Interesting Theatre presents the world première of The Stepmother: An Elleston Liddell Radio Adventure

WINNIPEG, MB — What happens when a best-selling novelist, a Methodist minister and a former military intelligence officer find themselves sharing the same identity? For Winnipeg playwright Tim Higgins, the answer is the Reverend Elleston Liddell, whose remarkable adventures have become the basis of a series of historical mysteries set in Edwardian Manitoba.

Liddell returns in The Stepmother: An Elleston Liddell Radio Adventure, receiving its world première November 18, 20 and 21 at Young United Church in Winnipeg. The character was inspired by a real Winnipeg clergyman, the Reverend Charles Gordon, who, writing under the pen name Ralph Connor, was one of the most widely read novelists in the British Empire before the First World War. Like Gordon, the fictional Elleston combines literary celebrity with an active ministry, although his earlier service in military intelligence has also equipped him with decidedly unconventional investigative skills.

Set in Manitoba in 1909, The Stepmother begins with the sudden death of wealthy landowner Marston Liddell during a winter hunting expedition. His daughter Emily returns from Europe to discover that her father has remarried, leaving his new wife Hannah in charge of the family estate. The reading of Marston’s will makes both women wealthy but imposes unexpected conditions that neither welcomes. When Emily’s health begins to deteriorate and her relationship with Hannah becomes increasingly troubled, Elleston and his wife Pamela find themselves drawn into a mystery involving a disputed inheritance, disturbing family secrets and questions about the deaths of both Emily’s parents. Is the young woman’s increasingly erratic behaviour the result of grief, illness and family conflict, or is something more sinister taking place at Endicott Grange?

The mystery, however, is only part of the entertainment. Interesting Theatre brings radio drama to life in a distinctive theatrical experience that lets audiences watch the illusion being created. Actors perform at microphones, Foley artists produce sound effects in full view, and the Elleston Trio performs the musical score live onstage. Without conventional sets or scenery, the company transports audiences into the world of Edwardian Manitoba, where country estates, railway journeys and winter landscapes take shape through voices, music, sound … and the
audience’s imagination.

Written and directed by Tim Higgins, The Stepmother is presented by Interesting Theatre as a fundraiser in support of Young United Church’s continuing ministry in Winnipeg’s West Broadway neighbourhood.

Dates: Wednesday, November 18; Friday, November 20; and Saturday, November 21,
2026
Curtain: 7:00 p.m. each evening
Venue: Young United Church, 222 Furby Street, Winnipeg
Tickets: $20, available at the church office or at the door
Information: 204-783-0128
Running time: Approximately two hours, including intermission