HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2017-08-17, Page 19THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 2017. PAGE 19.
Entertainment & Leisure
'The Pigeon King' brings music to Galbraith tale
A story that needs to be told
The story of the Pigeon King, Arlan Galbraith, right, portrayed by Blyth Festival Artistic Director
Gil Garrat, is now on stage at the Blyth Festival. It has been created by a collective of artists
familiar to the Festival and features light-hearted moments and music in the telling of the story.
From left: Jason Chesworth, Birgitte Solem, J.D. Nicholsen, Rebecca Auerbach and Garratt.
(Terry Manzo photo)
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
The Pigeon King is a great
experience that shouldn't be missed,
but those looking for a deeper
understanding of the story may need
to supplement the play afterwards.
The show was crafted by a
collective of artists at the Festival
and deals with a controversial
subject matter - hundreds of farmers
being bilked out of millions of
dollars. The play, however, takes a
light-hearted look at the events of
the Pigeon King scam.
While one could argue that the
nature of the play, a musical -comedy
with some drama thrown in, belies
the subject matter, it takes what is a
complex and technical issue and,
through the lens of several different
fictional families taken in by Arlan
Galbraith's all -too -real scheme,
makes it relatable.
All the actors and actresses in the
play adopt different guises, taking
on roles on both sides of the scheme,
but Blyth Festival Artistic Director
Gil Garratt's may be the most
memorable of play.
Garratt brings Galbraith to life
and, through adopting the man's
mannerisms, fashion and hair style,
becomes almost unrecognizable as
anyone but The Pigeon King
himself. It took this reviewer a few
seconds to realize that Garratt and
not another actor was on stage.
Blyth Festival familiar faces
Rebecca Auerbach and J.D.
Nicholsen bring to life a young
farming couple from the Clinton
area, who, after a family medical
emergency, find themselves looking
down the barrel of some lean years
on the farm. Galbraith shows up with
the lifeline they need and, after
spending several hundred thousand
dollars renovating one of their barns,
buy into what would become one of
Canada's most notorious Ponzi
schemes, Pigeon King International.
Jason Chesworth plays a young
student trying to get into farming by
borrowing money from his father,
played by George Meanwell, and
finds the door to farming he needs in
Galbraith's scheme.
Birgitte Solem first appears as one
of Nicholsen and Auerbach's
children. Her character falls in love
with the idea of being a pigeon
farmer.
What the cast expertly brings to
life on the stage is the "how" of the
Pigeon King scheme. The play
shows how Galbraith's salesmanship
earned him friends and breeders
throughout communities both north
and south of the border.
Music plays a big part in the show
and, while some of the tunes seemed
to somewhat clash with the mood on
the stage at the time, overall the
musical element adds significantly
to the approachability of the story,
with the exception of the first song,
which features each performer
picking up an instrument.
While the tune fit the start and was
a great introduction to the play, the
latter part of the song was so loud
that Garratt's monologue as
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BLYTH
FESTIVAL
IPPERWASH
WORLD PREMIERE
ON Now
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Written by Falen Johnson & Jessica Carmichael
Directed by Jessica Carmichael
The land of the Kettle and Stony Point people, on the shores
of Lake Huron, is home to traditional medicines and
ceremonial spaces. Expropriated to make way for a military
base, a promise was made that the land would be returned
at the end of the World War II. Now, seventy years later,
the healing has finally begun. Ipperwash is a play about
the ever difficult path to change, the need for wholeness in
healing, and a country's hunger for hope.
2015.2017 Season Sponsors Season Media Sponsor Production Sponsor
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Media Sponsor Blyth Festival gratefully acknowledges the support of
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Galbraith could scarce be heard from
the middle of the theatre.
Chesworth brings back to the stage
some of the powerful performances
that he showed in Dear Johnny
Deere several years ago.
Solem's flute brought a whimsical
feel to the music, a welcome
addition from previous musicals on
the stage. Her take on Mary Baxter,
an editor for Better Farming, who
was part of a collaborative story that
may have signalled the downfall of
Pigeon King International, was also
interesting and further showed how
ingrained Galbraith was in the lives
and businesses of the partners he
made through Pigeon King
International.
All the actors involved did a great
job flipping from one persona to the
next and, with wise costume choices,
characters are easily recognizable
with no reminder necessary.
Also on the technical side, the
theatre space is elegant in its multi-
functionality. The same backdrop
plays as a community hall, a farm
home, a court room and several
different pigeon barns and does so
with just a few movable mesh -doors.
If there's one drawback, it's that
the play left me wanting more, and
not necessarily in a good way.
I don't mean, I wanted to sit
through another hour of the play, not
that I'd be against that, but that I
wanted to see more of what made the
scam so infamous and more of the
fallout afterwards.
Some scenes provided little
information to story or character
development for the amount of time
they were on stage.
Some characters that served as
one-off vehicles for second-hand
information were unnecessary and
the time spent there could have been
focused on the greater themes of the
story.
In particular, Galbraith's
accolades prior to forming Pigeon
King International, such as his
claims of being a member of the
Canadian Racing Pigeon Union, the
Canadian National Tippler Union
and the National Birmingham Roller
Club, are never touched upon in the
play despite being prominently
featured in the Festival program.
Knowing about those claims would
further cement Galbraith's
proficiency as a salesperson in my
mind.
That shortfall aside, the play is
enjoyable and, true to the directive
of the Blyth Festival, focuses on a
story that impacted people in Huron
County and the surrounding
communities.
It's well worth the price of
admission and shouldn't be missed.
The Pigeon King runs Aug. 9 to
Sept. 23. For tickets or more
information, visit blythfestival.com
or call 1-877-862-5984.
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