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A visionary broadcaster. A small-town station with big dreams. A new Canadian play with live music straight from the dawn of Canadian country music.

About This Episode
In this episode, actor and playwright Nathan Howe takes us behind the scenes of his brand-new play, Radio Town: The Doc Cruickshank Story.

The play chronicles the remarkable journey of Doc Cruickshank, the small-town visionary who founded CKNX Radio and Television in Wingham, Ontario and built it into a powerhouse of Canadian broadcasting.

We talk about:

• 📻 The history of CKNX and its role in Canadian broadcasting
  
  
• 🎶 Early Canadian country music and why it still resonates
  
  
• 🌾 How radio built — and connected — rural communities
  
  
• 🖋 The creative process behind writing Radio Town
  
  
• 🎼 The show’s live music, performed by the actors themselves — all skilled musicians playing songs from the era

Why You’ll Love This Episode
If you’re passionate about Canadian theatre, small-town stories, music history, or the roots of Canadian broadcasting, this conversation will transport you back in time and leave you eager to see what’s sure to become a new Canadian classic.

Tickets on sale now! 1.877.862.5984 | www.blythfestival.com

Got something to say? Send me your thoughts any time. I read everything you write: jwallace@blythfestival.com

The Blyth Festival Podcast is presented by our Exclusive Communications Partner, Tuckersmith Communications Co-operative (TCC). Thank you!

Today’s episode was recorded at the Wild Goose Studio https://wildgoosestudiocanada.square.site/ in downtown Blyth.

Credits: Producer/Host: Joanne Wallace | Sound Designer/Engineer: Jim Park

Music: Gotta Give Me Something, (theme); River Run Dry via Epidemic Sound; Wabash Cannonball, Al Widmeyer; Down Yonder, The Barn Dance Band, Red Wing/Crooked Stove Pipe, Bill Monkis; all from Saturday Night Barn Dance (Vols 1&2), Barn Dance Historical Society; I’ll Tell You Like It Is, Rikard From; The Waitress, Mac Taboel both via Epidemic Sound.

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Keith Roulston — playwright, journalist, and Blyth Festival co-founder — joins us to talk about his sharp, funny, and quietly moving play Powers and Gloria, now returning to the Blyth stage nearly 20 years after its premiere.

In this intimate conversation, Keith reflects on the inspiration behind the story, the complicated relationships at its heart, and what it means to revisit the play in 2025. He also shares, with striking honesty, how his own health journey — including a stroke four years ago — has deepened his understanding of Edward Powers, a character grappling with the loss of control and purpose.

Whether you’re a longtime Blyth patron or new to the Festival, this episode offers a thoughtful look at rural stories, resilience, and the heart behind Canadian theatre.

Tickets on sale now! 1.877.862.5984 | www.blythfestival.com

Got something to say? Send me your thoughts any time. I read everything you write: jwallace@blythfestival.com

The Blyth Festival Podcast is presented by our Exclusive Communications Partner, Tuckersmith Communications Co-operative (TCC). Thank you!

Today’s episode was recorded at the Wild Goose Studio https://wildgoosestudiocanada.square.site/ in downtown Blyth.

Credits: Producer/Host: Joanne Wallace | Sound Designer/Engineer: Jim Park

Music: Easy to Imagine, Gotta Give Me Something, (theme); River Run Dry. All via Epidemic Sound

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Back in 1981, the Blyth Festival premiered an unusual play about a group of immigrant Amish farmers struggling with Canada’s introduction of Conscription in 1917.

Against all expectations, this play - Quiet in the Land - became a sensation. It played across the country and around the world, and scooped up both Governor General’s and Chalmers Canadian Play Awards.

Written by Blyth Festival founder and renowned playwright Anne Chislett, Quiet has been called “Canada’s Shakespeare.” Its complex web of interwoven stories and themes and its cast of heartwarming (and heartbreaking) characters has endeared it to audiences around the world.

In a rare interview, Anne joins director Severn Thompson in this conversation to discuss Severn’s revival of Quiet in the Land at the Blyth Festival this summer. Don't miss it.

Oh, and we had some technical difficulties during this recording. So Severn's first appearance on mic may have you wondering if she's speaking from an underwater kingdom. Don't panic. We fixed it up after the break. Thanks for your patience.

Tickets on sale now! 1.877.862.5984 | www.blythfestival.com

Got something to say? Send me your thoughts any time. I read everything you write: jwallace@blythfestival.com

The Blyth Festival Podcast is presented by our Exclusive Communications Partner, Tuckersmith Communications Co-operative (TCC). Thank you!

Credits: Producer/Host: Joanne Wallace | Sound Designer/Engineer: Jim Park

Music: Peter Crosby: Almost the Same; River Run Dry: Gotta Give Me Something, (theme). All via Epidemic Sound