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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2017-06-01, Page 15THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JUNE 1, 2017. PAGE 15. Festival to feature films focused on 'The Farm Show' This year's Alice Munro Festival of the Short Story program includes two films that document, revisit and interpret the 1972 collaborative theatre production of The Farm Show, which became a landmark in the arts and cultural life of Huron County. The first film, The Clinton Special: A Film about the Farm Show is a 1974 documentary shot by acclaimed Canadian author Michael Ondaatje. The film documents the arrival in Clinton and surrounding areas, in the summer of 1972, of Toronto Theatre Passe Muraille Company. The theatre company spent the summer living in our farming community in order to make a play out of the stories and events of the people of this region. The following spring, the company takes the play, The Farm Show, on a tour of the farming communities of southwestern Ontario, sometimes performing in auction barns and town halls. The Clinton Special documentary covers that tour and includes many scenes from the original play. The film's screening on Friday, June 2 at the Blyth Festival will be introduced by it director, Michael Ondaatje who will be joined later in the evening for an onstage conversation about The Farm Show with the play's director, Paul Thompson. On Saturday, June 3, the festival offers The Drawer Boy: From Stage to Screen. The event looks at the new film adaptation of Michael Healey's award-winning play, The Drawer Boy that premiered at Theatre Passe Muraille in 1999. The play revisits the origins of an alternative Canadian theatre — the collective An early start On Monday, Fire Department of North Huron firefighters had an early, long morning as a fire call took them north of Auburn to a potential pig barn fire before 8 a.m. Later that morning, a smoke and gas problem at a home on Moncrieff Road saw some firefighters go straight from the scene of the earlier call to the second, shown above. (Dennyscottphoto) New plumbing business now active in Blyth When Derek Cherrey moved to Blyth with his family, he worked out of the area but soon discovered a love for the area that would inspire him to start his own plumbing business: DFC Plumbing. Cherrey moved to Blyth last year, coming from Kitchener with his wife Sarah and children Everett and Audric. He found that he liked being close to home and being involved in the community, but working outside of the area prevented him from doing that. "There is a lot going on here and I want to become a part of the village," he said. Cherrey noted that many of the plumbers that served the village weren't from here, and he felt he might be able to offer people help a little closer to home. Cherrey is a full-service plumber with nearly 10 years experience and, if the job is something he isn't familiar with, he has the contacts to get it done. "I've been in construction and plumbing for nine years and I've got connections that can help me with everything from geothermal to septic systems." Cherrey's experiences and service offerings include fixture installation and removal, plumbing and pipe installation, home renovations for kitchen and bath and water treatment installation including softener, drinking water filtration and iron filtration. Cherrey said that, while he wants to serve the community and do so in a timely way, he also wants to work at home so he can help out with local organizations, pointing to his son's extracurricular activities. Last year he and his wife were coach and manager of Everett's hockey team and he coached his son's baseball team as well, two experiences which led Cherrey to want to work a little closer to home. "There is definitely a value on working where you live," he said. For more information, contact Cherrey at 226-523-3056 or dcherrey@yahoo.ca. Book Your Ad Now for the 2017 IPM Issue 35,000 copies in total Call The Citizen 519-523-4792 or contact sales representatives Brenda Nyveld & Heather Fraser e-mail: ads@northhuron.on.ca creation of The Farm Show in 1972 by Theatre Passe Muraille. Set in 1972 on a farm near Clinton the play follows three characters: the farm's two owners, Morgan and Angus, and Miles, a young actor from Toronto doing research for a collectively created theatre piece about farming. The new film adaptation of the play was shot during the late summer of 2016 using many of the original locations in Huron County. As a thank you to the community where the story takes place and the film was shot, the film's director/producer, Arturo Perez Torres and associate director/ producer, Aviva Armour -Ostroff will be on hand at Blyth Memorial Hall to share the process of adapting the play to the screen, before the film debuts on the film festival circuit in 2017. The filmmakers will be joined for a panel discussion by Miles Potter, the original Farm Show actor whose experiences Michael Healey's play and the film version are based upon. The 2017 Alice Munro Festival of the Short Story program includes screenings of two additional films on Saturday, June 3 at the Wingham Town Hall Theatre. Al Purdy Was Here, is a portrait of an artist driven to become a great Canadian poet at a time when the category barely existed. Purdy has been called the last, best and most Canadian poet. "Voice of the Land" is engraved on his tombstone. But before finding fame as the country's unofficial poet laureate, he endured years of poverty and failure. The film features performances by artists including Leonard Cohen, Bruce Cockburn, Gord Downie, Gordon Pinsent, Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, Sarah Harmer, Tanya Tagaq and Joseph Boyden. The film's director, Brian D. Johnson will introduce and discuss the film following the screening. Filmmaker, Rachel Thompson screens her 2017 documentary, Theatre Beyond Walls which tells the incredible story of a man, Paul Thompson, and a theatre company that provoked a cultural movement in Canada. The 1970s were a time of change and so it seemed fitting that Canadian anglophones, with a reputation as being reserved, would follow. But how? It took alternative theatre companies like Toronto's Theatre Passe Muraille that came out of Rochdale College, to break down walls set up by a British colonized theatre style and class system. The film includes interviews with: Paul Thompson, Michael Ondaatje, Jim Garrard, Eric Peterson, Anne Anglin, Linda Griffiths, Rick Salutin, Graham Greene, Booth Savage, Brenda Darling, Paul Kelman, Joanna McIntyre, Janet Amos, David Fox, Miles Potter, Fina MacDonell, Ted Johns, Alon Nashman, Brad Fraser, Naomi Sniekus and historian Don Rubin. For more information on programming and tickets to this year's Alice Munro Festival of the Short Story, June 2-4, including author readings, writer master classes and author panels, visit alicemunrofestival.ca • Colour Printing • Posters • Letterheads • Envelopes • Business Cards • Business Forms • Brochures • Flyers • Carbonless Forms • Labels WE CAN DO IT ALL! Blyth's Main St. looking from King Street 410 history • heritage • tradition Be Part of History The Citizen will publish a special commemorative issue for the celebration of Blyth's 140th anniversary July 28 - 30 Make sure you're part of this memorable issue to be published July 27. CaII today to reserve advertising to tell the story of your business or your family. 413 Queen St., Blyth • • 541 Turnberry St., Brussels 519-523-4792 The Citizen 519-887-9114