ITOPA’s ‘Barefoot in the Park’ kicks off 50th season with tribute to first-ever production

(Left to right) Harmony Jekinsjan as Corie and Marius Klein as Paul. (Emily Stewart Photo)

Emily Stewart, Echo Correspondent

The Ingersoll Theatre of Performing Arts (ITOPA) will begin its 50th season in November with Neil Simon’s Barefoot in the Park, the very first ITOPA production half a century ago.

Running from Nov. 6 to 15, the play centers on two newlyweds, Corie and Paul, whose relationship is tested in the honeymoon stage with plenty of friction amid Corie’s free spirit and Paul’s practical attitude. The couple will experience lots of antics as they try to settle into married life in their cramped apartment suite.

"It's our 50th anniversary, and this was the first show that they did 50 years ago, so we're paying homage to those that back in the day started ITOPA,” said director Rebecca McNall. We have some new actors on the stage, some nice fresh young actors who have never been in a show before, so that's fun.”

She also called it “surreal” when asked how it felt to revive the first ITOPA production to kick off the 50th season.

“You think of all the people that came before us at ITOPA and all the things they did back then and how the technology has changed and how the theatre itself has changed over the 50 years; It's a pretty amazing feeling,” she said.

McNall is also proud that ITOPA has run for half a century.

"It's a pretty remarkable feat for a non-profit theatre from a small town, so we're really, really proud of what we've done and all those that came before us that put in the work,” McNall said.

The 2026 production of Barefoot in the Park takes place in 1976 and will feature items, fashion, and mannerisms of the time period throughout the show.

"It's been a learning experience because the two leads of the show are very young and they have no idea how to use a rotary phone and there's so many other things that they have never had experience with their hands and all of a sudden, we're throwing all of this stuff at them, and we actually have to teach them how to use a rotary phone and all this stuff,” McNall said. “It's been so amazing and cool."

Matinees on Nov. 8, 14, and 15 start at 2 p.m. and evening shows start at 7:30 with doors opening an hour prior. Tickets are $20 each, $10 for Thursdays and can be purchased online via www.itopa.ca or by calling 519-485-3070.