Author: Aly Chiman

I love a well-crafted story. I love to hear an anecdote told just right, with a strong through-line, plot twists and curves, switchbacks, tension, a climax and a satisfying conclusion. Throughout my career as an historical interpreter the act of collecting, crafting and telling stories has fueled my professional life. Tonight at the Sunset Theatre in Wells a celebrated Canadian storyteller named TJ Dawe presented his latest one-man tour-de-force, Marathon. TJ creates that kind of…

As I sit here typing this article my husband is across the street at the Sunset Theatre, performing a solo stage show that I wrote for him. The play is called The Fred Wells Show, and it is about the man who gave his name to the town we live in. When I wrote the script for The Fred Wells Show in 2007 ” a project I undertook as part of my MA in Applied…

Thanks to the generous financial support of the Quesnel branch of Scotiabank, Barkerville’s 146th annual Dominion Day celebrations were filled with fun, frolic, and frosting on Canada Day (July 1st). Although Canada is in fact 147 years old this year, Barkerville held the first-ever recorded birthday party for the new Dominion 146 years ago ” on July 1st, 1868 ” as a way of marking the one-year anniversary of Confederation, three full years before British Columbia…

In partnership with the Heritage Branch of British Columbia’s Ministryof Forest, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations, the management of Cottonwood House Historic Site (near Quesnel, BC) had a successful transition from School District 28 to the Barkerville heritage Trust in 2015 In August of 2015, the 160+ campsites contained in three consolidated Barkerville Campgrounds were integrated into the management structure of Barkerville Historic Town & Park, as a result of the voluntary retirement of the…

As I settle back into my role as a Barkerville street interpreter after four seasons appearing onstage at the Theatre Royal, I’ve been thinking a lot about the payoff of being a performer. The why in why we do this job. In theatre, the payoff usually follows a traditional pattern: at the end of a show the audience applauds. There is often a bit of time after each performance for actors to chat with audience…