HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2017-11-09, Page 19THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2017. PAGE 19.
Entertainment & Leisure
Festival to debut `1837: The Farmers' Revolt'
Continued from page 1
that's both very timely and very
universal with refugee resettlement
ongoing all over Ontario.
As far as bringing Crawford back
to the Festival, Garratt says the
relationship between Crawford and
Blyth is one that has really grown in
recent years. The Festival
commissioned this show from
Crawford, Garratt says.
Growing up on a beef farm in
Glencoe was only the beginning of
Crawford's connection to the rural
Ontario community, Garratt says.
Crawford has also been attending the
Festival as a patron for decades and
knows what it's like to be on the
other side of a production in
Memorial Hall, which Garratt says
helps to connect him to what
Festival audiences are looking for.
The next show is written by
another familiar face to Blyth,
Heather Davies, who spent three
months in the village last year as part
of an apprentice artistic director
program. The show is called Judith:
Memories of a Lady Pig Farmer and
it's loosely based on the 1978 novel
Judith by Alberta native Anita van
Herk.
The play tells the story of Judith
who turns her back on the family pig
farm, only to return to find it gone.
Garratt says that the production's
title character grows up on a rural
Ontario pig farm and travels to the
city in search of a better life, only to
come up empty. She returns to her
home community to find that her
parents have died and the home farm
has been sold. She then endeavours
to start a new pig operation from
scratch on her own.
"There's some beautiful writing in
[Judith]," says Garratt.
And while nothing has been
confirmed, Garratt says there may or
may not be a line item in the show's
budget to include live pigs on stage.
The season's next production is
one with a wealth of historical ties
with Blyth, despite having never
been produced on the Memorial Hall
stage.
Some of the earliest work on
1837: The Farmers' Revolt was
done in Blyth. The play, which was
written by Rick Salutin and Theatre
Passe Muraille (a company that, at
the time, included names like Paul
Thompson, David Fox, Miles Potter
and others), was rehearsed in
Memorial Hall when the building
was in such poor shape that the
actors had to sign waivers so they
could enter the building.
While 1837.• The Farmers' Revolt
represented some of the earliest
theatre work done in Blyth, it would
go on to be produced by Theatre
Passe Muraille in Toronto and at
other theatres across the country, but
has never been produced at the Blyth
Festival.
The play was recently revived for
a production earlier this year at the
Shaw Festival, where it was directed
by Philip Akin, who directed The
Wilberforce Hotel in Blyth in 2015.
The show, which was produced
collectively in the early 1970s, tells
the story of the Upper Canada
Rebellion and features well-known
historical figures like William Lyon
Mackenzie, Tiger Dunlop and
Anthony Van Egmond.
Garratt says it's "really special" to
be able to produce the show in Blyth
for the first time, considering its rich
history with the community.
The final show of the season will
be another collective creation
involving Garratt entitled Wing
Night at The Boot.
The Boot, of course, refers to the
famous Blyth Inn (often referred to
casually as The Rubber Boot) which
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sits directly across the street from
Memorial Hall and itself has
produced many worthwhile stories
in its history, which spans over 140
years.
The bar, which has a history as old
as Blyth itself, has been a central
figure to many of Blyth's stories and
figures heavily into the Blyth
Festival's history as well, Garratt
says.
Much like the genesis of The
Pigeon King, Garratt said that Wing
Night at The Boot began with a
conversation about the characters
and stories the Blyth Inn has given
the community over the years and
what it would be like to put those
stories on stage.
Garratt says he hopes to have fun
with the production and speak to
locals, including local historians,
about the establishment's history
back in the early days of Blyth up
through the 1970s and the karaoke
days of the 1990s up to the current
day bar, which welcomes large
groups every Thursday night for its
wing night.
Research has already begun,
Garratt says, as he and other artists
have been making a point to head to
the Blyth Inn for as many Thursdays
as they can to collect information
and connect with the regulars.
Who will be part of the collective
creating the play, however, has yet to
be determined and the play will
likely begin to take shape next year.
While shows have yet to be
finalized for the Phillips Studio next
season, Garratt says he has some
interesting and appealing shows in
contention for the upcoming season.
For more information on the
Festival or to buy passes, visit its
website at blythfestival.com.
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