Lindsay Kyte’s magnificent play Tompkinsville came to Antigonish on April 30, 2015 and played to a receptive audience, clearly proud of our town and university’s role in Tompkinsville as part of the Antigonish Movement. An additional part of the auditorium had to be opened up. Standing ovation!
These photos of Fr. Jimmy and Tompkinsville reveal the power of theatre to tell a story with a minimum of historical props. The whistle blew and we were with the miners going down the mines — we no longer saw folding chairs and clean clothes and faces. We admired the sky blue pottery bowl that Mary and Joe Laben and looked out the kitchen window that was Mary’s choice for the Laben home in Tompkinsville.
Father Jimmy Tompkins with Clarke family, Tompkinsville, 1930s. Photo Courtesy of the Beaton Institute
Reserve Mines Bookmobile. Photo Courtesy of the Beaton Institute