LIGHTHOUSE REVIEW: ‘Crees in the Caribbean’ a thoughtful, humorous look at aging, love, and old-fashioned stubbornness

PORT DOVER—Lawrence Bayne and Krystle Pederson star in ‘Crees in the Caribbean’, the second show of Lighthouse Festival Theatre’s 2026 summer season. —Submitted photos.

By Mike Renzella | The Haldimand Press

June 25, 2026

PORT DOVER—Lighthouse Theatre’s summer season continues to impress with Crees in the Caribbean, the second of five shows planned for 2026 now on stage in Port Dover.

The show stars Lawrence Bayne and Krystle Pederson as longtime married couple Cecil and Evie. They are joined by Andrea Cabeza, playing the maid Manuela, who frequently pops up at both opportune and inopportune moments.

Crees in the Caribbean is a love story told from a unique perspective. Instead of two young lovers whisking away for a week on the beach, Cecil and Evie have already spent a lifetime together raising their family. Despite those years of history, when they walk into their Mexican hotel room they are kicking off their first ever official trip outside of Saskatchewan together.

There is a deep love – and a deep sense of weariness – between the pair as the story begins. It was their children who splurged to send them on the trip, and it’s a trip that Cecil is not excited to make. While sunshine and warm beach air float in through the balcony window, Cecil would rather spend the trip holed up, blinds drawn, watching Spanish television, and complaining about the food.

The couple’s Cree heritage is proudly on display, allowing the audience to become well acquainted with this pair and some of their traditional values and cultural leanings. 

Director Patti Shaughnessy described her directorial process as rooted in the Anishinaabeg concept of O’Kaadenigan Wiingashk, or weaving sweetgrass into the heart of a braid.

“What interests me most are the relationships at the centre of the piece: the humour, tensions, misunderstandings, and moments of connection that emerge as people try to make sense of themselves and each other,” wrote Shaughnessy.

While the show is laced with humour, drawing many laughs from the opening night crowd, there’s a gentleness beneath the bluster of the couple’s relationship that resonates. The love between them feels real and earned, built on a lifetime of accepting each other – faults and all.

As Manuela, Cabeza serves up a welcome break from the early tension between Cecil and Evie, eventually weaving her way into their story, and leaving a mark on both in different ways. Pregnant from a deadbeat father who works in the resort’s kitchen, Manuela is a strong, surprising, and endearing character.

While many Lighthouse shows revel in larger-than-life comedy and outlandish set pieces, Crees in the Caribbean makes its mark in a more quiet, subdued way, drawing people into Cecil and Evie’s story through quiet moments, and genuine, resilient love.

In typical Lighthouse fashion, the show is a technical accomplishment. The hotel room is rendered beautifully on stage, with a bright, inviting, colourful patio door leading to the beach. 

Through lighting, sound, and an offstage fan, the illusion is complete. It really does feel like you could step through that door and onto a beach instead of the backstage of a theatre.

Playwright Drew Hayden Taylor is known for celebrating the Indigenous sense of humour in his work, looking to show audiences how funny Canadian culture and stereotypes can be through the lens of a Cree point of view.

“I have always wanted to write an Elder’s love story,” wrote Taylor. “I think I have managed it here. Evie and Cecil are people I have met, people like this, all across the land. I hope you end up loving them as much as I do.”

Crees in the Caribbean is on stage at Lighthouse Festival Theatre in Port Dover until July 4. It then heads to Port Colborne’s Roselawn Theatre for a run of shows from July 8-19. 

For tickets and more information, visit lighthousetheatre.com or call the box office at 1-888-779-7703.

After studying journalism at Humber College, Mike Renzella desired to write professionally but found himself working in technical fields for many years. Beginning in 2019 as a freelancer, he joined the team full-time later that year. Since then, Mike has won several awards for his articles thanks to his commitment to presenting an unbiased, honest look at the important news and events shaping our community.