Western Gold Theatre’s Salt-Water Moon takes a nostalgic look at lost love, May 21 to June 7
Veteran actors Craig March and Dolores Drake play the young lovers in David French’s play, set in a Newfoundland outport 100 years ago
Dolores Drake and Craig March in Salt-Water Moon
Western Gold Theatre presents Salt-Water Moon at the PAL Studio Theatre from May 21 to June 7
IN 2026, THERE’S no questioning the fact that a Canadian show—one about Newfoundlanders, no less—has the potential to get bums in seats. Just look at the success of Come From Away, which has had hit runs on Broadway and in the West End as well as various internationally touring productions.
In the early 1970s, though, the prevailing school of thought on the domestic theatre scene was that Canadian stories didn’t sell tickets. David French shattered that notion with his popular series of five plays about the Mercers, a family of Newfoundlanders living in Toronto, which, according to the Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia, “demonstrated that Canadian playwrights could write plays on Canadian subjects, and people would flock to see them”.
In Salt-Water Moon, set in 1926, 18-year-old Jacob Mercer returns to the tiny Newfoundland outport of Coley’s Point. He’s determined to win back his former sweetheart, Mary Snow. This plan is complicated by the fact that Mary is already engaged to another man and still hasn’t forgiven Jacob for his abrupt departure a year earlier.
In a casting twist that should imbue the bittersweet nostalgia with an added layer of resonance, Western Gold Theatre has given the roles of the young lovers to veteran actors Craig March and Dolores Drake. Michael Fera directs.
Founded in 1994, Western Gold’s objectives are to create opportunities for senior artists to continue their lifelong work, and to encourage discourse about the impact and joys of aging. 
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