Conrad Beaubien’s Theatre Roulant

Live entertainment on wheels

Theatre roulant means rolling theatre in English, and it loses nothing in translation. A horse-drawn theatre on wheels is a romantic notion in any language.

Eighteen feet long and eight feet wide, the rolling theatre trundles along, pulled by Susie and Sarah. The curved roof channels a gypsy caravan, the walls are gaily painted with mythical creatures in elegant costumes, and it has the irresistible clip-clop and creak of all good horse-drawn wagons.

Conrad Beaubien, the founder and director of Theatre Roulant, is a playwright, author and musician who also paints and sketches, and he does all those things with one aim in mind: to tell a story. His creative endeavours are gathered under the umbrella of Station Road Arts, named for his Hillier home in Prince Edward County.

Conrad’s background is in writing, producing and directing for television and film, but these days he focuses on writing, particularly original plays rooted in local history. He has presented them in cafés and town halls, collaborating with local actors, artists and musicians, steadily gathering supporters and sponsors. He was searching for a home base for the productions when he happened upon The Wagon. It was sitting in a hayfield, old and strong, with high metal sides. Designed to carry old-style square bales, the hay wagon’s farm days were over, but Conrad could see it had a future – in show business.

He bought it and spent seven years customizing it. The conversion started as sketches on paper napkins, the usual mad genius stuff, and progressed to precision plans on computer programs. County horseman Blaine Way was crucial to the retrofit. “Blaine knew exactly what we had to do to rig the wagon for a horse team,” says Conrad. “He’s part of the troupe now, he’s the man holding the reins when we roll into town.”

Now, with eight-foot double doors on both sides and a half door at the back, perfect for puppet shows, should that idea arise (spoiler alert: it has), the mobile theatre holds a large, collapsible stage, sound and lighting equipment and cubes that can become furniture, walls, boats or boxcars. Onsite it serves as dressing room and backstage for the cast.
Experiencing live theatre is so different from watching a movie. A good production can make you believe characters are in a small room or a ballroom, even with almost no scenery. And Conrad and his crew are masters of minimalist illusion.

Their first production, The Boxcar Cowboy, premiered under the stars on a cold November night in 2021 in front of Conrad’s barn. The audience brought lawn chairs, blankets and snacks, and a big campfire helped keep 85 people warm. It could not have been a more atmospheric setting for the play, and the success of it warmed the troupe’s heart through the winter. The play is based on the true story of a Hillier teen who hopped a train in the County and just kept going, riding the rails all over Canada to become known as The Boxcar Cowboy. Theatre Roulant’s first full season was in 2022, with 18 performances presented in parks, vineyards and up at Base 31, the new cultural hub in the County.

Like that Hillier teen, Conrad Beaubien has never found it easy to stay still. “I have an insatiable curiosity, and I followed that curiosity through my career. I started at small local TV stations and moved on to the networks, bigger productions and more money. I was comfortable there, and a reliable income is nice when you’re raising a family,” he says wryly. But nevertheless, “I left the networks, too. If I just stayed still and safe I would shrink somehow.”

He went out on his own to produce Sketches of Our Town, celebrating small communities across Canada. The Prince Edward County episode shot in the late 1980s can still be seen on YouTube, and it’s worth watching for the log-sawing competition alone, not to mention the men wearing short shorts. He worked on projects as diverse as Jim Henson specials (he still loves puppets) and The Elephant Man, David Lynch’s Oscar-nominated film. Rather than being starstruck by John Hurt and Anthony Hopkins, Conrad was inspired by the power of a story told in minimalist style, mostly through dialogue.

“I wandered Canada telling Canadian stories,” he says. “Now I wander my local area, telling stories about local history and characters.”

Perhaps it’s his version of slowing down. He’s never lost for inspiration. “Snippets of conversation will kick off a story in my head, spark my curiosity to learn more about what they’re talking about.” One such snippet overheard on his street in Hillier inspired this year’s featured play, Back of Hoards Station. “Pickup trucks stop in the middle of Station Road all the time for the drivers to shoot the breeze,” he says. “Two guys were out there and one said, ‘Are you going to the Hoards this week?’ and the other fella replied, ‘Not this week. Pegs is down.’ I thought he had a visitor maybe? I later found out the selling price of pigs was down.”

Conrad followed up and learned that Hoards Station, just east of Campbellford, has hosted a weekly livestock auction since 1949. As well as farmers, it attracts daytrippers and vendors and has a festive, market atmosphere. That location, together with memories shared by an elderly lady of being a Home Child (orphans sent from the UK to Canada to live, not always happily, with farm families), fired his imagination.

In Back of Hoards Station, a city psychiatrist encounters a good old boy in the empty auction hall. They’re worlds apart yet she discovers they have a commonality. It’s classic Conrad: history, legacy and universal themes laced with generous amounts of humour.

Station Road Arts started as a collective, and Conrad still collaborates with creators of all stripes. “I’ve got a lot of ideas,” he says almost ruefully. One is Walking With Thunder, occasional nature walks on the County’s Millennium Trail in the company of a donkey called Thunder. “He sets the pace. We walk with him, stop when he stops, try to hear what it is that’s making him swivel his ears or sniff the air,” says Conrad. “It’s a meditative thing, just being with an animal, no expectations, letting yourself relax and feel nature.” Not a performance, more an invitation to see and hear and ponder. “I’m an observer,” he says. “That’s where my plays and stories come from. I’m like a fly on the wall, seeing and hearing, then sharing what I’ve learned.”

In 2022, Station Road Arts became more formalized when they incorporated. “Now we’re an Inc.,” Conrad grins, “and we have a board.” The board includes local luminary and neighbour, chef Jamie Kennedy, and Lyle Vanclief, the former Minister of Agriculture, while sponsors include several wineries and people who recognize the cultural value of the stories he tells.

The collective that started with a small grant from the local arts council now runs a professional theatre company. “Culture is one of the pillars of the local economy,” Conrad says, then has fun riffing on the “farm to table” concept, because Theatre Roulant did start life as agricultural equipment. “It’s Farm to Theatre,” he jokes. “We’re harvesting culture. We’re Uber Arts; we deliver!” He gets serious again. “We don’t do big shows. An audience of 50 in a field in Demorestville is more our style, but we’re a professional outfit, everybody in the troupe gets paid.” He is a deft grants application writer and his productions attract sponsorships from big County names and generous donations from audiences. “There are several theatre companies here,” he says, “but our distinct identity is to celebrate local community, engage with audiences in a rural area, bring our shows to them and hopefully other benefits, too. Our show in Consecon last year brought a lot of business to the little Honey Café.”

“We’re quite different. We do only original shows, we’re not interested in taking something off the shelf. I search out stories, especially local stories, and try to find universal meaning in them.”
CONRAD BEAUBIEN

Theatre Roulant has a small, tight behind-the-scenes team. Director John Burns, who co-founded Station Road Arts, is a seasoned dramatist who also founded the Festival Players theatre company (now called County Stage Company), which brings in big name acts and mounts shows at sizeable venues. “We’re quite different,” says Conrad. “We do only original shows, we’re not interested in taking something off the shelf. I search out stories, especially local stories, and try to find universal meaning in them, and John brings my vision alive on stage.”

Blaine Way is booked to drive Susie and Sarah for the 2023 season. “We tow the wagon over long distances,” says Conrad candidly, “but we hitch up the horses for the final drive to the location.” And the crew ensures everyone knows when the colourful rolling theatre will be passing by.

The romantic in Conrad says Theatre Roulant harkens back to medieval times. “Travelling performers brought entertainment to far-flung populations, and so do we. Prince Edward County has that sort of timeless geography, like Canada itself; it’s sparsely populated with villages separated by large stretches of wide open spaces.”

The only horse-drawn theatre in Canada, accessible and family-friendly, aims to stay small and original. But Conrad has plenty of future plans. “I like the idea of doing longer residencies, if a location is suitable,” he says. “We could stay three or four days and have entertainment in between plays, bring in musicians.” A collaboration is in the works with author Lois Burdett, known internationally for making Shakespeare accessible to children. Conrad wants to do that one with puppets, and professional puppeteer Judy Cole, who lives in the County, is coming out of retirement to help him. She’s going to make a dragon who will burn down the Globe Theatre. “I see Shakespeare arriving on a drone,” says Conrad, staring into the distance. “His first line will be, Put those phones down! I have a story for you.”

Theatre Roulant Season at a Glance

Theatre Roulant’s 2023 season will be bookended with two performances of Rosalia’s Piano, a story about immigrants who have fled the war in Europe and are starting a new life in small-town Ontario (and based on a story that was originally published in Watershed). Although performed indoors at the Waring House, the staging is absolutely minimal, and the story absolutely enthralling. If you’ve never seen knitting used to illuminate plot points, go see how it’s done. The two-person-plus-narrator show is a triumph.

You can also catch the featured play, The Boxcar Cowboy, July 20 to 22 at Huff Estates Winery, July 27 to 29 at Handworks in Bloomfield, August 3 to 5 at Rosehall Run Winery and August 10 to 12 at The Waring House.

stationroadarts.com