For the first time in more than a century, live theatre is returning to one of Naramata’s most remarkable and little-known historic spaces.
Tucked beside the vineyards of Van Westen Winery on Aikins Loop, overlooking Okanagan Lake, stands an unassuming agricultural building that most visitors would mistake for a storage shed. From the outside, there is little to suggest that this weathered structure once played a significant role in Canada’s theatrical history.
Yet beneath its original beams and within its century-old walls lies a story waiting to be told again.
Built in the early 1900s by orchardist, poet and playwright Carroll Aikins, the Naramata Home Theatre occupied the second floor of a fruit packing house. In 1920, Prime Minister Arthur Meighen travelled to Naramata for its official opening.
The Naramata Home Theatre was part of the Little Theatre Movement, a growing international effort to create spaces where artists could experiment and innovate outside the commercial theatre world.
For two brief but influential years, the theatre trained actors, staged original productions, and gained recognition as one of the most ambitious theatrical ventures in Canada. Then the fruit market collapsed. By 1922, the theatre fell silent.
For more than 100 years, it remained dormant.
Until now.
This summer, actors will once again perform beneath those historic beams as Tempest Theatre & Film Society presents DREAM, an original adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, written and directed by acclaimed theatre artist Kate Twa.
“I thought if we are going to remount DREAM, this is actually the perfect show for it. It’s all about the labourers, the workers who are finding their voices and taking their power back from the elites,” Twa said during an interview.
“Standing on a stage built out of apple bins in an old theatre seems like the perfect show for the new Village Theatre.”
The production marks the official rebirth of the newly renamed Naramata Village Theatre.
Inside the restored building, eighty audience members will have the rare opportunity to experience live theatre in the intimate and historic setting.
Ronan Reinart, Technical Director at Tempest Theatre, says audiences can expect a fully immersive theatrical experience.
“We’re building a stage, hanging up lights, setting up production sound, so it’s going to be a full production experience, but inside the old structure,” Reinart said.
“It’s going to be a really special experience. It’s a way to connect with history in a way we don’t get a chance to connect with.”
Running July 1 to 5 in Naramata before moving to Penticton from July 8 to 12, DREAM reimagines Shakespeare’s beloved comedy through the eyes of the Mechanicals, the labourers and amateur actors who are traditionally treated as comic relief.
In Twa’s adaptation, those overlooked characters take centre stage.
The result is a fresh, funny, and highly accessible production designed for both seasoned theatre lovers and those who have never attended a Shakespeare performance.
“There is so much joy in the show and people feel seen. When you’re thinking about Shakespeare, a lot of people think, ‘well that is not for me. I don’t like it. I don’t understand it,’ and so you get to experience a Mid Summernight’s Dream and you start to understand it with the mechanicals. The mechanicals are the comic relief. They are the side characters who everyone makes fun of. Those are the characters who take over the entire script. They perform it their way. Instead of a sword fight, we have a dance off. There’s a lot of modern nuances,” Twa says.
Before each performance, audience members can enjoy a glass of wine from Van Westen Vineyards or a locally crafted beer from Cannery Brewing, creating a uniquely Naramata experience that blends history, culture, community, and local flavours.
For Van Westen Vineyards owner Robert Van Westen, helping revive the theatre has been both a labour of love and an investment in Naramata’s future.
The building, which has long served as farm storage, is now being transformed into a gathering place where stories can once again come to life.
“Hopefully in the future it will become an event space we can use in Naramata,” Van Westen said.
On June 14, community members and supporters gathered for a “barn raiser” to clean, restore, and prepare the space for opening night. The project has been powered by volunteers, artists, and local champions who believe in preserving the community’s cultural heritage.
“It’s been a lot of work to get here. I am pretty stoked about it,” Van Westen said.
Community support is an essential part of the project’s success.
“This is history in the re-making. 106 years later, we’ve got theatre on the Naramata Bench,” Van Westen said.
To help audiences appreciate the significance of the venue, Naramata actor and writer Greta Papageorgiu will present a free 30-minute talk on the history of the Naramata Home Theatre on July 4 and 5 at 12:30 p.m. on the grounds of the Naramata Village Theatre. No ticket is required, and donations are welcome.
For Papageorgiu, the reopening represents far more than a theatrical production.
“It is a chance to be a part of a historical moment. This is the first time in 106 years that this is going to be used as a space where stories are told, where people can gather. I think that it’s important that locals come and support us so these kinds of things can happen more often,” Papageorgiu says.
“We know that the Naramata Bench makes the best wines, so we could make the best theatre too.”
By attending a performance, audiences are helping preserve not only a remarkable piece of local history but also the future of independent theatre in the South Okanagan. Every ticket purchased directly supports the artists, production costs, and continued sustainability of Tempest Theatre.
Whether you’re a theatre enthusiast, a history lover, or simply looking for a memorable summer experience, DREAM offers a rare opportunity to witness history being made.
Purchase your tickets before it’s sold out here!