HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2015-08-20, Page 19THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2015. PAGE 19.
Young Company prepares for clown show
A completely new class of Young
Company members is taking the
stage Sept. 2-5 to bring the play,
Hatchlings and Hayseeds to life.
Led by Goderich native and Young
Company graduate Geoff Armour,
the show will be performed in the
clown style, but don’t look for circus
rings at the Phillips Studio where the
show is being mounted.
“Clown is a style that has existed a
long time,” he explained. “It’s not
something that is often seen though.
It requires the public and audience
interaction and there is no fourth
wheel.”
Attendees to the show should
expect the unexpected according to
Armour and not be afraid.
“These aren’t the clowns you see
throwing pies and running around a
circus,” he said. “This is the
European street theatre clown style.”
The idea for the clown-focus came
from Blyth Festival Artistic Director
Gil Garratt according to Armour.
“He called me in mid-winter and
asked if I would be the director for
the event and I said I would.”
Armour said that he wanted to
help with a clown-style show, given
his own experience with the subject
matter.
Aside from being an accomplished
actor who studied classical repertory
at George Brown theatre school,
Armour also studied masque,
movement and mime at L’école
International de Théatre Jacques
Lecoq in Paris, France.
Pairing that experience with his
own six years in Young Company,
becoming a part of the program as
director was a perfect fit.
This year marks growth in the
program as it not only features more
actors than it has previously, the
program is running longer than it has
in recent years, which Garratt
explained is a return to the way that
Young Company used to be.
Armour explained that the group
has been working together for three
weeks, the first of which was a
training week, which proved
important.
“Some of the Young Company
crew had never seen a play, others
hadn’t been in a play and some had
experience,” Armour said. “We
worked hard and worked together to
get to a point where we could all
work together.”
After that, members of the group
began generating the story, which
they are keeping tightly under wraps
until the play premieres.
“We started writing together,”
Armour said. “These kids are
definitely the authors of their own
story.”
The only hint that the group would
give as to what the story is about is
that the title, which was handed to
them by Garratt as well, is going to
be an accurate one.
“Hatchlings are new beginnings,
which this group is,” Armour said.
“They are exploding out of their
shells and finding a certain
vulnerability in working together.
“As far as a hayseed is concerned,
that plays a big part too,” he said. “A
hayseed is an innocent person, and
we’ve created that, regardless of
what the characters are, are simple
and innocent.”
The play is going to be all original
according to Armour, who said he is
there to facilitate the story, but not
tell the Young Company members
what to work with.
Since the program started three
weeks ago, the group has been
putting in long days to try and make
their specific dream a reality.
“It’s going to be a challenging
show,” Armour said. “Being a
clown, being on all the time is
difficult. It’s also difficult to write
and practise because you need an
audience when you’re working
through the play to remind you
what’s funny. You can write
something, find it hilarious then,
when you go over it later, forget that
Entertainment StopsStopsStopsStopsStops
a l o n g the wayalongtheway
A VISITORS’ GUIDE TO HURON COUNTY
stopsalonglakehuron.com
Read the
latest issue
on-line at...
430 Queen Street, Blyth, Ontario
226-523-9720
Specialty Coffees &
Espresso Bar
Lunches, Treats, Craft beer
and Ontario wine
Celebrate with
Frank & Kathy Workman
50th Anniversary
Outdoor Come and Go
Sunday, August 23, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
43845 Fischer Line, R.R. 3 Brussels
Nasty weather location: Brussels United Church
Food items for North Huron Food Share would be appreciated instead of gifts.
Happy 65th
Anniversary
Barbara and Ross
Anderson
August 19, 2015
Love and Best Wishes
from your family
Happy 60th Anniversary
Jack & Esther McCutcheon
August 20
Love from your family and friends
Comedy and tragedy
This year’s Young Company cast hasn’t been clowning around. The group, which features an
entirely all-new cast who have never participated in the program before, has been working on
Hatchlings and Hayseeds, a special clown-style play under the direction of Geoffrey Armour.
It is set to take the stage Sept. 2 to 5. Shown above being serious and below having fun are,
from left: Liam Morley, Liv Hussey, Isaac VanAaken, Andrew Machan, Amy Gras, Ethan
Pentland, Rebekah Pentland, Lydia Newcastle, Nigel VanAaken and Noah St. Amand. (Denny
Scott photo)
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Continued on page 20