Nothing mysterious about Hood & Dagger’s motives

A bit part in a community theatre run in Selkirk has turned into a full-time pursuit for the Winnipeg couple behind Hood & Dagger, a non-profit that’s raised more than $15,000 for local charities through its stage productions.

Since its first show in 2024, Crystal and Brian Hood’s company has used the medium of mystery theatre to provide dozens of amateur actors and stage crew with key roles while also giving a financial boost to organizations such as Harvest Manitoba and the Winnipeg Pet Rescue.

Hood and Dagger’s next production — a stage version of Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps running today through Sunday at the Gas Station Arts Centre — has sold out all five of its shows at $25 per ticket. Local food assistance program Agape Table is the designated beneficiary for the thriller, which should easily push Hood & Dagger past the $20,000 plateau.

“In a nutshell, we want to build community through community theatre,” says Crystal Hood, who was inspired to start the non-profit after playing a nurse in a production of M.A.S.H. mounted by Selkirk’s Holy Hams community theatre in 2022.

After a tough few years contending with the stresses of the pandemic, participating in community theatre proved to have a therapeutic effect on Hood, who felt her self-confidence and sense of purpose blossom anew.

“I wanted to offer the same opportunity to Winnipeggers,” says Hood, who was surprised by how few community theatre companies were operating in the city with regularity.

Using Crystal’s background in operations and governance, and Brian’s in accounting and theatre, the Hoods decided to blend the charitable element of Robin Hood and the thrilling aspect of cloak and dagger into their own community theatre portmanteau.

In May 2024, Hood & Dagger produced its inaugural show, a live radio play of Journey to the Center of the Earth, in the Westminster United Church’s concert hall. That Jules Verne adaptation — with a cast and crew of 11 — raised more than $3,000 toward needed repairs for the church’s roof.

Since then, the not-for-profit’s volunteer-run productions have grown steadily, with more than 30 participating in The Haunting of Hill House in October at St. Boniface University’s Martial-Caron Theatre.

That production kicked off a three-show season that continues this week with The 39 Steps and Miss Holmes — an expansion of the work of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle — running May 7-10, with proceeds going to the North End Women’s Centre.

Based on the 1915 novel by former governor general John Buchan and the 1935 film by Alfred Hitchcock, The 39 Steps follows Richard Hannay, a Canadian expat in London, who gets embroiled in a classic case of double-crossery.

The film, starring Robert Donat (Goodbye, Mr. Chips) and Madeleine Carroll, features one of the earliest onscreen namedrops of Winnipeg. During its opening scene, a nightclub crowd is assembled to witness the remarkable recall of Mr. Memory, who’s pledged to leave his brain to the British Museum.

Mr. Memory’s mostly peppered with queries about horse-race results, but Hannay decides to throw him a real stumper. “How far is Winnipeg from Montreal?”

That scene also plays out in the stage version, adapted by Patrick Barlow, with local actor Brandon Vink playing Hannay in the international tale.

“Hannay is a Canadian who’s spent some time back in his motherland of England,” says Vink, a Black Hole Theatre alumnus who has performed with Pembina Valley’s Candlewick Players and at Winnipeg’s Destination Dinner Stage.

“He finds himself invited to a West End show where he meets a sultry spy who pulls him into this crime thriller. Soon he’s wanted for murder, hopping off trains, fully immersed in the action.”

Crystal Hood says the rationale behind picking the script was simple, especially during a time of cross-border threats to sovereignty coming from our neighbours to the south.

“It features a Canadian who gets mixed up in a spy adventure and saves the day, as Canadians sometimes do,” she says.

Though this season is still underway, last week Hood & Dagger announced the three productions it will mount in 2026-2027: Spider’s Web by Agatha Christie (Nov. 5 to 8); A Spirited Manor by Kate Danley (Feb. 25-28, 2027); and Habit of Murder by Nova Scotia’s Joanne Miller. For more information, see hoodanddagger.ca.

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