HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2015-08-13, Page 18PAGE 18. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 2015.
‘Fury’ largely misses the mark in world premiere
Fury, the third of the four main-
stage plays at the Blyth Festival
sought to tell an incredible local
story however it missed the mark in
several ways.
The play, based loosely around
The Great Storm of 1913 that saw
Lake Huron become the grave of
hundreds of sailors, features the tal-
ents of actors Rachel Cairns, Jeff
Irving, Keith Barker, Jason
Chesworth and David Fox under the
direction of Micheline Chevrier. The
group is tasked with bringing the
vision of Peter Smith and the score
from Samuel Sholdice to life, how-
ever there are some hiccups along
the way.
First and foremost is that the
storm, which was billed as central to
the plot, was but a moment in the
play. This oft-forgot piece of nauti-
cal Huron history was made fresh in
the collective local memory with the
discovery of The Wexford in 2000
and the 100th anniversary of the
storm two years ago. With such great
source material, it’s disappointing
that the storm played little more than
a brief means to an end in the story
(that being the end of several charac-
ters).
With all the news of the play’s
development focusing on music and
the history of the event, both felt
underused. The music seemed
decent, but the lyrics were at best,
forgettable.
Had the play been set in any other
place, or been at any other theatre
across the country, there may not
have been such a problem but, when
sourcing locations such as
Goderich’s harbour, Carlow and
every small village around the area,
there needs to be more of an empha-
sis on the actual history, rather than
the deadpan humour that became the
trademark of Margaret, played by
Cairns.
The opening scene features David
Fox playing a secondary role as a
bare-knuckle boxing event organiz-
er, or so it seems. Fox, who is yelling
loudly and trying to maintain an
accent, can barely be understood.
The scene introduces Irving’s
Michael and Barker’s Bernard.
Irving is handed a tough range of
emotions to play through in the act.
His character goes from a ruffian
and a drunk to a romantic and then to
a petulant child angry that he lost his
love and ready to take it out on (sup-
posedly) his only friend, Bernard, a
narcoleptic boxer-turned-sailor
(which, while humorous, stretches
credulity just a bit too much).
Barker, despite his character’s
unlikely traits, has a presence on the
stage that should have been given
more time. If the storm and the sink-
ing of the Wexford had been given
its due, Bernard could have proven
to be a more likable character.
While Irving’s Michael undergoes
several different emotions, beneath it
all is a devil-may-care attitude that is
never tempered, indicating no
growth.
Cairns, whose character is stuck
between the ruffian she grows to
love and the suitor she is forced to
marry by her uncle, the judge
(played by Fox), is at the opposite
end of the spectrum.
Within one scene, her portrayal of
Margaret changes from providing
deadpan responses in every situa-
tion, including romantic ones, to a
fiery, empassioned character. While
the growth is necessary and wel-
come, it felt more as if it was a light
switch being flipped on instead of a
gradual progression.
While some might say that the
wooing of the proper girl by the ruf-
fian from the wrong side of the
tracks (or Carlow, in this case), is a
classic device, cliché may also
apply.
The stage design was well done
and helped to bring the Wexford to
life thanks to world-renowned pup-
peteer Ronnie Burkett. Featuring a
ship’s prow that doubles as
Margaret’s view of the harbour dur-
ing scenes on land, the set lent itself
perfectly to the story – Burkett was
an excellent choice for the show.
The show feels like it could have
benefitted from another year or so of
development prior to making its way
to the stage.
Fury continues through Sept. 12
and tickets are available through the
box office at 1-877-862-5984 or
online at blythfestival.com
The Huron Economic Develop-
ment Partnership (HEDP) will con-
tinue its work for the rest of the fis-
cal year after a close call with Huron
County Council last week.
At Huron County Council’s
Committee of the Whole meeting on
Aug. 5, Huron East Deputy-Mayor
Joe Steffler raised a motion that
would suspend the duties of HEDP
until the new Economic
Development Committee Strategic
Plan is developed.
Steffler suggested that the motion
was not intended to kill HEDP, but
to suspend it until the strategic plan
was approved, which would decide
whether or not HEDP would still be
relevant in the new plan.
Several councillors disagreed,
however, saying that it would be
unfair to the HEDP, as well as those
who had submitted applications to
the organization, to cease operations
before the fiscal end of 2015.
Steffler agreed with Hessel, say-
ing it was never his intention to
interfere with the two applications
awaiting approval, but perhaps after-
wards.
Council, however, voted against
the motion, allowing HEDP to con-
tinue until the end of 2015, at which
time is will be re-evaluated within
the county’s grand plan.
HEDP will continue
Weathering the storm
Jeff Irving, left, and Rachel Cairns brought to life Michael and Margaret in the Blyth Festival’s
world premiere of Fury which opened at the end of July and runs until Sept. 12. The show,
which was written by Peter Smith and scored by Samuel Sholdice, has drawn mixed reviews.
(Terry Manzo photo)
How hard can it be?
John Cox was one of a handful of amateur chainsaw artists
that tried their hand at crafting a beautiful work of art with
only the handheld machine at the Civic Holiday weekend’s
first annual Belgrave Summer Festival. (Shawn Loughlin photo)
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