Can Sugar Road be saved?
Can lost love be rekindled?
Reviewed by Sandi Laird & Tori Laird
One thing we love about Port Stanley Festival Theatre is the proximity of the audience to the stage and actors. It’s up close and heartening. As the scene opens at Sugar Road, an amusement park in small town Ontario, you feel invested. Kudos for this set design go to Eric Bunnell.
Hannah and her somewhat nutty friend Caroline are preparing for a big event – the Spurs & Hearts Festival is coming to Sugar Road with headliner Jesse Emberley. The town is excited, Caroline is ecstatic, but Hannah, who knows this festival will provide a much-needed infusion of cash into the struggling Sugar Road, clearly has reservations. It seems Hannah has a secret. As the story moves forward, we learn more about the sadness, disappointment and fear that keeps Hannah tethered to Sugar Road. She receives support from the amusement park handyman Ray and best pal Caroline but keeps her true feelings close to the vest.
The performances of Sarah Machin Gale, a veteran at PSFT, as Caroline, and Scott Maudsley as Ray stand out. Gale’s Caroline is loud and hilarious and gets the best lines. Her physical comedic abilities are amazing. The scene in the sleeping bag is awesome. Maudsley’s Ray is patient and understanding – a friend we all would want. He really comes into his own in the second act as we move towards the unravelling of the secret all the characters want – a longing to be loved for Caroline and Ray, and the rekindling of past love for Hannah and Jesse.
The music – performed by actor Mayson Sonntag – sets the tone for the bittersweet, nostalgic ache felt by MacKinnon as Hannah and Sonntag as Jesse. Their story is revealed largely in flashbacks to when they first crossed paths 12 years prior. A change of shirt, a different hat, a smiling Hannah establishes a stark comparison to their contemporary identities.
Is there a happy ending for this story? PSFT promises “tilt-a-whirls, tiny sugar covered donuts, a second chance at love, a handsome country music star, loads of laughs, and a twinkling midway.” Get yourself down Sugar Road soon.
Sugar Road continues at the Port Stanley Festival Theatre until July 25. Tickets are available at the box office at 519-782-4353 or visit psft.ca.
Photo: Mayson Sonntag as Jesse. Photo by Shutter Studios.
Sugar Road
Written by Kristen DaSilva
Directed by Lee MacDougall
Performed by Sarah Machin Gale, Mayson Sonntag, Erin MacKinnon and Scott Maudsley
Staged managed by Meghan Specht
Set design by Eric Bunnell
Lighting design by Paige Thompson
Video design by Joe Recchia
Costume design Alex Amini
Port Stanley Festival Theatre, 6-302 Bridge Street, Port Stanley, ON
July 8 to July 25, 2026
Reviewed by Sandi Laird & Tori Laird