Community, Ecology, and Art at the River Clyde Pageant
Dive into a conversation with Megan Stewart, Artistic Director and co-founder of the River Clyde Pageant, a non-profit organization based in Abegweit, Prince Edward Island, that produces a season of outdoor, community-engaged theatre and art events.
The Evolution of an Island Tradition
Clyde River Pageant organizers Megan Stewart, Ker Wells and Emily Wells on the River Clyde in New Glasgow.(Clyde River Pageant)
Megan shares her journey as a theatre maker, which included co-founding the Island Fringe Festival before meeting her co-founder, Kerr Wells, while pursuing her Master’s in Fine Arts. Learn how their shared love for “strange forms of theatre” and a desire to address local issues like environmental pollution and precarious livelihoods ignited the idea for a large-scale, outdoor community play centered on the ailing River Clyde in the village of New Glasgow.
Discover how the Pageant began as a small, six-week experiment in 2016 and grew through continuous community dialogue—including essential yearly “debriefs”—into a beloved seasonal tradition, expanding to include a fall harvest festival, Sharing the Field, and a Solstice Walk.
Navigating Disruption: Grief, Pandemic, and Fiona
The interview touches on deeply personal and collective challenges that have shaped the Pageant. Megan speaks candidly about the difficult loss of co-founder Kerr Wells, the resilience of the core team (including Kerr’s sisters), and how the ensemble found solace and continuity in a “fallow year” during the pandemic.
Most recently, the organization has pivoted its focus in response to Hurricane Fiona’s devastation on PEI’s forests. Megan discusses the creative and thematic shift for the current performance cycle, moving away from the river to focus on forest resiliency and how great disruption can create opportunities to reinvent our relationships with the world. She also addresses the current nomadic nature of the company and the critical need for a permanent, rooted home in New Glasgow.
Collaborative Magic: Beyond Professional vs. Amateur
A core theme of the discussion is the Pageant’s radical rejection of the separation between “professional” and “community” artists. Megan shares her philosophy on co-creation, where the skills of everyone—from veterans to those whose art is a “side hobby”—are celebrated and integrated.
“That line doesn’t exist… you can’t really tell, there’s no sort of like clear separation.”
Hear why working with a diverse ensemble of collaborators—which includes teachers, veterinarians, and people from all backgrounds—is “just as rich, if not richer,” than a conventional professional arts context, filling a crucial gap for artists and creative people across the Island.