Candlelight Stageworks
"When night is at it's darkest, the glow of a single candle is at it's brightest, driving away the fears in the dark. And when the world is at its hardest to endure, stories of hope and joy are at their most powerful."
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- Ryan Leenheer
Origin and Vision
In September of 2024, I found myself entering a black box theatre in full black out. It was a gathering place for an upcoming event in Rosebud. The room was completely dark, save for a single candle burning on the floor in the center of the stage. When I first entered, I couldn't tell who was in the space. I could feel their presence, and hear the occasional sound of shuffling or coughing, but I saw nothing. Then my eyes adjusted to the dark, and within just a few minutes, the glow of one candle was enough to let me see everyone's faces. I saw my friends. My teachers. My community. In one of the deepest darks I've ever experienced, a dim, flickering tealight was enough to change my experience of the space.
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This image has stuck with me ever since. The power of a single light source to defy the darkness and bring hope, understanding, and safety into that same darkness. When I was planning my final project, I knew I needed my own theatre company to produce it under. I worked with an instructor to determine what stories I wanted to tell through my theatre company, and what image that could provoke. From that conversation, Candlelight Stageworks was born.
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Candlelight Stageworks aims to produce shows that place light into everyone, through stories and plays - Stories to keep you going for another day. Stories to bond with friends over. Stories to make you long to change the world. Come, all who despair for our world. Come, all who have lost hope. Come, all who seek any sign of humanity’s capacity for good. Gather around the candlelight, and let us tell you a story.
Latest Production
Candlelight Stageworks' inaugural production was "The Life History of the African Elephant," by Clem Martini.
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This show featured a great blend of laughter, vulnerability, and struggles which was relatable to most audience members in some way. Despite the presence of heavier topics (such as depression and suicide), this script managed to find a glimmer of hope for each of it's four characters: One man shifted from his rebellious choices, another man was able to save the future of the dear elephant he cares for, and our leading lady articulated how she could see God's plan through the play's events. Even the elephant was given hope for a path forward, with improving living conditions.
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In the darkness of each character's struggles, there was hope and humour that the audience could take home.
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And I believe that made it a show worth watching.