Summerland

The entire production is top-notch in its recreation of a 19th century early photographic studio, including historically accurate period-piece costumes and eerie mood-setting light and sound.

Summerland tells the haunting story of William H. Mumler, a 19th-century spirit photographer whose images claimed to reveal the faces of the dead.

Step into William H. Mumler’s mysterious New York photography studio, circa 1869—a place where the living and the dead share the same frame. Watch, spellbound as the play unfolds during a time when belief in contact with the dead swept through parlors and séances across the nation.

The play title refers to a tenet of the mid-19th century Spiritualist movement. It held that there were multiple levels of the afterlife. For the pure of heart, the first stop after death would be a paradise-like realm called Summerland.

Mumler claims to capture what others only dream of seeing: the ghostly return of departed loved ones, shimmering through the photographic glass. His “spirit portraits” electrify believers and anger skeptics, until one powerful man—the steely Chief Marshal Joseph Tooker—sets out to expose him as a charlatan.

Joseph Tooker investigates Mumler’s shady past and his process, for suspected fraud, uncovering much more than he bargained for in his search for truth. When the inspector’s own photographic sitting takes an unexpected turn, truth and illusion come into question and the line between skepticism and belief blurs — challenging both men’s convictions about what lies beyond the veil.

Summerland is about the collision between the two men’s opposing beliefs about the afterlife. Is it a hoax, or is it real? Finding the answer to either question threatens to destroy them both. Which one prevails?

At the heart of the story, does Summerland really exist?

See the show and decide for yourself

« Actors Jesse Rob, Dom MacKinnon and Lise Renault brilliantly directed by Bill VanGorder bring to the stage an unsettling blend of historical hair-raising mystery and imagination. The Theatre Arts Guild does a fine job of capturing the lights of doubt and the otherworldly in this riveting production of Arlitia Jones’ Summerland. Not to be missed! »

“Summerland” runs from Thursday March 26 through Saturday April 11,
Thursday’s, Friday’s and Saturday’s at 8pm
with one additional 2pm matinee on Saturday April 11

Recommended for ages 14+
All performances are at The Pond Playhouse
6 Parkhill Rd., Halifax (Jollimore)
Free parking too (even better value)