The international border runs right through the communities of Stanstead, Quebec and Derby Line, Vermont, and the region has shared an economy and a culture for hundreds of years.
The Trump administration's rhetoric and trade policies have upset that balance, but the people who live along the border say their connections are as tight as ever. Now there’s a new community theater company that’s looking to recognize and celebrate those connections.
Memphremagog Community Theatre held its kick-off event last Sunday at the Haskell Free Library, which straddles Stanstead and Derby Line.
“I just think of the border of like an imaginary line, really,” said Kim Bailey, one of the group’s Canadian members. “I mean other than having to cross the border, we’re all the same. We all love theater. We all love arts, and we like to be creative.”
“I just think of the border of like an imaginary line, really. I mean other than having to cross the border, we’re all the same. We all love theater. We all love arts, and we like to be creative.”Kim Bailey, member of the Memphremagog Community Theatre
The theater company chose its name to recognize nearby Lake Memphremagog, which spans the U.S.-Canada border and is about ten miles away.
The political relationship between Canada and the United States has been rocky since the start of the second Trump administration a little over a year ago. Passenger crossings into Vermont were down almost 28% last year, according to the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development.
Anthony Coulomb lives in nearby Ayer’s Cliff, Quebec and he’s still coming down to shows at the Haskell, though he said things have changed.
Canadians used to be able to walk across the border and enter through the front door, and now Coulomb and his fellow Canadian citizens have to enter the library through a separate entrance on the Canadian side of the border.
“Now you’ll be arrested if you go across those rocks,” he said standing near the new entrance, which is still under construction. “So, what can you do? It was like this for how many years? Hundreds of years, you know. So, everybody’s gotten along. Never bothered anyone else, but, you know. Anyway, it is what it is.”
The members of the Memphremagog Community Theatre did not start their organization as a political statement.
Theater company member Ross Murray, who lives in Stanstead, Quebec, said the folks who live up here still see themselves as a single community.
“And here, in this particular venue, where you have Canadians and Americans intermingling with each other, that really doesn’t happen in a lot of other places to this degree,” Murrary said. “So we’re not doing this because of politics, we’re really doing it in spite of politics.”
“Especially now, it is exceedingly important for this country, and Canada to join. And if we can join in the arts, I believe the arts will save the world."Heather McKeown, Newport resident
The group’s board is made up of theater veterans who have worked with other theater groups in the Northeast Kingdom and wanted to start a company that was more accessible to people who are new to the stage.
They have a night of one-act plays scheduled for August, and hope to produce a musical next year. Their first production was a murder mystery show, in which the group’s actors played suspects in a staged murder and the audience had to solve the case.
Members were unsure what kind of a crowd would show up that Sunday afternoon. But as the doors opened people streamed in through both entrances and more than 70 people packed the Haskell.
Among them was Heather McKeown, who lives in Newport and comes over to Derby Line to see a show whenever she can.
“Especially now, it is exceedingly important for this country and Canada to join. And if we can join in the arts, I believe the arts will save the world,” she said. “And this group, I know them. They’re fabulous. They’re young. They’re energetic. They’re brilliant and they love where we live. So they’re going to be a very positive force.”
