There are love stories happening on and offstage at Simcoe Little Theatre this week.
By J.P. Antonacci | Simcoe Reformer
May 15, 2025
There are love stories happening on and offstage at Simcoe Little Theatre this week.
The community theatre in Norfolk County is staging “Jessica’s Fine Adventure,” a comedy by Robert More about a widower of a certain age who takes out a personal ad in search of “suitable suitors for amorous possibilities.”
Just as compelling is the romance happening in the planter underneath the theatre’s electronic marquee, where a Canada goose has chosen to nest while her solicitous gander keeps a close watch on the mother of their future goslings.
“Four weeks ago, two Canada geese were staking out the parking lot. We were joking that they were the new security,” said Caitlin O’Neill, a member of the community theatre’s leadership committee.
Little Theatre, keeping her eggs warm as patrons and performers respectfully pass by.
Photo by Caitlin O’Neill /Submitted
Instead, the pair flew in sticks and other bedding to feather their impromptu nest.
“Next thing you know, she’s got six or seven eggs in there, and who we presume to be dad is hanging out across the street,” said O’Neill, surmising that the winged lovers were attracted by the pools of rainwater in the theatre’s gravel parking lot and the long grass growing around the empty planter.
With relocation out of the question, the theatre put up barriers around the planter and alerted ticket holders about the “special visitor,” asking everyone to give the expectant mom some space.
“Six or seven” is a best guess in terms of offspring, O’Neill added.
“You can’t get too close to her. She’s in a hissing mood lately,” she said.
That hissing is not a review of the play, O’Neill hastened to clarify. “Jessica’s Fine Adventure” has been a hit with audiences, she said, thanks to sharp comedic dialogue and the charming story of a woman taking a chance on love.A decade out from a comfortable but loveless marriage, Jessica, played by Roselle Slaght, redefines intimacy and the possibilities of love with help from three memorable suitors — and over the strenuous objection of her initially skeptical son, who is having marital problems of his own.
“Jessica decides that this is her last chance to find love, and she’s going to really go for it,” O’Neill said.
“Through that, she discovers what love means to her and what she wants to have a fulfilled life.”
“Jessica’s Fine Adventure” returns Thursday for its final weekend, with tickets still available at simcoelittletheatre.org for 7:30 p.m. performances on Thursday and Friday and 2 p.m. matinees on Saturday and Sunday.
O’Neill said the mother goose, serving as unofficial greeter by the front door of the theatre, seems entirely unfazed by the passing crowds and the flashing lights of the marquee.
“There’s interest, for sure, but everybody’s given her the appropriate amount of space. Everybody has been just really sweet and pleased by her presence,” she said.
“We’ve got our fingers crossed that we’ll be around when the goslings hatch so that we can see this story all the way through.”
J.P. Antonacci is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter based at the Hamilton Spectator. The initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
