‘Peace Country Harvest’ Hallmark parody play to debut in Fort St. John

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — After the success of 2024’s Christmas-themed spoof of Hallmark movies, the Stage North Theatre Society is set to debut a follow-up next week.

Taylor Hastings and Ben Bilodeau, the co-writers of Peace Country Christmas: A Hallmark Parody Musical, have created a follow-up called Peace Country Harvest: Another Hallmark Parody Musical.

Hastings and Bilodeau were interviewed on 100.1 Moose FM on Wednesday, October 15th to discuss the play.

“Last year, we were lucky enough to join Stage North and put together [the Christmas play], and we were pretty shocked in a really positive way by the response we had from the community,” Hastings said.

“The number one piece of feedback I get from that show are wives being like, ‘my husband was so upset that I made him go to a musical until the first number, where he realized it was about Fort St. John and it was a musical for him, and he loved it.’”

Hastings said many people who enjoyed the show last year expressed interest in a follow-up, which led to her and Bilodeau writing the new play.

“[Hastings] went on a very inspired 30-day writing marathon to get this whole thing down,” Bilodeau explained. 

However, they clarified that despite the name, it isn’t a direct sequel to their Christmas play, and anyone who didn’t see that show will be able to enjoy and understand the plot of this play.

According to Hastings, the play will centre around a woman named Autumn who left Fort St. John to work for a fashion magazine in a larger city before returning to help an injured relative.

The play opens on October 24th, with further performances scheduled for the 25th, 30th, 31st and November 1st, all starting at 7:30 p.m. Bilodeau and Hastings said 2 p.m. matinee performances will also be available on the 25th and November 1st. All performances will take place at the North Peace Cultural Centre (NPCC).

“If you’re humming and hawing, not sure what to do on Halloween, our show will be from about 7:30 to 9:30, it won’t take up your whole evening, and I think it’s a very exciting way to spend your Halloween,” Bilodeau said.

Tickets are available on the North Peace Cultural Centre website. They cost $25 for adults, $20 for students and $15 for children and seniors.

To view the full interview with Hastings and Bilodeau, look below.