HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2015-10-08, Page 18PAGE 18. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2015.
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Garratt named chair of Ontario Summer Theatre
Blyth Festival Artistic Director Gil
Garratt has been named the chair of
Ontario Summer Theatre (OST), a
group dedicated to helping its 19
summer stock theatre members
across the province to communicate
and work together.
Formerly called the Association of
Summer Theatres Round Ontario
(ASTRO), Garratt is familiar with
the OST, saying that when he was
the Associate Artistic Director of the
Blyth Festival, he attended the
annual meetings.
“I was present for those meetings
and aware of a lot of the issues, so it
wasn’t new ground for me,” he said.
“Also, I know a lot of the theatres
and the leadership at the table
already and have known many of
them for years. When the
opportunity to serve came up, I
jumped on it.”
Garratt was named head of the
organization during its annual
meeting on Oct. 2. He said the OST
is a “very important organization.”
“When attending the Professional
Association of Canadian Theatres,
there is a summer caucus for
summer stock theatres and it’s very
clear from that that Ontario has a
wealth of summer theatres,” he said.
“Other communities and provinces
don’t even have remotely the same
number.
“When you really look at the
amount of the audience in the
province who attend theatre every
year, it’s huge,” he said. “Even
comparing Toronto as the cultural
centre, the rest of these theatres are
spread out in small communities and
the numbers they have rival those of
the city. It’s amazing to look at these
incredible theatres that OST
represents.”
Garratt said that the association
exists to help the theatres work
together for the betterment of each
member.
“We do things like a joint website
and promote each other’s work and
companies,” he said. “Beyond that,
it’s about being able to network with
each other and make lasting
connections and sharing ideas with
each other.”
The theatres range in size from the
famous Shaw Festival in Niagara-
on-the-Lake to the Driftwood
Theatre Group, which produces
outdoor plays.
Garratt’s job is to listen to each
group and help them communicate
with one another.
“I get a hold of these theatres and
establish their common concerns
and common aspirations and ways
that we can address those issues,” he
said.
He said that, while external
marketing is an effort for the
organization, internal networking is
also important.
“We talk to the companies about
how they reach a specific audience
or define a specific audience or ask
about how they are reaching the
people in the seats,” he said. “One
part of our annual meeting, every
year, is for all the theatres to talk
about how their season went,
artistically and financially. That can
be hugely valuable because we find a
lot of commonality.”
Garratt pointed to the Blyth
Festival’s production of Stag and
Doe last year which was heralded as
a success at the event and which has
grown through the organization
since then.
“Since that premiered in Blyth, it
has had five professional
productions mounted,” he said.
“That’s pretty incredible and rare for
a first time playwright [like Mark
Crawford] to have that success.”
The position, which is a three-year
term, is important to Garratt because
he thinks that keeping theatres in
touch with each other will help solve
problems and share successes and
challenges.
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Keeping the lines open
Blyth Festival Artistic Director Gil Garratt jumped at the
opportunity to become the chair of the Ontario Summer
Theatre association. The group, which represents 19
theatres of all sizes across the province, focuses on
keeping summer stock theatres in communication with
each other and helping to share ideas for success and
addressing problems as a group. (File photo)
Knott, Vodden disagree over cancellation
Continued from page 3
have needed, suggesting as early as
Sept. 1.
“It definitely would have been
enough,” Witches Walk committee
member Hope Button said. “We
needed not just the time but the right
weather to do the spraying.”
Button said they didn’t know how
long the chemicals would take to
arrive from British Columbia, where
they are manufactured. She also said
that, over the past week, it rained
often, which caused a problem when
attempting to dry the sprayed items.
Councillor Trevor Seip asked if
the chemical spray was a new
regulation.
“The Witches Walk has been
going on for 14 years, if this isn’t a
new regulation, why is it coming up
now?” he asked.
Button said it hadn’t been a
problem when the event was moved
indoors last year, after years on the
Greenway Trail.
“This year, more regulations were
brought upon us that weren’t asked
the year before,” she said. “That’s
fine, regulations change, but being
asked on Oct. 1 doesn’t work.”
While staff couldn’t say whether
the regulation was new during the
meeting, Fire Department of North
Huron Chief David Sparling and
Fire Prevention Officer James
Marshall, in an e-mail to The Citizen
on Tuesday, explained that staff had
requested an inspection prior to this
year’s event. He said that fire safety
at indoor haunted houses changes
significantly after eight teenagers
died in a haunted house just over
three decades ago.
Sparling also reported that the five
gallon pail of chemicals could have
been shipped within two to three
days and would only need to be
applied once to static decorations.
He also said that the FDNH had
offered to apply the spray to the
props and offered to implement all
the other required safety measures at
no cost to the committee to make
sure the event could keep going.
“We are dissapointed that this
event is not do-able within the
window we all had,” Marshall said
in the e-mail.
At the meeting, Chief Administra-
tive Officer Sharon Chambers asked
if there was any way the event could
happen and the committee said there
just wasn’t enough time.
Seip felt the situation marked a
shortfall, both for the municipality
and the group. He said he respected
the decision the group made and
their efforts, adding greater
communication will be needed in the
future.
Blair said that was why she had
discussed the matter with council in
November, 2014, to make sure
nothing like this happened.
Councillor Brock Vodden said that
part of the fault lay with the
township because the committee
wasn’t clearly defined in
responsibilities and relationship to
staff and the township.
Councillor Bill Knott agreed.
“I want to apologize on behalf of
the township for the failure,” he said.
“We need to solve some of these
problems. They aren’t just related to
your event. We fail to come and
explain to you what kind of things
are necessary... Hopefully we will
get these communication errors
corrected.”
Councillor Ray Hallahan agreed,
stating that another event was almost
cancelled several years ago due to a
similar change necessary.
“This isn’t the first time this has
happened,” he said. “I apologize.”
Later on in the meeting, after the
group had left, Vodden said he felt
North Huron had come off looking
very bad and the event
cancellation wasn’t entirely the
township’s fault.
“There were a lot of issues that
came up,” he said. “The group was
notified about a lot of these things
ages ago or before that... They have
to take some responsibility.
“They did make a presentation in
November and they were notified
that they should get in touch with
our Fire Prevention Officer,” he said.
“They didn’t do that. I don’t wish to
lay blame on them, but just be clear
it wasn’t the fault of our staff
entirely.”
Graduation
Matthew Cardiff graduated from
the University of Guelph’s
Ontario Agricultural College in
the Bachelor of Commerce
Honours Program - Food and
Agricultural Business on June
11, 2015. We are proud of your
hard work and wish you the very
best in the future.
Congratulations! Dad, Mom,
Emily and Janelle.
BUCK & DOE
for
Sandy Earl and Jason Elg
Saturday, October 10, 2015
Perth East Rec Complex, Milverton
Music by D.J.
8:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.
Lunch provided
For tickets please call Becky 519-347-4249
Tickets: In Advance $10.00
At The Door $12.00
Age of Majority Required
Dinner and Dance
with
Live and Silent Auction
Saturday, October 24
Belmore Community Centre
Cocktails 6-7 pm; Dinner 7 pm
$100./couple ~ Call 519-357-3562 for tickets