Fall 2026 News

Celebrating 30 Seasons with Neil Simon’s Rumors

Three decades of down-home humor, homestyle cooking and homegrown hospitality return November 5 to December 13, 2026

Cow Patti Theatre Company is proud to announce its 30th season of live professional comedy theatre, opening with Neil Simon’s Tony Award-winning classic Rumors. The fast-paced farce opens November 5 and runs through December 13, 2026, offering audiences 43 performances at the Tin Roof Event Centre.

“Thirty seasons is a milestone made possible by every audience member, artist, volunteer, sponsor and community partner who has joined our herd,” says AnnaMarie Lea, Artistic Producing Director. “We cannot think of a better way to celebrate than with a classic comedy, a table full of homestyle food and a room full of friends sharing in the laughter.”

About Rumors

At an elegant anniversary party at the home of New York’s Deputy Mayor, the kitchen staff have vanished, the hostess is missing and the host has been wounded. As more guests arrive, a frantic web of lies, cover-ups and mistaken identities take over. With razor-sharp banter and expertly timed chaos, Rumors delivers the kind of non-stop laughter that has made Neil Simon one of theatre’s most beloved comic playwrights.

Comedy Served with Cow Patti Hospitality

For three decades, Cow Patti has been serving up down-home humor, homestyle cooking and homegrown hospitality. Guests can choose the hearty Beef, Bird & Bait Buffet theatre experience, Thursday Evening Pig Roast Buffet Theatre or relaxed Weekend Brunch theatre, specially priced Senior Brunch Theatre for patrons aged 65 and over, or one of five Saturday-afternoon Benefit Brunch performances. Dietary needs are welcomed with advance notice.

Five Performances that Give Back

Cow Patti’s Benefit Program pairs laughter and brunch with meaningful community support. Five Saturday-afternoon performances of Rumors will raise awareness and funds for Alberta organizations: The Lending Cupboard on November 7, Special Olympics on November 14, Millet Museum on November 21, Lacombe Performing Arts Centre on November 28, and Kasota East Camp on December 5. In three decades, Cow Patti has raised nearly a million dollars for nonprofit groups, organizations and those in need.

Professional Canadian Talent on the Cow Patti Stage

The 30th-season production brings professional actors from across Canada together with local Alberta talent on the Cow Patti stage. Under the artistic leadership of Artistic Producing Director AnnaMarie Lea, the company continues its founding mandate: to provide professional entertainment in rural Canada while creating opportunities for artists and welcoming audiences into the shared magic of live theatre.

The anniversary-season company features an accomplished mix of familiar Cow Patti favourites and returning collaborators.

.Jamie Williams, Artistic Associate with The Foster Festival, has performed in more than 80 productions over three decades, acted in more than 30 Norm Foster productions and directed for The Foster Festival, Upper Canada Playhouse, Lighthouse Festival Theatre and the Cow Patti Theatre Company. Cow Patti is thrilled to be having Jamie return to Cow Patti directing the show.

Linda Goranson, Canadian stage-and-screen veteran brings a career spanning more than five decades, with television credits including Cardinal, Transplant, Reacher and Schitt’s Creek, and film appearances in The Rowdyman, The Gate and Owning Mahowny.

 AnnaMarie Lea is the Artistic Producing Director of The Cow Patti Theatre Company, an ACTRA and Canadian Actors’ Equity performer whose screen work includes Reminders of Him, Death Race, Miricle in East Texas, Me and Mr. Christmas, In Plainview, Root of the Problem, The Bad Orphan, Dream Wedding, Her extensive Selected Stage credits include The Odd Couple, The Christmas Express, The Cemetery Club Wally’s Café, Who’s Afraid of Virgina Wolf, A Gift to Last, Night Mother, Lunenburg, The Christmas Express,  and The Ladies Foursome. 

Garfield Andrews brings an extensive screen résumé that includes the films Mirror Mirror, Renegades, Married to It and Baby on Board, along with television appearances in Reacher, Murdoch Mysteries, Lost Girl, Hemlock Grove, People of Earth, This Is Wonderland and Robocops: Prime Directives.

Allan Cooke, who appeared in Cow Patti’s Perfect Wedding, Ethan Claymores Christmas, and The Butler Did it. Allan has film and television credits including A Very Jonas Christmas Movie, A Cinderella Christmas Ball, Clarice, The Umbrella Academy, My Perfect Landing, Ticket Reservationser, Killjoys, Reign, Mayday and Murdoch Mysteries.

Rennie Wilkinson, a Canadian Actors’ Equity and ACTRA member with decades of professional experience, appeared in the original Toronto productions of Mamma Mia!, Beauty and the Beast and Crazy for You, and has worked across Canada and the United States as an actor, singer, dancer, swing, dance captain and choreographer. Her screen credits include the television movies Madonna: Innocence Lost and Mommy’s Little Angel. Dora-nominated Toronto actor, writer, producer and dialect coach 

Caitlin Driscoll has performed in Bedroom Farce at Soulpepper Theatre, Where You Are at Upper Canada Playhouse, Sunshine Express at Port Stanley Festival Theatre and Real Estate at Lighthouse Festival Theatre; her film and television credits include Murdoch Mysteries, The Neddeaus of Duqesne Island, Reign, Working the Engels and Play: The Film. 

Susan Greenfield returns with more than four decades of stage-and-screen experience, most recently appearing at Cow Patti as Dinah in The Sweet Delilah Swim Club

Tim Walker brings 20 years of experience across theatre, film and television. A graduate of George Brown Theatre School and Italy’s International School of Comic Acting, where he trained in mask and physical comedy, he is a two-time Dora nominee, a Canadian Comedy Award nominee and a recipient of Second City’s Tim Sims Award for comedy. His screen work includes American Gothic, Murdoch Mysteries, The Neddeaus of Duquesne Island, Play the Film and the award-winning short I Lost My Mind. Tim previously appeared on the Cow Patti stage in Norm Foster’s Ethan Claymore’s Christmas. 

Ken Robinson  a local actor from Ponoka Alberta, completes an ensemble rich in seasoned comic timing, collaborative energy and Canadian theatre experience.

Performance Details

Production: Rumors by Neil Simon
Run: November 5–December 13, 2026
Performances: 43, including five Saturday-afternoon Benefit Brunches
Venue: Tin Roof Event Centre, 41120 Range Road 261, Lacombe County, Alberta
Reservations: cowpatti.com or the box office at 403-304-6329 or 403-396-3515

About Cow Patti Theatre Company

Founded in 1996, Cow Patti Theatre Company produces and tours professional comedy theatre throughout Canada, with a special commitment to rural communities. Its mainstage productions, youth initiatives, mentorships and long-running Benefit Program bring people together through laughter, live performance and community generosity. The company makes its home at the Tin Roof Event Centre near Lacombe.