Unsolved mysteries - writers love them. There's something kind of sexy and intense about the idea of a train robber, Bill Miner, having a secret love affair with an iconic poet and performer, Pauline Johnson. The idea has appealed to Wilson Creek playwright Barbara Robertson for many years, and Peninsula Players brought it to the stage in Loot and Locket, an original play with a local cast. Robertson is clear that she could be writing a total fiction, but as she says, "all of the story is possible, if not necessarily probable."
Johnson, a Canadian poet, lived from 1861 to 1913. Her father was a Mohawk chief; her mother was English. Her books - among them her most famous collection Flint and Feather - were the toast of the day, particularly on the West Coast which she loved so much that she asked to be buried at Siwash Rock in Stanley Park.
Miner was also known in B.C. for his daring train robberies (immortalized in the 1982 movie The Grey Fox) and for his prison break. Both true-life characters were in roughly the same places at the same time, but there is no real evidence that they met. Nonetheless, when Johnson died, her locket contained a picture of her secret lover. Who was it? And how did Miner escape from prison? Did he have help from Johnson?
Robertson is known on the Coast as a poet and writer of children's stories. She has been an actress and a director of the Peninsula Players and has contributed to the annual pantomimes. This is her first play. She is helped in this performance by a large cast including Berni Garrison in the title role as the older Pauline Johnson, and Monica Davis playing a younger Pauline. Rick Quesnel plays Bill Miner. Bryan Carson takes up the challenge of portraying Edward VII, while Deidre Palmer plays Pauline's sister. The show is directed by Marilyn Browning. Though a drama, the play includes humour and a bit of music brought to the stage by fiddling Stephen Beckmyer. In an ironic twist, Robertson's husband, John, also plays a part.
The robbed train's fireman, George Radcliff, was suspected of being Miner's accomplice and so might have shared some of the loot. The house that the Robertsons once lived in at North Bend, B.C., a village on the CPR line, turned out to have been built by Radcliff - an old stove with his name painted on it stood in the cellar. Robertson made sure to scour the cellar in hopes of finding loot still hidden there. Twenty years later, as producer of Loot and Locket, Robertson volunteered for a part. He was selected to play Radcliff.
After a long career, Johnson died of breast cancer. In tribute, the last night of the show will be a special gala performance and fundraising dinner after the show for cast and guests with proceeds going to breast cancer research. Loot and Locket appears April 28 to 30 and May 5 to 7 at 8 p.m. at Heritage Playhouse in Gibsons. Tickets are $12 except for the gala show and supper which will be $20. They can be bought at Coast Books in Gibsons and Ashley's Books in Sechelt.
