Headline News

Creative Partners on Stage festival brings laughs and important lessons to Theatre Orangeville

June 4, 2026   ·   0 Comments

By Joshua Drakes, Local Journalism Initiative Photo

Creative Partners on Stage presented two theatrical productions, putting a spotlight on community members with intellectual disabilities as they took to the stage throughout the final weekend of May.

May marked Community Living Month, put on by Community Living Ontario, an organization dedicated to supporting, uplifting and advocating for Ontarians living with intellectual disabilities. Here at home, the local branch, Community Living Dufferin (CLD), put on a month’s worth of activities to celebrate and raise awareness.

The penultimate event was the Creative Partners on Stage festival, a three-day double-header production from May 29 to May 31. This festival is a collaborative effort between Community Living Dufferin and Theatre Orangeville.

The goal – get local residents living with intellectual disabilities on stage, acting in their own productions. Theatre Orangeville helps develop the productions and sets them up, ensuring everything goes smoothly.

The first production of the night was Life Off Mars.

Crashing in a farmer’s field, a collection of colourful Martians find themselves stranded on Earth. These Martians come face to face with the locals, humans who have never seen aliens before. Trying to fit in and to show their gratitude, the martians try job after job and chore after chore, but nothing quite sticks.

Their activities attract some unwanted attention as well. The Men in Beige, shadowy characters with advanced equipment, arrive, intent on finding them.

This starting production was visually stunning. Each Martian was uniquely coloured and highly expressive, making it very easy to follow along despite a large cast. The costumes were simple yet very effective in identifying who was who.

The story was funny and heartfelt. The Martians, obviously, were completely unfamiliar with life on rural Earth. Watching the actors have fun on stage as the aliens learned more about Earth was a joy to watch and created humorous moments. The comedy was well placed and came in at the right times, keeping the production moving and the tone light.

The story’s tone is well executed throughout. Life Off Mars explores themes of self-acceptance, confidence, and resisting pressure to change, delivering them in a way that is both entertaining and thoughtful.

Picture This was the next production following a break between the shows.

This play took on a much different tone than the first. While preparing to celebrate their grandpa’s 70th birthday, the family breaks out their old photo album and takes a trip through memory lane.

Going back to the moment of his daughter’s birth, grandpa reminisces about his life, and each turn of the page takes the family back through the years, from birthdays and holidays to more.

This production had a beautifully simple premise, but it strikes a very deep chord. The cast was clearly having the time of their lives on stage, from musical numbers, a dance or two, and plenty of random scenes that represent different eras in the family’s life.

This is a production that makes you feel happy, it makes you laugh, and the cast did a great job executing it. The theme is equally endearing. Life has plenty of moments worth remembering, and even now, they’re still happening.

With the two productions put together, the 2026 Creative Partners on Stage Festival was a resounding success and a strong way to finish off Community Living Month.

Community members living with intellectual disabilities were given a fun, inclusive way to showcase their skills and remind audiences that they are not defined by their disability.

For more information on Community Living Dufferin (CLD), go to communitylivingdufferin.ca. For more info for Creative Partners on Stage, go to theatreorangeville.ca/academy/creative-partners-on-stage.

Readers Comments (0)