The seeds for Mulgrave Road Theatre's The West Woods were planted when director Emmy Alcorn saw an old photograph of Charlotte Desmond, an African-Nova Scotian from Guysborough County, standing next to a 1950s television host in New York City. Emmy asked herself: How did a black woman from rural Nova Scotia end up in the Big Apple with Ed Sullivan? That question led to a partnership with playwright Tara Reddick, and The West Woods was born.

Set in 1968, a heady but challenging time of social change for African-Nova Scotian women, when many simply decided not to work “in service” anymore, The West Woods gives a touching and human face to the struggles of the time.

Mulgrave Road Theatre was founded in 1977 and is a pioneer of new play development. The West Woods was commissioned and developed through their artist-in-residence program, with assistance from Obsidian Theatre, Playwrights Atlantic Resource Centre, Arts Nova Scotia, and Canada 150.