HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2012-10-04, Page 27THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2012. PAGE 27. Coates bids farewell to Blyth after 10 years
On Monday, Eric Coates began the
next chapter of his life as the artistic
director for the Great Canadian
Theatre Company in Ottawa, leaving
the position he held at the Blyth
Festival for over a decade on Friday.
Coates began his time with the
Blyth Festival in 1995 as an actor.
He performed in three shows that
year, starting with The Tomorrow
Box and finishing up the season with
Jake’s Place and He Won’t Come In
From The Barn.
In the Blyth Festival, Coates said
he found a “dream come true” for an
actor and something he had been
looking forward to for a long time.
“I was very determined to work
here,” Coates said in an interview
with The Citizen just days before he
was set to start in Ottawa. “So when
I got to, I was very happy.
“The Festival was just a perfect fit
for me and my sensibilities and my
values.”
The next season, Coates said, he
began being groomed for the artistic
director position under the Festival’s
artistic director at the time Anne
Chislett.
“Anne asked me what my long-
term goals were,” Coates said, “and
with no hesitation and no
forethought I just blurted out that I’d
like to be the artistic director one
day.”
Coates said he hadn’t thought
about the position before his
conversation with Chislett and his
answer was purely an impulse, but
one that ended up paying off.
Chislett responded to Coates by
saying the pair should begin
working on Coates’s goal and did
just that.
Coates began working with
Chislett on a part-time basis as the
assistant artistic director.
She quickly began identifying
Coates’s strengths, he said, over the
next six years as he worked closely
with Chislett and when she retired in
2002, Coates says he was expected
to step in to fill that vacancy.
Coates taking over for Chislett,
however, was far from a foregone
conclusion, but when he presented to
the Festival’s board of directors,
they chose Coates and 2003 would
be his first season as artistic director.
His first year, however, would be a
trying one, as the Festival struggled
to attract an audience and several
staffing changes were made.
“The Festival really floundered,”
Coates said. “The shows weren’t
popular.”
Coates said he and his team really
had to work to keep the Festival on
track in the wake of an unsuccessful
season and the abrupt dismissal of
the Festival’s general manager.
For a brief time Coates was artistic
director as well as general manager
before Citizen publisher Keith
Roulston filled the position on a
temporary basis.
“I had to totally reassess what kind
of programming I wanted to bring to
the Festival,” Coates said.
The backlash, Coates says, was
largely from Leaving Home, a play
by David French that dealt with
abuse that was not well received by
a group of theatre-goers.
“To this day I feel like I
overreacted to the criticism,” Coates
said. “I think I gave in too fast.”
Coates says he still stands by the
play and insists it was a good lesson
for him to learn early in his career.
“It was a good lesson and it
allowed me to move into more
difficult subject material
successfully,” Coates said. “I had to
bleed a bit first before I could learn
that lesson.”
Coates said his experience with
Leaving Home was directly related
to the freedom to bring in
controversial shows in later years
that others warned him to stay away
from such as Innocence Lost: A Play
About Stephen Truscott, Reverend
Jonah or The Book Of Esther.
“Before Leaving Home, we could
have never produced a story about a
same sex relationship within the
church (Reverend Jonah),” Coates
said. “That would have closed the
place down.”
Coates, who grew up in an
agnostic setting, said the freedom to
explore plays about faith and the
ability to ask questions about faith
was a big step forward for him.
“We were able to do serious plays
about faith and about people’s right
to ask questions about the social
structure of the church and faith,”
Coates said.
Coates said over the years he
learned a lot about selecting plays
for the Festival and how people
viewed the Festival, both positively
and negatively.
“This is not an exact science,”
Coates said about selecting plays.
“You’re only as good as your last
production.
“I can think of great successes like
Innocence Lost or Dear Johnny
Deere,” Coates said, “but when I talk
to people they are just as likely to
talk about plays they hated. People
hesitate to come back because they
saw one play they didn’t like.
“You can have a successful run,
but your lows can come back
quickly.”
Coates said that over the years he
was able to plan ahead and
get to know his audience better,
leaving “less of a chance of weak
plays”.
Looking back on his time in Blyth,
Coates said one of his proudest
moments was receiving a phone call
from Reverend Jonah playwright
Paul Ciufo informing him that the
play had been shortlisted for the
Governor General’s Award.
“That was the play I had put the
most work into as a dramaturge and
through its development,” Coates
said. “We made major changes to the
script as we went along.”
In addition to Reverend Jonah,
Coates also lists Innocence Lost as
one of his major successes, yet
another story he was warned against
tackling.
The reward, however, was massive
for Coates.
“When people are actively
changing their world view because
of a piece of art,” Coates said, “that’s
powerful.
“That gives validation to what
you’re doing as an artist and you
can’t duplicate that.”
Coates says he’ll retain his home
in Stratford, but he’s set up in an
apartment in Ottawa for the time
being. As he departs, however, all he
can do is thank the people of Blyth
and to ensure that they appreciate
what they have in their own
backyard.
“I just hope people support the
Festival by seeing the shows. The
theatre is well supported at the
provincial and federal levels. Don’t
Saying goodbye
Former Blyth Festival Artistic Director Eric Coates worked
his final day in Blyth on Friday and thanked those who have
patronized the theatre over the years as well as the
community on the whole for its support of the Festival.
Coates began work at his new position as artistic director
of the Great Canadian Theatre Company in Ottawa on
Monday. Coates is seen here earlier this year (holding a
fake chicken upside down) at the wrap party for this year’s
Young Company production of The Farm 2012. (File photo)
Cathy Smith & Terry Ritchie
along with
Ken Brown and Deanna Lyon
wish to announce
the marriage of
their daughter
Jaimee Leigh Brown
to
Brad (Duff) Thomson
son of
Doug and Laurie Thomson
on October 6, 2012
Ceremony to take place in Goderich
at Calvary Baptist Church
with dinner and reception to follow
at Blyth Arena.
Wedding Announcement
Congratulations
Clarence and Rose Marie Bishop
on reaching the milestone of your
50th Wedding Anniversary
Love your family
Happy 80th
Birthday
John Bos
Open House
Saturday, October 6
2 to 4 pm
at East Street Station
1 Maitland Rd. N.,
Goderich
Best Wishes Only
Ladies Day Renewal
Saturday,
October 20
9 am - 3 pm
Located at Huron Chapel
- Auburn
Guest speaker
~ Marion Ford
Praise Music and Special Feature
Cost ~ $15 (or $10 for 1/2 day)
Tickets available at
The Gift Cupboard
Sponsored by ABC Women’s Ministry
Entertainment Leisure&
Continued on page 28
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen