Believe it or not, the improbably successful Blyth Festival will begin its 39th season this June.

Few could have predicted this longevity when an underfunded troupe of actors set up shop in the farming village of Blyth in 1975 to produce theatre aimed at a local audience few of whom had much experience going to professional theatre. In the years since plays created by the theatre have not only entertained nearly three-quarters of a million in its home in Blyth Memorial Hall, but have travelled to theatres from New York to Tokyo.

The 39th season demonstrates again the originality of the theatre which has produced well over 100 world premieres.

The season kicks off a repeat of last year’s hit musical Dear Johnny Deere, which tells the story of a farm couple, Johnny and Caroline who are struggling to pay the bills when a tempting offer comes along from a government buyer who wants to build an overpass for  new highway on their farm.

Playwright Ken Cameron built the story around the songs of iconic Ontario performer/songwriter Fred Eaglesmith, with David Archibald providing additional music and leading a talented casts of actors and musicians in a production inventively staged by director Eric Coates.

Dear Johnny Deere has a limited run from June 11 to 22 with the show going on to the Lighthouse Theatre in Port Dover from August 21 to September 7.

The main season kicks off with the world premiere of Beyond the Farm Show, June 26. Created by the actors based on their interviews with farm families throughout Huron County and beyond, it will give the audience an entertaining and informative peek into the complex modern world of the people who grow our food.

The show recalls The Farm Show, a legendary part of Canadian theatre history which was created in 1972 when a group of actors from Toronto’s Theatre Passe Muraille, under the leadership of creator/director Paul Thompson, spent the summer in a farm neighbourhood near Clinton, visiting and helping on the nearby farms and creating a show that took Toronto audiences by storm and ended up touring to parts of the United States and Britain.

Beyond the Farm Show, is directed by Paul Thompson’s daughter Severn Thompson and the cast includes David Fox, one of the original cast members of The Farm Show. It plays in repertory until August 16.

Music is back on stage with the second production of the main season, Yorkville – The Musical. Carolyn Hay provides the story and Tom Szczesniak the music for this story of a couple of step-dancing girls from the country who move to Toronto’s most fashionable area seeking fame, fortune and love.

Yorkville – The Musical is directed by Donna Feore who has directed and choreographed some of the biggest musical successes of the Stratford Festival. This world premiere production opens July 3 and runs in repertory until August 11.

In a nod to its own history, the Festival will bring back one of the favourite comedies from over those 39 years, Garrison’s Garage. First premiered in 1985, Ted John’s comedy became an instant hit and toured theatres across the province. It tells the story of a Revenue Canada field officer whose car breaks down in the “middle of nowhere”. He brings it to a local garage and the eccentric mechanic who runs it. He inadvertently discovers what he thinks is the scam of the century, but the truth of the matter is something else entirely.

Garrison’s Garage hits the stage July 31 and runs in repertory until August 31.

The final production of the main stage season is another comedy, Prairie Nurse. Playwright Marie Beath Badian was inspired by the story of her mother to create this comedy about two nurses who step off a plane from the Philippines in 1969, just as winter sets in. When they take jobs at a small rural hospital, in Arborfield, Saskatchewan (population 300), no one in town can tell them apart, including the lab technician at the hospital whose real job is playing goalie for the Arborfield Flyers. He falls in love with one of the nurses but accidentally courts them both.

Prairie Nurse opens August 7 and plays in repertory until August 31.

While most of the Festival’s productions are performed on the stage of historic Memorial Hall, built in 1920, the theatre also has a second performance space nearby, the intimate Phillips Studio.

This summer the studio theatre will have a production, Falling: A Wake, that will extend the Festival’s season until September 7.

One autumn night, high in the sky above an isolated farmhouse, there is an explosion. A retired couple Elsie and Harold (played by Festival favourites Catherine Fitch and Tony Munch) figure it must be a meteor, but suddenly their yard is filled with falling debris from a jetliner. They run for cover. When all is quiet again and they venture out, they discover an airplane seat sitting in their front yard – and in that seat is the body of a 20 year-old man.

The story that evolves is an emotional ride that is laced with humour. Inspired by a real life event, Falling: A Wake is driven by a pair of unforgettable characters. It opens August 28.

For more information on the Blyth Festival 2013 season, visit www.blythfestival.com or call 1-877-862-5984.

Believe it or not, the improbably successful Blyth Festival will begin its 39th season this June.

Few could have predicted this longevity when an underfunded troupe of actors set up shop in the farming village of Blyth in 1975 to produce theatre aimed at a local audience few of whom had much experience going to professional theatre. In the years since plays created by the theatre have not only entertained nearly three-quarters of a million in its home in Blyth Memorial Hall, but have travelled to theatres from New York to Tokyo.

The 39th season demonstrates again the originality of the theatre which has produced well over 100 world premieres.