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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2015-12-03, Page 26Blyth Memorial Hall has been shortlisted as a potential venue for the 2016 Sears Drama Festival and, if all goes well, it could represent a change in the way the festival will be hosted. Local drama teacher David Armour, from Goderich District Collegiate Institute (GDCI), is one of several teachers coming together to run the festival instead of having it hosted by a single school. This builds on last year when the event was co-hosted by GDCI and St. Anne’s Catholic Secondary School in Clinton. “One of the things we’ve been thinking about lately is the fact that [the festival] is a big effort for one school to host it,” he said. “It always has been. While no one minds doing it, some schools have gotten smaller so there are fewer people to carry the load in those individual schools. We’re thinking we should share the organization of each festival.” Armour said that the 2016 show will be a trial to see if that plan works and, if it does, using professional spaces, including Memorial Hall, on a more regular basis, could become a reality. Those professional spaces are great, according to Armour, not only because of the nature of the space but also because it takes away many of the problems that the festival can run into while using a school stage. “A space like Blyth’s Memorial Hall is so much better suited for the festival,” he said. “Use of the facility has no obstructions for scheduling. Technical rehearsals are on while school is in session and, while we can usually reserve space at the schools, the bells still go, students are still moving around the site and there is noise.” He said that sometimes the facilities are dual-use, like at St. Anne’s Catholic Secondary School, where the theatre space is a part of the cafeteria. “Doing it in a professional theatre space is way preferable,” he said. Armour pointed to the “electrics” of the theatre space, including the lighting array, as a benefit of such a space. “It offers the kids a really professional experience in terms of the finish they can give their plays,” he said. “That’s the big thing, making use of the facilities that a lot of schools don’t have anymore.” Hosting the Sears Festival next year are teachers from F.E. Madill Secondary School in Wingham, Listowel District Secondary School, Stratford Central Secondary School, South Huron District High School in Exeter, Central Huron Secondary School in Clinton and GDCI. One of the barriers to using a professional space, Armour explained, is often the cost. “One of the reasons for doing it in schools is because doing it in professional spaces is prohibitively expensive for us,” he said. “In a school, you don’t have to worry about the cost of a venue and passing that on to the students participating or gate receipts.” That is why the festival has gone back and forth between spaces like Memorial Hall and in the schools, Armour said. North Huron Township Council recently decided on a flat rental fee of $1,000 for the week that the Sears Festival would be using the space. “We’re really grateful for that decision,” Armour said. “The committee was pretty thrilled with that option.” The move was very much an economic development move for North Huron, as director of Recreation and Facilities Pat PAGE 26. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2015. A young playwright whose career took a significant step forward at the Blyth Festival has won a prestigious award for her work in theatre just weeks after being shortlisted for another. Britta Johnson of Stratford just won the inaugural Paul O’Sullivan Prize for Musical Theatre, which is handed out through the Toronto Fringe Festival. Johnson’s play Life After was the work being honoured. When Johnson was just in her teens, her first musical, Big Box Story, was produced at the Stratford Festival in the Avon Theatre for a special one-night performance, followed by her second major work, which was Alligator Tears, a Young Company production at the Blyth Festival in 2010. Alligator Tears was a success on all levels in 2010 being housed in the Festival’s Phillips Studio, and was remounted in 2011 and became the first Young Company show ever to be performed on the Memorial Hall stage when Johnson was just 20 years old. She also co-directed the production. Johnson attended the University of Toronto and graduated last year. She then went to work producing Life After. She actually began writing the play when she was just 19 and serving as the Paprika Festival’s playwright in residence in Toronto, returning to the project again later on. Life After, a story about a 16-year- old girl coming to terms with the death of her father, a famous author of self-help books, was then chosen as the Paprika Festival’s fundraiser, which led to a public reading of the play at Toronto’s Tarragon Theatre. The Paul O’Sullivan Prize is named for O’Sullivan, an actor who passed away in 2012, but was known for performing with Toronto’s Second City troupe, television shows like The Red Green Show and Little Mosque on the Prairie and as a teacher at Humber College. Johnson’s win comes just weeks after Life After was also shortlisted for the Stage West Pechet Family Music Award – one of the Tom Hendry Awards handed out annually by the Playwrights Guild of Canada. Blyth Sears Festival could serve as trial Johnson awarded by Fringe Festival Coming together The Blyth Christian Reformed Church was the place to be Sunday night as it served as the central location for this year’s community Christmas service, put on by the Blyth and Auburn churches. The evening featured several musical performances, speakers and offerings for the North Huron Food Share. Here, Deb Siertsema, left, and Darlene Vander Veen, performed for those at the church. (Vicky Bremner photo) 273 Hamilton St., Blyth • 519-523-4590 Visit us on Facebook Blyth East Side Dance Learn the Tango B E L G R A V E K I N S M E N TURKEY BINGO Thursday, December 10 7:00 pm Belgrave Community Centre 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 By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen By Denny Scott The Citizen Continued on page 27