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Home My WebLink AboutHuron Expositor, 2014-03-19, Page 9Excitement builds for 40th season of Blyth Festival QM! Agency Artistic Director Marion de Vries is thrilled to announce the directors and creative teams for the 40th Season of Blyth Festival. "I'm really excited as the playwright of Kitchen Radio to be workingwith one of Canada's hottest new directing stars, Kelli Fox. Kelli is a brilliant, award-win- ning actor who has recentlybegun to direct plays, and Kitchen Radio is the launch of her mainstage career," says de Vries. "I sawher very first directing gig at a one- night event in Toronto a couple of years ago, and was struck by her clear vision and inventive staging" "The other new directing talent I'm pumped about appointing, to the helm of the 2014 Young Company, is our very own Jamie Robinson, well known to Blyth audiences as a fabulous actor over many seasons," de Vries says. "Jamie is currently doing an MFA in direct- ing and specializes in devised collective theatre crea- tion, so he is a great fit for the Young Company" "I'm over the moon about directing St. Anne's Reel," says de Vries. "Gil Garratt has been writing this drama for Blyth for the past couple of years and it's a beauty" "Finally, on the occasion of our 40th Season it's a pure joy to welcome back beloved former artistic director Janet Amos to stage John MacLachlan Gray's iconic Billy Bishop Goes To War, and long-time Blyth director Miles Potter to bring Mark Crawford's hilari- ous new comedy Stag and Doe to life with his usual flare," says de Vries. The creative teams include a mix of new faces and familiar friends: The design team for Kitchen Radio is Laura Gardner (set), Jennifer Triemstra-Johnston (costumes) and Rebecca Picherack (lighting); Billy Bishop Goes To War is designed by Steve Lucas (set and lighting) and Jennifer Triemstra-Johnston (cos- tumes); Stag and Doe will be designed by Pat Flood (set), Allie Marshall (costumes), Steve Lucas (lighting), and Todd Charlton (sound); St Anne's Reel will be designed by Joanna Yu (set and costumes) and Steve Lucas (lighting). "I'm so excited with the creative team of directors and designers that we have assembled for this anni- versary year," says de Vries. "The best and brightest theatre artists from mid-westem Ontario and Toronto are all so happy to come to Blyth for the summer and be apart of the Festival's 40th Season. For many it is a homecoming, for others it is a debut at one of Cana- da's top regional theatres staging new plays and Cana- dian classics. Our audiences are in for a real treat!" Tickets are on sale for Blyth Festival members and also for groups. The box office opens to the general public on April 1. Call 519-523-9300, toll free 1-877- 862-5984 or online at blythfestival.com. Director biographies Janet Amos directed the immortal Blyth Memorial History Show at Blyth Festival in 1977. Since then she has been artistic director twice, 1979-1984 and 1994- 1997. She has acted in Cricket and Claudette, Heat Wave, Bamboozled, Sometime, Never, and The Boot - WEST COAST KITCHENS Linda Reaume Designer And Much More • Kitchens • CustomVanities • Entertainment Units • Home Offices PROFESSIONAL INSTALLATIONS CUSTOM DESIGNS & COUNTERTOPS Visit Our Showroom 50 West St. Goderich 519-440-0352 www.westcoastkitchens.net Email: westcoastkit@hurontel.on.ca black Orator. She was an assistant professor at the Uni- versity of Regina 2003-2006 and guest artist at the Uni- versity of Ottawa in 2008. Marion de Vries previously directed Wilbur County Blues by Andrew Moodie for Blyth Festival. Other directing credits include Girl Who Loved Her Horses by Drew Hayden Taylor, Jumping Mouse which she co -wrote with Columpa C. Bobb, and The Red Moon by Dawn Dumont (Centre for Indigenous Theatre); the musicals Ship of Fire, co -written with Suzanne Pasternak, Bernie Gaw and Tom Leighton, Picton Papers by Leslie Arden, and Hank Williams: The Show He Never Gave by Maynard Collins (Festival Players of Prince Edward County); Yes Yoko Solo (Loud Mouth Asian Babes/Factory Theatre/AGO) and The Yoko Ono Project by Jean Yo on (LMAB /Theatre Passe Muraille); Little Dragon by Keira Loughran (k'Now Theatre/TPM); and her own play idiot (left hand thea- tre/SummerWorks). Marion holds a BFA Honours Theatre from York University. Kelli Fox directed This Wide Night at the Summer - Works Festival 2013 and Anthropocene for The Wreck- ing Ball and With Individual Desire, a play still in development and based on events in the life ofAmeri- can poet Edna St. Vincent Millay. She has assisted Tadeusz Bradecld on Candida at the Shaw Festival and Max Reimer on The Last Resort for the Globe Theatre in Regina. Most recently she has been busy as an actor, appearing as Mistress Page in Merry Wives of Windsor for the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre and as Amanda Wingfield in Glass Menagerie for the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre. Other acting credits include twelve seasons with the Shaw Festival and three with Strat- ford, National Arts Centre, Geva Theatre Centre in Rochester, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, and the Segal Centre. Miles Potter directed numerous productions for Blyth Festival. For over 35 years, he has directed and acted across Canada, working on classics and devel- oping new Canadian plays. Directing: productions at Stratford Festival, The Grand Theatre, The National Arts Centre, Canadian Stage, Mirvish Productions among many others. He has also been a guest director and teacher at the National Theatre School, George Brown College, Humber College, Dalhousie Univer- sity and The University of Missouri at Kansas City. Miles has received a Dora nomination (Directing, Molly Sweeney, Grand/Canadian Stage), a Dora Award (Directing, The Drawer Boy, Theatre Passe Muraille), and a Jessie Award (Directing, The Taming of the Shrew, Bard on the Beach, Vancouver) Jamie Robinson is a familiar face to Blyth audi- ences: Beyond the Farm Show, Garrison's Garage, The Drawer Boy, Filthy Rich, Stolen Lives, and Corker. Other selected theatre, film and TV credits include: Four seasons with the Stratford Festival of Canada, Angels in America Parts I & II (Winnipeg Jewish Thea- tre), Title role in Richard III (Metachroma Theatre), Romeo & Juliet (Canadian Stage in High Park), Mur- doch Mysteries (Shaftesbury), The Rick Mercer Report Has Old Man Winter taken it's toll on your EAVESTROUGH? Don't get caught standing under a drip! Call today to have your eavestrough repaired or replaced. 272i IT'd CARPENTRY Seaforth '))) 'gi2a='tiojo Covering all your eavestrough, siding, and replacement window and door needs Wednesday, March 19, 2014 • Huron Expositor 9 March break madness Sebben's mom volunteers for a death - defying trick. Sebben showed off a wealth of tricks and turns that helped him with the title of North American champion. Photos by Whitney South Huron Expositor As a treat for students enjoying their annual Spring Break, the Sea - forth Library welcomed Jack Sebben, the North American Street Unicycle Champion, to show off his skills March 11. A small but excited group of kids cheered Sebben on as he performing a wealth of twists and tricks, and even a death -defying jump over his mom, who bravely volunteered. Seaforth was just one of three stops on the 15-year-old's day tour of Huron County, which also included shows in Brussels and Hensall. A resident of St. Mary's, Sebben will be competing in the Unicycle World Championships later this year. McKILLOP MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY Welcomes Gaelan Minhinnick McKillop Mutual Insurance Company and Marlene Dietrich Insurance are excited to announce the addition of Gaelan Minhinnick to their sales team. Gaelan is not new to the area as he was raised on his family's farm outside of Hensall. Today, Exeter is home to Gaelan and his wife Kayla. Gaelan graduated from Kemptville College in 2007 and proudly served as a Dairy herdsman for 5 years until he decided to get into agriculture sales where he spent 3 years. Gaelan's vast knowledge of agriculture, his focus for providing superior customer service and his friendly, enthusiastic attitude make him an excellent choice for looking after your insurance needs. Gaelan can be contacted anytime at 519-238-1122, 1-877-638-1122, on his cell at 519-878-5378 or by email at gm.dietrichins@hay.net Gaelan is located at 48 Ontario St. N Grand Bend Ontario NOM 1TO. Gaelan Minhinnick McKillop Mutual Insurance Company 91 Main Street 5, Seaforth, Ontario NOK www.mckillopmutual.com