Драматическая премьера пьесы «Coal Bowl Queen» о легенде баскетбольного турнира в Кэп-Бретоне

Coal Bowl Queen set to make Cape Breton debut at Savoy Theatre Coal Bowl Queen, a play about the iconic high school basketball tournament held annually in New Waterford, a pageant queen and a decades-long mystery, will make its Cape Breton debut at Glace Bay’s Savoy Theatre this coming March. Written and directed by New Waterford-born Richie Wilcox, the story revolves around Roz, a queer, biracial, 30-something from Ontario, who comes to the community looking for their birth mother — and quickly discover she’s a legendary Coal Bowl queen. Along the way to unravel the mystery, they soon discover that in order to truly know their mother, they must learn all about the Coal Bowl Classic basketball tournament. Local postal worker Tanya assists Roz in unravelling the mystery, interviewing locals along the way. It’s set in 2025 but has flashbacks to 1987, so there’s plenty of high school nostalgia in the show. Featuring a community of characters sharing their stories of first kisses, dramatic reliving of basketball games and bittersweet memories of lost loves, Coal Bowl Queen celebrates the spirit of a tournament that has captivated a community, players, coaches, fans and families for more than 40 years at the Breton Education Centre gym. Wilcox co-produces Coal Bowl Queen in collaboration with Ship’s Company Theatre and Eastern Front Theatre. It was performed in mid-August 2025 at the Ship’s Company Theatre in Parrsboro (where Wilcox now lives) and held a short mid-September 2025 run in Dartmouth at Alderney Landing Theatre. The play garnered 11 nominations at this year’s Robert Merritt Awards, with Zach Faye of Dartmouth winning for his standout supporting performance. Coal Bowl Queen will run at the Savoy from March 4-6, 2027 at 7 p.m. Tickets, at $53 (plus a $3 fee), are now sale at the Savoy Theatre box office at 116 Commercial St. in Glace Bay, or online at savoytheatre.com. — With files from T.J. Colello