The Beaver Club opens 2026 Lighthouse Festival summer season (Port Dover Maple Leaf)

On stage in Port Dover from May 27 to June 13

Port Dover Maple Leaf

May 26, 2026

By Donna McMillan

OPENING the summer theatre season this week at Lighthouse Festival in Port Dover is The Beaver Club.

The play is Barb Scheffler’s comedy about four intrepid women undertaking a road trip from Toronto to Dildo, Newfoundland. The play, described as “bold and hilarious,” is filled with the chaos, detours, skinny dipping, tourist traps, heartfelt confessions, and unfiltered honestly that only big personalities can share while cramped in a car.

Through background projection, many will recognize travelling along the 401, Kingston, Montreal, Fredericton, the Newfoundland ferry, Dildo, as well as a few surprises.
Emily Oriold, founder and artistic director at the Foster Festival in St. Catharines, is the play’s director. The four actors are Melodee Finlay (Yvette), Marlene Handrahan (Eunice), Melanie Janzen (Radiance), and Helen Taylor (Karen). The Beaver Club runs in Port Dover from May 27 to June 13.

“There’s something special about a road trip taken not to escape life, but to lean all the way into it,” Emily said.

As the story evolves, Emily said each character has something that needs to be faced, reflected upon, and then worked through. In the journey, friendships deepen as the women share their vulnerable moments and their joys, she said.

It’s a “focus on women (all in their 60s) who refuse to fade quietly into the background. Characters are outspoken, complicated, fearless.”

Emily, who has been a professional actor, director, and singer for over 20 years and has received many awards, was thrilled to have the opportunity to work with these actors in a show focused around women.

The play has everything, she said, including things one might be embarrassed about! The women are unfiltered and frank with each other. “What an honour to be directing these women.”

The Beaver Club is the “kind of comedy audiences love most: bold, hilarious, heart-felt and just a little bit outrageous,” Emily said.

And while men may not relate quite the same as women who watch these travellers on a stretch of highway with no restroom in sight and a dire need to find one, they will love this show in its entirety equally.

While this is Emily’s first time at Lighthouse, Melanie Janzen is no stranger to Port Dover audiences. Besides the 100-plus professional roles she has performed in (including Stratford Festival, Shaw Festival, television, and film), Melanie has been in at least 10 plays on the Lighthouse stage in recent years. She also recalled that 37 years ago she performed in Guys and Dolls, under the direction of Pat Dawson, with fellow actor Melodee Finlay.

Melanie said she enjoys Port Dover audiences and the many roles she has taken on. Port Dover “is a beautiful summer town,” she said, where “audiences are warm, loyal, knowledgeable, and appreciative.” She enjoys being greeted by audience members after performances and around town.

In The Beaver Club, Melanie is Radiance, who she describes as a positive woman who loves life, embraces change, loves people; but is definitely a free spirit. “All the things I aspire to,” she said.

Emily added that Radiance is living big bold strokes; lots of colour in her life. Having performed as Radiance in the Theatre Orangeville production, Melanie explained she “always loves to get a part a second time,” saying she often finds subtle differences in the character “and that is hugely exciting for an actor.”

For Radiance, as capable and bright as she is, there are many zany moments in the performance because she is also very innocent and naïve in some things, Melanie said.

Radiance gets caught out in many hilarious situations. She is sometimes the foil to the role of Karen, who is bound up tight and needs control. Also, Melanie said as women go through life’s milestones, they start looking at everything through a more responsible lens. “It is beautiful—four women supporting each other.”

Melanie said she started performing ballet at the age of 5. Her love of singing also saw her performing in numerous musicals during her 45 years of professional acting. Now, she is happy to be able to perform in more dramas that tell stories.

Emily said she has loved the opportunity to work in Port Dover, a new place for her, and to work with the team at Lighthouse.

For tickets to see The Beaver Club, visit the Main Street box office, call 519-583-2221 or visit lighthousetheatre.com.