday, April 30 at 7 PM
Peterborough Museum & Archives
4th Line Theatre’s spring Artist Talk series, Kim Blackwell in Conversation with…, returns to in-person programming this April with two events spotlighting artists connected to the company’s 2026 season.
On Saturday, April 18, Managing Artistic Director Kim Blackwell will explore the career of director, performer, and artistic producer Patti Shaughnessy. Shaughnessy returns to 4th Line this season for the fourth time as part of the remount of Megan Murphy’s Wild Irish Geese, which had its world premiere at the outdoor theatre in 2025. Shaughnessy contributed to the work as an Indigenous Story Consultant during script development and also performs multiple roles in the production. Directed and dramaturged by Blackwell, the play returns following a sold-out run in August 2025. The April 18 conversation will look at Shaughnessy’s career as well as her journey with Wild Irish Geese. Audiences may also know her from previous 4th Line productions including Drew Hayden Taylor’s The Berlin Blues and Greg Daniel and Robert Winslow’s Crossings: The Bell of Batoche.
This free event takes place at the Peterborough Museum & Archives on Saturday, April 18 at 2 p.m. Seating is limited. Reservations can be made through 4th Line Theatre’s Box Office at 705-932-4445 or by email at boxoffice@4thlinetheatre.on.ca. The museum is located at 300 Hunter St. E., Peterborough, with ample free parking and full accessibility. Overflow parking is available at the Kaawaate School lot at 250 Hunter St. E.
A second Artist Talk follows on Thursday, April 30th at 7 PM when Blackwell sits down with playwright and actor Megan Murphy. That conversation will focus on Murphy’s career and her experience writing and performing Wild Irish Geese. The play tells the story of impoverished Catholic Irish settlers who arrived in the Peterborough region in the early 19th century under an emigration plan overseen by Peter Robinson, a politician in Upper Canada who represented York and Simcoe. Roughly 2,500 settlers, most from County Cork, eventually settled in Lanark County, Carleton County — now Ottawa — and Scott’s Plains, later renamed Peterborough.
The April 29 event takes place at the Millbrook & District Lion’s Community Centre at 7 p.m. Seating is very limited. Reservations are available through the 4th Line box office by phone at 705-932-4445 or by email at boxoffice@4thlinetheatre.on.ca. The venue is located at 920 Larmer Line, Fraserville, and offers free parking and full accessibility.
Both Patti Shaughnessy and Megan Murphy are direct descendants of Peter Robinson emigrants, giving both conversations an added personal connection to the story at the heart of Wild Irish Geese.
Now in its 33rd season, 4th Line Theatre has spent more than three decades bringing history to life on the barnyard stages of a rustic fifth-generation farm in Millbrook, Ontario, between Peterborough and Port Hope. Founded in 1992 by Robert Winslow, the outdoor theatre company remains dedicated to preserving Canadian cultural heritage through the development and presentation of environmentally staged, regionally based historical drama. To date, 4th Line has developed and presented 47 original plays rooted in regional history and culture.
