Murder mystery marks return of Herongate Barn in rural Pickering

The show must – and will – go on at Herongate Barn Restaurant in rural west-end Pickering, a venue that shut down just a year ago.

Kowthamy Santiapillai and husband Anton purchased the property and held their grand opening earlier this month, with their first show, a murder mystery called Murder in Muskoka, set for November 16.

The Herongate Barn Dinner Theatre in Pickering’s Whitevale neighbourhood was just one year short of half a century when owners Ann Ward and Steve Graham brought the curtain down on the popular dinner theatre venue for the last time in September of 2023, less than a year after re-opening following the pandemic shutdowns.

Opened by Ward’s father Aldan Ward in 1974 on a property that had been expropriated by the federal government two years prior for an airport that never arrived, Herongate was a popular attraction for theatre buffs until its closing.

The venue did not lay dormant for long.

“We are re-opening the Herongate Dinner Theatre,” said Santiapillai. “We’ll be hosting shows such as murder mysteries, local bands, comedy nights and themed events. We also have a restaurant, serving a variety of different food. We host corporate events, and different types of events all relating back to food and entertainment.”

The restaurant is already open and will be serving through the week (Wednesday to Sunday) from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. during the week, with the shows held primarily on the weekends. At the moment, Santiapillai said, an external theatre company has been hired for the productions, “until I can get a team together.”

First up is Murder in Muskoka, an evening of mystery and intrigue where the audience members put on their Sherlock Holmes caps and help to solve the crime after gambler Daniel Druff’s lifeless body is found in his Muskoka resort suite by the maid, and everyone – including the guests – have a motive.

The recent winner of the casino’s annual poker tournament, Druff had irritated the staff, the other players, and even his girlfriend, according to Herongate’s description of the play. “In fact, this wasn’t the first attempt on his life. His scheming ways bring everyone to the party with a reason to kill.”

The grand opening went “really well,” Santiapillai said, adding that the historic former dairy barn, with more than 150 years of stories in its walls, now will host rustic weddings, corporate retreats or family gatherings, along with hungry customers at the restaurant and theatre-starved locals at its productions.

The murder mystery show will be held November 16 from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. at Herongate Barn Theatre at 2885 Altona Road, located between Taunton Road and Whitevale Road.