By: Amber Grooms, Reporter

In celebration of BC Parks turning 100, ArtsBC, BC Parks and the Tumbler Ridge Community Arts Council have sponsored this year’s performance of Monkman Musings at Gwillim Lake Provincial Park.
 
Erin Hanna, director of the Grizzly Valley Players and president of the Tumbler Ridge Community Arts Council, explained that when the production began in 2007, it was just a simple performance, with Hanna playing the role of  professor Ann Kylasaur, and Brian Bray providing era-specific music on guitar.
 
In 2008, the production turned into a full length play with no music accompaniment. Almost every year since 2007, Hanna, who is the writer and director, and the Grizzly Valley Players drama company have explored different parts of the Alexander Monkman story and his dream to build a highway through the now-named Monkman Pass.
 
“The reason the play tells a different part of the journey each year is so that locals and visitors who have seen it before will have a new play to see,” Hanna said. “Any part of this story is also a tourist draw.”
 
Last year the play was not put on because of staff changes and budget cuts.
 
The turnout for previous  Monkman Musings plays have been enough for the show to continue, “but the chance of a person being here visiting while the play is on perhaps only one day out of a month is pretty low,” Hanna said.
 
“A crowd is never big enough.”
 
This year the Grizzly Valley players will be repeating the beginning of the story of Alexander Monkman and his dream to build the highway.
 
Because of the recent road washout to Gwillim Lake Provincial Park, the play may have to be relocated. If the road is not repaired by performance time, posters will be placed around Tumbler Ridge as well as on the Facebook event page.
 
Thanks to the sponsors, the show is free, and includes a barbecue.