A ‘mostly” fact based comedy …..
THE WHIMSY STATE or
THE PRINCIPALITY OF OUTER BALDONIA
May 17,18,19, 7:30 pm
The Whimsy State or the Principality of Outer Baldonia is a new play by
Calgarian AJ Demers that tells the (mostly) true, fantastical story of three
friends whose shenanigans get them into some trouble of the
"international diplomatic incident" variety.
This is one of those times where truth is stranger than fiction,
and this is one of the most amazing fishing stories in Canadian history.
The Principality of Outer Baldonia is a now defunct micro nation whose territory comprised the
roughly four acres of the bleak wind-swept Outer Bald Tusket Island, not far from the southernmost
corner of the coast of Nova Scotia.
Ardent fisherman, Russell M. Arundel, chairman of the Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of Long
Island, New York, stumbled across the island while fishing recreationally for tuna, which were
plentiful there at the time. In 1948, he bought the island for $750.00. Arundel constructed a stone
building for himself and his friends to use as a fishing lodge during the sport - fishing season. He
called it the Royal Palace, although it was anything but. Legend has it that it was, in fact, while he
and his friends were engaged in a long night of rum drinking, that they conceived, wrote and
approved the Declaration of Independence of Outer Baldonia. The original text of the Declaration is
preserved today in the Yarmouth, Nova Scotia County Museum. The gist of it is in the following
excerpt:
‘Fishermen are endowed with the following inalienable rights: the right to lie and be believed.
The right of freedom from questioning, nagging, shaving, interruption, women, taxes,
politics, war, monologues, cant and inhibition. The right to applause, vanity, flattery, praise
and self-inflation. The right to swear, lie, drink, gamble and be silent. The right to be noisy,
boisterous, quiet, pensive, expansive and hilarious.’
This production recently opened it’s national tour in Calgary Alberta where it received rave reviews.
Just copy and paste the following website to your browser to hear the CBC review.
http://www.cbc.ca/eyeopener/columnists/theatre/2012/04/03/jessica-goldman-reviews-whimsy-state
Tickets $16 Members $15 Students (12 and under) $12
