‘Rulers’ Measures Up: Local Musical Reigns at TK Fringe
Rulers, a well-loved Kingston creation written by Gord Love, won both People’s Choice and Best Production from its turn at Domino Theatre’s Come Play by the Lake One-Act Festival this year. During my visit to PubShed Productions’ TK Fringe presentation of the Limestone Teachers Theatre original, I learned exactly why.
Following the story of a first-time teacher’s tumultuous first day, Rulers is a heartfelt comedic musical exploring the student-teacher relationship. The script uses characters as narrative devices in innovative ways: punchy and fun, each student operates as an in-world narrator, jumping in and out of metafictional awareness to describe or act as themselves. They echo Teacher’s fears, narrate her thoughts, and pester her in characteristic attitudes. The setting, a colourful third grade classroom tastefully decorated and spaced by Kayla Todd, is altered by this script choice to seem more like a dream-space than a literal space.
Micheal Capon’s compositions introduce effective tone shifts that add to the shape of the story. This comedy follows its own set of ‘rules,’ where the children fall into character tropes, with Andy (Jason McDonald) as the “bad kid” and Betty (Cindy Chappell) as the “teacher’s pet.” Capon’s composition layers onto these tropes an unpredictable nature that prevents the non-formulaic script from becoming a “one-note” musical.
Rulers’ emotional and comedic breadth is lengthened by its performances: each actor is brilliantly unique, as casting is unlimited by the common tether of a decided age range. Despite playing children, actors span from early to later adulthood. In particular, Chelsea Cameron as Freda is a believable shy girl with a belting voice, and her “Fear” song fleshes out her character and provides her story with alternative notes.
Coming from a strong first half, Rulers peters out towards the end as it transforms from intriguing comedy to a morality piece. I want more from this show, as I feel its humour, concepts and cast are teeming with the potential for a full length musical. Especially for an ensemble of this size, each child needs more time for a character arc to be suitably enacted. As the show’s timeframe and concept are tied to the new teacher’s first day, the entire plot unfolds within school hours. This backs the show into a corner, where it becomes a series of introductions with no real conclusion, besides a soothing “Rulers” song that acts as a suitable, yet perhaps unearned moral.
The teacher-student dynamic is timeless: to be alive is to learn, and to live is to set an example. Rulers delves into the difficulties, doubts, and hopes of doing so deliberately. Adequately established within its tight time frame, each child presents a personal challenge to Teacher, posing questions of who the real student in this narrative is. In all, a loving script filled with a passion for teaching, Gord Love’s Kingston classic is an impressive production with true promise.
‘Rulers’ runs until August 16 at the Tett Centre as part of the 2026 TK Fringe Festival. For tickets and more information, click here.
