About the Margaret ....

The mythological figure of Rev. Norman MacLeod thunders through the play, and the community of famine stricken St Ann's in 1851. The fiery dissident presbyterian minister persecutes those who disagree with him, especially a small boy with second sight. As norman prepares to leave Cape Breton for New Zealand on the ship the Margaret with his flock of Highland gaels, a love affair between his Daughter Margaret and a Lowland sailor develops. The community, many of whom are led to question his sanity and vision, must decide whether to stay in the land where they have set down roots or follow Norman's new vision of the Promised Land. The 11 character play is full of Gaelic song, powerful drama and romance.

This original epic play is set at the site of the Gaelic College which is the former farm of Norman MacLeod.


Normanite saga stunning
"Play harmonizes history, comedy, story, song"
By Mark Anserson

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Bev Brett's play The Margaret dramatizes the events of the extraordinary life of the Rev. Norman MacLeod in a balanced and thought-provoking production that is destined to become a Nova Scotia classic.

After that brutality of the clearances, many Scottish Highlanders still longed for the guidance of a chieftain. MacLeod's fearless and uncompromising spiritual leadership was able to fill this void, judging by the number of his followers, called Normanities. they went wherever his quest led them. Traveling from Assynt, Scotland, to Pictou, N.S., from Pictou to St Anns, then leaving St Anns for Australia to finally come to rest in New Zealand in 1851, this fiery minister, who best resembled an Old Testament prophet, guided his flock away from the "laxity" of the Church of Scotland and what he saw as the evils of western society.

Fundamental human issues are grappled with (Should your religious come before your family?) alongside the examination of folkloric beliefs. The playwright does not balk at exploring MacLeod's extreme version of Christianity; nor is she afraid to condemn his actions when the shepherd turns tyrant.

The central episode in the play is based on an event that has achieved legendary status in Cape Breton.

Walsh storms about a stark and effective set; the central feature being a pulpit that is peeled back after the intermission to reveal the figurehead of The Margaret and the corresponding pulpit of the ship. The vessel in progress is named for Norman's youngest daughter, his one soft spot. Margaret or Paigi (played by Megan MacInnis) tried to make her father atone for his actions as the crew prepares to leave for Australia, attempting to flee the controversy these new developments have fostered. She is torn between loyalty to her father, and her love for the worldly Aberdeen sailor High Anderson (Todd Hisocck).

Harmonizing regional elements of history, comedy, story, and song, The Margaret overshoots the conventional expectations for a small production.

A field of strong performances is crowned by those of Walsh and Carol Kennedy, who adds appropriate comic relief in between the more weighty and disturbing sconces.

Director Phillip Adams' vision of the work is perfectly in tune with that of its writer. In a final flourish of dance and song, the cast exudes a clear pleasure in playing, a pleasure that pervades the production.


UNIVERSAL THEMES PLAY OUT IN "THE MARGARET" VICTORIA STANDARD review by Jim Morrow

Although St. Ann's Bay Players' playwright Bev Brett admits that it is impossible to know what occupied the hearts and minds of a Gaelic speaking people 150 years ago, she has shown she obviously knows what occupies the minds and motivates people on a universal level.
Her play,"The Margaret" captures such universal themes as love and despair, faith and doubt, jealousy and revenge, friendship, distrust, courage, and perseverance.
Ms. Brett has placed a love story against the backdrop of the normanite migration from St. Ann's Bay in the 1850s. Norman MacLeod himself is dramatised by Gary Walsh in a manner which reveals the spiritual motivations of the enigmatic historical character and his human weakness which results in a crises of faith.