The Citizen, 2016-11-17, Page 18PAGE 18. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2016.
Entertainment Leisure
`Pigeon King', `Ipperwash' to highlight '17 season
Continued from page 1
The Berlin Blues written by Drew
Hayden Taylor. The Berlin Blues
premiered in Los Angeles in 2007. It
then toured to New York,
Washington D.C. and Germany
before making its way to Canada
with productions in Thunder Bay
and Saskatchewan.
Taylor is an Ojibway from
Ontario's Curve Lake First Nations
and has worked in many creative
capacities, including playwright,
stand-up comedian, journalist,
novelist and Artistic Director of
Native Earth Performing Arts,
Canada's leading Native theatre
company.
The Berlin Blues is a comedy that
tells the story of the fictional Otter
Lake Reserve, which is visited by
two Germany developers who want
to turn the land into a Native theme
park complete with bumper canoes,
an international longhouse of
pancakes and a giant laser
dreamcatcher.
When Garratt was working as the
Associate Artistic Director with the
Festival, he often spent winters
working as a dramaturge at Port
Dover's Lighthouse Theatre. It was
there that he encountered The Berlin
Blues for the first time, working with
Taylor in a completely different
capacity 10 years ago in Port Dover.
The play would go on to premiere
in the United States and eventually
return to Canada.
The play, Garratt said, is
extremely funny and full of rich
characters that he's excited to bring
to the Festival stage.
The season's third play is The
Pigeon King, based on the saga of
Arlan Galbraith and his company
Pigeon King International. The
production is still in development,
but it will be written by the Festival
company, which currently consists
of Garratt, his wife Gemma James -
Smith and Festival regulars Severn
Thompson, J.D. Nicholsen and
Rebecca Auerbach, although Garratt
says the group is always expanding.
The story has enthralled Garratt
for a number of years, but the idea
made its way to his family's dinner
table one night after The New York
Times Magazine published a feature
story on the Galbraith story last year.
It was then through a discussion
among Garratt, James -Smith,
Nicholsen and Auerbach that the
project became a likely Festival
production.
The story of Galbraith and his
storied career as a breeder took a
turn in 2001 when he began
approaching local farmers, friends
and neighbours, asking them to
invest in lucrative pigeon -racing
markets in the Middle East, signing
10 -year contracts and guaranteeing
profits.
The empire expanded, growing to
be worth tens of millions of dollars
until it finally collapsed into
bankruptcy. Galbraith was
eventually convicted of fraud in a
Waterloo court, sentenced to seven
years in jail.
The story is outrageous and
ridiculous, Garratt said, with some
aspects of it bringing about laughter,
but there were very real implications
for many Ontario fanners taken in
by the scam. It also serves as a
commentary on farming in Ontario,
where if, he said, farmers weren't
always living hand-to-mouth while
working off -farm jobs, they
wouldn't be quite as receptive to a
get -rich -quick scheme.
Garratt said that one of the biggest
challenges was how the story should
be told and he and the collective
have decided that it will be told by
way of a country string band
musical. The play won't be a
musical full of song and dance,
Garratt said, but rather a play with
music.
The play will run until Sept. 23,
Garratt said, much later than a
A nice day out
Tanya Ferguson, left, organized the Auburn Christmas craft sale several years ago when she
first moved to the village and it has steadily grown ever since. This year, the Auburn
Community Centre was full of vendors and money from the penny sale, as well as from several
vendors, went towards the creation of the village's new dog park. (Shawn Loughlin photo)
BUY? SELL?
TRY CLASSIFIED
. PARK THEATRE 30 The Square Si GODERICH 519 524 7811
FOR MOVIE INFORMATION...
www.movielinks.ca long distance?1-800-265-3438
traditional Festival play in the
second half of the season. Garratt
said he's hoping that many attending
the 2017 International Plowing
Match in Walton will find their way
to Blyth to take in the agriculturally -
themed production.
The writers are still working on
the play, Garratt said, so they're
hoping to hear from anyone who has
had dealings with Galbraith over the
years. If people wish to come
forward, Garratt asks them to call
the Festival office to be put in touch
with Garratt and his fellow writers.
The final production of the season
will be Ipperwash, the story of the
slaying of Dudley George in 1995,
written by Falen Johnson and Jessica
Carmichael.
Johnson served as the Festival's
playwright in residence last year and
both women are young First Nations
writers who Garratt said are
beginning to turn heads in the world
of Canadian theatre.
In the year of Canada's 150th
birthday, Garratt said, the story of
Dudley George, which really is
ongoing, seemed like an important
one to tell.
After 50 years of legal appeals and
demands over land from the Kettle
and Stony Point First Nation,
George was killed during one
protest. It was only earlier this year
that a settlement was ratified to
return the site of Camp Ipperwash to
the Chippewas of Kettle and Stony
Point First Nation.
Garratt said that the land Blyth sits
on is part of Treaty 29, and the Kettle
and Stony Point Reserve is the
Correction
In last week's issue of The
Citizen, several inaccurate
attendance figures pertaining to the
Blyth Festival were quoted in a
letter to the editor.
Attendance for the Blyth Festival
in 2014 was 18,921, while 2015
attendance was 15,144 and 2016
attendance was 19,159.
The Citizen apologizes for
passing along incorrect
information.
closest reserve to the area, so the
story felt local and immediate.
The incident, Garratt said, still has
an impact today with the official
apology from the Stephen Harper
government, the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission and the
promises Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau has made to work with First
Nations communities.
To round out the season, the
Phillips Studio will host two
productions, as well as the season's
Young Company production.
For more information on the Blyth
Festival season, or to buy tickets,
visit blythfestival.com.
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