Nova Scotia·NewMulgrave Road Theatre in Guysborough, N.S., will celebrate its 50th birthday in March 2026. A new performance space is well on its way to being constructed. The new site has been toured by actor Ethan Hawke.Mulgrave Road Theatre operates out of former NSLC site, but it’s getting a new homeAnjuli Patil · CBC News · Posted: Sep 20, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 29 minutes agoMulgrave Road Theatre’s new space will be energy efficient. (Mulgrave Road Theatre/Facebook)The Mulgrave Road Theatre in Guysborough, N.S., will be getting a big upgrade to its current performance space with a new energy-efficient building, and a show of support from four-time Academy Award nominee Ethan Hawke.The theatre, which celebrates 50 years in March 2026, currently operates out of a former NSLC site donated by the municipality.Hawke has toured the new site. The American actor and director is known to spend time in the province.”When you’ve been in the theatre business as long as I have — many decades — you develop relationships and connections,” Emmy Alcorn, the artistic director of the theatre, told CBC’s Information Morning this week.”It turns out we had a mutual friend and I really thought that Ethan Hawke would be interested to know that there was a professional theatre in this region and that we were building a theatre, because he does spend a lot of time here.”She said to her friend that if Hawke were ever interested she would be happy to arrange a tour.Alcorn said she didn’t expect anything more to come from that conversation, but a few months later she got a call from her friend to say Hawke would be there in two hours.”I took him for the tour through the whole building and talked about all the elements,” Alcorn said. “It was really great because it turned out he also believes in the importance of professional theatre and its impact on community development.”Alcorn said she is grateful that Hawke stopped by to see the site and show his support for the project. She said his seat is reserved for opening night.The theatre space will have 75 retractable seats and will be able to double as a community room, Alcorn said. There will also be an art gallery to showcase Nova Scotian artists, plus a technical workshop and dressing rooms, administrative offices and exterior gathering spaces.With files from Carolyn Ray and Information Morning
Ethan Hawke shows support for new Guysborough theatre space
