Is it a hoax, or is it real?
To find truth one must observe with an impartial eye. But what happens if the truth is in something that simply cannot be seen? In a riveting tale that is more than a mere ghost story, Summerland by Arlitia Jones makes its Halifax area debut at The Theatre Arts Guild.
The show opens at the Pond Playhouse on Thursday March 26 for a run of 10 performances, including one matinee. Produced by Geraldine McDonald and directed by Bill VanGorder, this gripping drama unfolds around the true story of William H. Mumler, a spirit-photographer who rose to fame just after the American Civil War.
Capturing ghostly apparitions in the photographs he took— including his most famous client, the widowed first lady, Mary Todd Lincoln — Mumler’s story drew great interest and skeptics, including those of the law. Arlitia Jones script work circles around the investigation led to expose Mumler as a fraud, though much like ghosts— looks aren’t always what they seem.
Director Bill VanGorder brings three excellent performers (Jesse Robbe, Don MacKinnon and Lise Renault) and a slew of technical elements together to deliver an unusual ghost story for the penultimate play of the 2026 season. While not your traditional tale of terror or chilling cabaret of the macabre, this Halifax-area premiere of Summerland is spine-tingling in its own right and VanGorder has made smart casting choices in addition to running a swiftly delivered production to really broaden the theatrical horizons of haunted history.
Photography is the process of capturing light, not chasing it from the room and this production does a fine job of capturing the lights of doubt and the otherworldly in this riveting production of Arlitia Jones’ Summerland.
The entire production is top-notch in it’s recreation of a 19th century early photographic studio, including historically accurate period-piece costumes, lighting and eerie-mood setting sounds.
Summerland is about the collision between the two men’s opposing beliefs about the afterlife. Is it a hoax, or is it real? Finding the answer to either question threatens to destroy them both. See the show and determine for yourself.
