{"id":2118,"date":"2015-07-06T16:23:42","date_gmt":"2015-07-06T23:23:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/?p=2118"},"modified":"2019-01-30T08:37:44","modified_gmt":"2019-01-30T16:37:44","slug":"forget-main-street-disneyland-go-to-barkerville","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2015\/theatre-2\/forget-main-street-disneyland-go-to-barkerville\/","title":{"rendered":"Forget Main Street, Disneyland; Go To Barkerville"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"IMG_20150627_141308\"I’m suggesting you forget Main street, Disneyland; go to Barkerville<\/a><\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0I had no idea this gold rush town in the Cariboo, would not only be entertaining, but informative as well.<\/p>\n

To say that we were thrilled with our recent visit there would be putting it mildly. Rob and I have traveled a lot, but not so much in the northern part of British Columbia. When friends invited us to go with them to Barkerville, 751.6 km. or 467 miles north-west of Vancouver, we thought we’d try it as we’d heard about its fabulous theatre featuring plays and music from years gone by.<\/p>\n

\"Amy

Amy Newman, Ben Purych, Nick Preston, and Patrice Bowler<\/p><\/div>\n

\"IMG_6772\"

Dave Brown and J.P. Wilson playing Mr. Grimsby and Mr. Cruikshank of the Sheepskin Claim<\/p><\/div>\n

What we found was more than a theatre with a classic stage.<\/p>\n

There were actors everywhere,\u00a0in the streets and inside buildings,\u00a0telling stories with accents reflective of the characters and historical period they were commenting upon.<\/p>\n

We loved that they added to the authentic feel of the place.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_6738\"

From left to right: Michelle Lieffertz as Miss Isabella Irvine, Stu Callwood as Mr. Charles Hankin, Andrew Hamilton as Billy Barker and Danette Boucher as Florence Wilson<\/p><\/div>\n

Having played a few characters in my time, I appreciated how much work goes into the monologues and dialogues that these fabulous actors have created.<\/p>\n

We were told that many had written their own scripts. Dave Brown has been playing his role for over twenty years.<\/p>\n

These four in the photo to the right were preparing to re-enact a photography session on the street. Of course they had an argument which was a lot of fun for the spectators.<\/p>\n

Barkerville’s buildings date back to 1868, when 90 buildings were rebuilt in six weeks after a fire gutted the town.<\/p>\n

The road down the center of this gold rush \"IMG_6644\"<\/a>town is a dirt road. If it\u2019s dry, it\u2019s dusty; if it\u2019s rainy, it\u2019s wet and muddy.<\/p>\n

And if you take the stagecoach ride, you’ll get the sense you\u2019re traveling back in time.<\/p>\n

You can almost hear the conversations that once took place as you ride by the pioneer houses, hotels, laundry and blacksmith shop.<\/p>\n

\"Rob

Rob and I about to take a ride around Barkerville<\/p><\/div>\n

I knew that Barkerville was born out of the gold rush. I didn’t know that it had occurred after the California one. At the time of that state’s gold fever, lawlessness had taken such hold that those who wanted to find riches of their own decided to travel north when they heard of the great finds on the rivers and creeks in the Cariboo.<\/p>\n

\"Courtesy<\/a>

Courtesy of Wikipedia<\/p><\/div>\n

Here, the British law was in place so there was a greater chance if a miner found gold, he could make a claim that wouldn’t be stolen out from under him. That didn’t mean it was easy. There were still times when he had to guard that piece of land with his life until it was registered in his name. And if there were disputes, there was Judge Begbie,<\/span><\/strong> known as the hanging judge, to settle them.<\/p>\n

Being a writer, I was fascinated by the stories I heard about this dramatic part of Canada’s history or should I say prehistory as this period was before British Columbia became part of Canada. Interestingly enough, it also attracted many black Americans who didn’t feel safe with the civil war raging in the land and threatening to move west.<\/p>\n

I became so intrigued by all the tales that I bought two books, written by the Richard Thomas Wright<\/span><\/strong>, who produces the shows at the Theatre Royal<\/a><\/span><\/strong>. His wife Amy Newman is one of the stars.<\/p>\n

\"Author

Author Richard Thomas Wright<\/p><\/div>\n

He<\/span> wrote Overlanders<\/a><\/span><\/strong>, the epic cross-Canada treks for gold, 1858-1862 and Barkerville and the Cariboo Goldfields.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"IMG_2701\"

Gentlemen Matt, Dustin Allen and Geron<\/p><\/div>\n

A\u00a0bonus on our trip was the party that followed the opening stage performances of this season at the Theatre Royal. At the celebration, many of the cast and staff on site came dressed for the occasion.<\/p>\n

If you’re planning a trip to British Columbia, I highly recommend you take in Barkerville. You won’t be disappointed. They get repeat visitors and a number of the players in town have been doing it for decades and have their children joining in and staying when they mature. If that isn’t a testament to the lure of the place, I don’t know what is.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m suggesting you forget Main street, Disneyland; go to Barkerville.\u00a0I had no idea this gold rush town in the Cariboo, would not only be entertaining, but informative as well. To… <\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2131,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Forget Main Street Disneyland, Go To Barkerville http:\/\/wp.me\/p1LuVB-ya","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[744,87,753],"tags":[754,759,758,78,755,757,756,760,58,33],"class_list":["post-2118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","category-theatre-2","category-travel","tag-barkerville","tag-british-columbia","tag-cariboo","tag-diana-stevan","tag-disneyland","tag-gold-rush","tag-judge-begbie","tag-richard-thomas-wright","tag-theatre","tag-writer"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/IMG_6738.jpg?fit=1600%2C1200&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1LuVB-ya","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4680,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2020\/uncategorized\/recharged-in-ucluelet\/","url_meta":{"origin":2118,"position":0},"title":"Recharged in Ucluelet","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"19 \u041b\u044e\u0442\u043e\u0433\u043e, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"There's nothing like getting recharged in Ucluelet, a small seaside community on the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. 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