If you’re looking for a nearby summer roadtrip destination where you can enjoy great theatre and a pretty waterfront, you have at least three choices along the St. Lawrence River.
Just 80 kilometres south of Ottawa in Morrisburg, the Upper Canada Playhouse (12320 County Road 2) is offering four plays in its 2024 summer season. First up is Perfect Wedding (June 6-30) by Robin Hawdon, a farce that begins when a groom wakes up on his wedding morning to find an unknown woman in his bed. In July comes the first of two Norm Foster comedies the theatre is staging this summer: Bedtime Stories (July 4-28) features the intertwined stories of 15 characters. After that, you can catch the world premiere of Leaving Marjorie Bliss (Aug. 1-25), a touching comedy by John Spurway about three women plotting to escape their retirement home. The season ends with a new Norm Foster comedy, Those Movies (Sept. 5-29), about a double date gone terribly wrong.
While you’re in the area, you could learn about life in the 1860s at Upper Canada Village (13740 County Road 2), soak up the sun on Morrisburg Beach (85 Canada Way), or break out your binoculars at the Upper Canada Bird Sanctuary in nearby Ingleside (5591 County Road 2).
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About 35 kilometres southwest of Morrisburg and easily accessible from Ottawa via Highway 416 is the St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival (101 Water St. W., Prescott). Held in an outdoor amphitheatre overlooking the St. Lawrence River, the festival stages plays by the bard and other playwrights. This season, you can see Shakespeare’s island-set tragedy The Tempest (July 13-Aug. 10), the 18th-century comedy She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith (July 17-Aug. 10) and Play On! A Shakespeare Inspired Mixtape (Aug. 13-17). Play On! was originally commissioned for the Stratford Festival, where it had a sold-out run. It blends snippets of Shakespeare with pop music by the Beatles, Taylor Swift and more.
If you want to make a full evening of it, the festival sells discounted vouchers for four Prescott restaurants: Katarina’s Coffee Shop (513 King St. W.), O’Heaphy’s Irish Pub (101 King St. W.), Renegadz Restaurant and Bar (178 King St. W.) and the Red George Pub (197 Water St. W.).
Drive another 75 kilometres southwest and you’ll reach Gananoque. There, from late spring through mid-fall, the Thousand Islands Playhouse is staging seven productions in two theatres: the waterfront Springer Theatre (690 Charles St. S.) and the Firehall Theatre (185 South St.). Among the shows are Liars at a Funeral, a comedy by Sophie Fabiilli about the secrets families keep (May 31-June 22), Mamma Mia!, the ABBA musical about a woman who isn’t sure who fathered her baby (July 2-Aug. 4), Doubt: A Parable, John Patrick Shanley’s thought-provoking drama about a possibly abusive Catholic priest and a suspicious nun (Sept. 5-29), and the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musical Jesus Christ Superstar (Sept. 24-Oct. 27).
Gananoque is a pleasant place to spend a summer weekend. You can see some of the 1000 Islands on a City Cruises sightseeing trip (departures from the dock at 280 Main St.), drop into the Thousand Islands Boat Museum (125 Water St.), enjoy Italian fare on the pretty patio or indoors at Riva Restaurant (45 King St. W.) or go on a guided paddling trip with 1000 Islands Kayaking (110 Kate St.).
Award-winning Ottawa travel writer Laura Byrne Paquet shares her sightseeing tips for Eastern Ontario and beyond on her website, Ottawa Road Trips.
