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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 2018-08-16, Page 19THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 2018. PAGE 19. Entertainment & Leisure Technology distracts from good, local story in `1837' Land dispute 1837: The Farmers' Revolt opened at the Blyth Festival early this month. The play, which is very much rooted in Ontario's rural areas, suffers from distracting elements taking away from the story. Above, during one of the earliest scenes in the production, a family of settlers square off with a magistrate telling them to move from land they've cleared. From left: Matthew Gin, Omar Alex Khan, Parmida Vand, Marcia Johnson and Lorne Kennedy. (Terry Manzophoto) By Denny Scott The Citizen There is a great tale to be told in the Blyth Festival's production of 1837: The Farmers' Revolt, but much of it seems to be lost in translation. The play, which premiered at the Blyth Festival on Aug. 3, is a historical play with history in Blyth. While it originally premiered in Toronto, the play was further refined through workshopping at Blyth Memorial Hall. That work occurred at a point in the hall's history when it was deemed so unsafe that the creative team had to sign waivers just to be in the building. The play focuses on a quashed rebellion led by William Lyon Mackenzie, with the first act highlighting what led to the 1837 rebellion against the government of Upper Canada. The second act focuses on the actual rebellion, with a significant amount of focus on Colonel Anthony Van Egmond and his role in the failed coup. Van Egmond is a significant part of local history as Egmondville is named for him and his historic home still exists in the Huron East village. The first act of the play was difficult to follow with all the actors donning so many different guises that it was hard to tell which, if any scenes were connected. The play attempts to demonstrate how the English -run government was corrupt, prompting the revolt, and further that the English royalty and aristocracy were out of touch with the realities of the colony. While those messages are important to the narrative, the message was understood long before it stopped being delivered. While the first act seemed to be repetitive, the second and final act was somewhat redemptive, featuring more forward momentum and connected storylines, allowing the actors to flex their creative muscles in bringing the characters to life. Given that the play is based on historical facts, the ending is somewhat known, but the second act adventure is worthwhile. Throughout both acts, however, technology distracted from the content of the play and the abilities of the actors. Multiple portions of the play feature a camera on a heavy-duty tripod being moved around the stage to highlight specific activities on stage. While the idea is interesting, the technology wasn't capable of implementing it properly. Parts of the play rely on the projection, instead of it supporting the production. Unfortunately, being so reliant on those projections highlighted the latency between the projection and the action on stage. Like watching a vintage dubbed martial arts movie, the lips in the larger -than -life projections didn't match up with the words being broadcast by the actors. It was distracting at best. At the start of the play, the limitations of the technology were also problematic, as the projections were used to show the contents of a history book in the opening scene. The projection was displayed on a textured surface, muddling the narrative and making it hard to follow. The projections may have been possible, but they didn't seem necessary to the play. While a Wizard of Oz -like head could be projected, this reviewer thinks it should have been left to the established abilities of the actors on stage. As stated above, it's a good story, but there are a lot of distractions, both in the content of the play and its production. The saving grace for every distraction is the talent of the actors who performed admirably, bringing the historic characters from both Ontario and Huron County history to life. 1837: The Farmers' Revolt is on stage until Sept. 15. Tickets are available through the Blyth Festival box office 1-877-862-5984. James -Smith's creations take over Festival gallery Sculptures and puppets The last exhibition of the Blyth Festival Art Gallery for the 2018 season will feature Gemma James -Smith's sculptures and marionette puppets, as demonstrated by School Marm above. The show opens August 24, runs to Sept. 25 and is curated by Kelly Stevenson. (Photo submitted) Beginning on Aug. 24, visitors to the Blyth Festival Art Gallery will be treated to a show of whimsical marionette puppets and sculptures, titled "We've Been Here for So Long — the Huron County Show". Gemma James -Smith creates the pieces as caricatures of both imagined characters and real historical figures from the area. Drawing her inspiration from local stories and through historical research, Gemma depicts both day - in -the -life characters such as "Mail Order Bride" and "School Marm", to titans like Tiger Dunlop. Also represented are lesser known local heroes such as Jennie Smillie, Canada's first female surgeon and one of the founders of Women's College Hospital. Each of her characters has a story to tell. Gemma comes to her understanding of the subject matter honestly. She has made a career as a theatre creator, performer and designer working all across Canada on many of the country's premiere stages. Gemma spent more than a decade as a studio assistant to the world-renowned puppeteer, Ronnie Burkett, learning old world puppet making techniques and using an array of contemporary sculpting media. A graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada, Gemma also studied sculpture at the Ontario College of Art and Design. Her own costume designs have been seen on stages in Montreal and Toronto, and have been featured for the past few years in several productions at the Blyth Festival. I grew up in a world of puppets. There is something very compelling for me about miniatures. From a very young age I was obsessed with dollhouse furniture. As a kid I would spend hours stenciling tiny wallpaper patterns, or making tiny frames out of toothpicks that could go around a postage stamp and make it look like a painting hanging on a dollhouse wall. I could spend hours and hours at it, reimagining the things around me as though they GODERICH 519 524 7811 FOR MOVIE INFORMATION... www.movielinks.ca long distance?1-800-265-3438 were actually part of a tiny world. I'm still really drawn to repurposing found objects, especially when I can see a way to replicate the shape of a tiny thing," she said. "I also think humour is essential to art, that it contributes to art's acceptance by the general public. I want my art to be part of my community and I feel that my art has to be responsible to it. Above all I hope that it invites an audience in, and offers something they can recognize." She now lives on a small farm in Bayfield with "many chickens" and her growing family. The public can view Gemma James -Smith's exhibition in the Bainton Gallery, Blyth Memorial Hall, from Aug. 24 to Sept. 25. "We've Been Here for So Long — the Huron County Show," is presented by the Blyth Festival Art Gallery. It is curated by Kelly Stevenson and Time passes so quickly Hard to believe Lamont "Triplets" are 60 August 19, 1958 - August 19, 2018 Dwight, Daniel, Donelda Colleen Schenk and sponsored by Maarten Bokhout and Helena McShane. The gallery is located next to the Blyth Festival box office and is open during box office hours. Admission is free. Get information on Huron County attractions on the Stops Along The Way section of our website www.stopsalongtheway.ca • . Happyoto 4 : Anniversary! c� Ross & Fran McCall August 12th Always in our thoughts ever in our hearts Danny August 19, 1958 - June 2, 1979 q,,e can, rzeve2 be the drone vain when domeone we love 1 QOee