For 12 years, a local community theatre initiative has been bringing the stories of rural Antigonish to life through music, storytelling, and historical drama. What began as productions focused on early immigrant journeys and ships arriving in Nova Scotia has evolved into a broader exploration of community history, rural decline, and resilience.
Duncan MacDonald stands beside a display featuring Moses Coady’s hat and suitcase in the Marie Michael Library at Coady Institute. These treasured archival objects — along with many others — help tell the story of Coady’s enduring legacy in community leadership and social change.
The Ships of 1801 Society has focused recent productions on the Keppoch, an area of Antigonish County settled by Scottish and Irish immigrants. This year’s show has connections to Coady Institute and the Antigonish Movement.
Ships of 1801 producer and script writer Duncan MacDonald says the production turns its attention to Moses Coady, Sisters of St. Martha, and the impact of the movement on communities throughout Cape Breton and northeastern Nova Scotia.
“We have no record that Coady ever went to the Keppoch, but we have lots of records saying he went to many small communities,” Duncan says. “We just used the Keppoch as an example of a community that was in trouble. They were poor, and he wanted to help them out, so we used that.”
Keppoch, like many rural communities, once thrived but later declined as young people left for opportunities elsewhere. The production explores how Coady and the Sisters of St. Martha worked with struggling rural communities through adult education, cooperatives, libraries, and community organizing. The script draws heavily on Coady’s actual words and historical records, with guidance from local historians, researchers, archivists, and members of the Sisters of St. Martha.
In act one of the production the community prepares for the arrival of Coady who brings his experiences to the community to encourage them to work together to achieve more. The show features the Sisters of St. Martha in the second act. Sisters Irene Doyle and Marie Michael MacKinnon visit Keppoch to collaborate with the community. Both sisters worked with Coady during the early days of StFX Extension Department and the Institute’s library is named after Sr. Marie Michael.
“These were fishing and farming communities and of course he came from a farming community, so he kind of understood the situation,” Duncan says.
“The Coady influence had a big effect. There is no question about it. We have the credit union, we have the libraries, and we have the cooperatives.”
At its heart, Ships of 1801 productions are about more than preserving history. The production also aims to keep alive the bardic traditions of Scottish and Irish communities — encouraging local songwriting, storytelling, humour, and community participation. The recurring cast and familiar community characters help audiences connect year after year, creating what organizers describe as an ongoing “serial” rooted in local culture and memory.
This year’s show, which takes place July 2 to 5 on the campus of St. Francis Xavier University in the Schwartz School of Business Auditorium, reflects themes that remain relevant today: rural outmigration, community cooperation, and the challenge of building sustainable local economies. Through dialogue, music, and historical storytelling, the production invites audiences to reflect on both where the region came from and what lessons still matter.