If You Don’t Know, You Wilno!

In 2026, Stone Fence Theatre returns to its roots with a new musical comedy, If You Don’t Know You Wilno! The show is set in the historic village of Wilno, where the company was born in the Wilno Tavern, in December, 2002. The Tavern and the kitchen in St. Mary’s Church, uphill from it,  provide the setting and backdrop for a hilarious show that draws on local history, as well as current events.

The show highlights Wilno’s famous Chicken Supper that the parishoners of St. Mary’s put on for many years, and goings-on at the village’s famous Tavern, which has served as a hub for community life for a hundred years or more.

In the play, a wealthy developer arrives in the village with plans to buy it up, which meets with very mixed reception locally. At the same time, a local rock band that had been successfully in the past but whose members had come to hate each other is reunited, with some difficulty.

Song titles from the show give a sense of its content. If You Don’t Know, You Wilno, A Matter of Pride, Know Where You’re From, We Don’t Hold Grudges, Wilno Chicken Reel, Take the Money, The Country Gentrification Blues, and Don’t Count Your Chickens are some of them.

The show was written by company producer Ish Theilheimer with help from Kathy Eisner and Johanna Zomers, as well as musical help from Clint Degarie and Beverly Lewis. Much of its music is based on Kashub/Polish folk songs sung by the late Martha Linton, of nearby Barry’s Bay, who recorded a CD of songs she grew up with in 2006, on which Ish played.

Shirley Hill and Sarah Wright are the show’s co-directors and choreographers. It opens in July and runs through October, with most performances at the Rankin Culture and Recreation Centre, near Pembroke. There will also be a special performance in Wilno on August 13 in the St. Mary’s Church Parish Hall, the home of Wilno’s famous chicken suppers. 

The cast includes Stone Fence Theatre veterans Indy Baker, Jayson Bradshaw, David Green, Tabitha Green, Shirley Hill, Will March, Ambrose Mullin, Fran Pinkerton and Ryan Webster, with Josh McCoy returning after 10 years, and it introduces Angela Keller and Justine Thompson. Music is by Will March, fiddle and percussion, Mike Britton on bass, and musical director, Ish Theilheimer, on keys.

Two performances will include dinner in the style of the old Wilno chicken supper. These will be on July 30 and a special gala performance at the end of the season on October 17.