HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2010-07-15, Page 19THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 15, 2010. PAGE 19. ‘Farm Show’ back for 175th celebration
Mortimer!
Summer theatre workshops at the Blyth Festival wrapped up last week with its finale, a
performance of Mortimer, based on the popular children’s book by Robert Munsch. (Vicky Bremner
photo)
The Farm Show, a unique theatre
production highlighting Goderich
Township farm life in the 1970s will
return to the stage on July 16 at 8
p.m. This show was originally
performed in a barn along the
Maitland River and proved so
popular it was taken across the
country.
This is a theatre production
considered to be one of the
landmarks of Canadian theatre
history. The original, staged in 1972
in Ray Bird’s barn on the Maitland
Concession in Goderich Township,
was a result of a group of Theatre
Passe Muraille actors who
descended on that farming
community for a summer. They held
meetings and interviews and worked
alongside the farm family of the
area, including the well known Lobb
family who eventually became the
central figures in the play.
The original cast included Janet
Amos, Ann Anglin, David Fox, Al
Jones, Fina MacDonnell, and Miles
Potter, and they were guided by
director Paul Thompson. Most of the
actual words in the play came
directly from the farmers they had
interviewed and to whom the play
was dedicated. Their production was
referred to as “a collective creation”
because it was created by the actors
themselves.
Eventually, the words were written
down on paper by Ted Johns, but by
then The Farm Show was already a
legend.
“In the early days of that summer
of ’72, the actors had no idea what
they were doing. The dramatic
techniques, and the songs, grew out
of the actor's attempts to dramatize
their discoveries in daily
improvisational sessions. At first the
result didn't seem like a play: no
lights, no costumes, no set, a barn for
a theatre, hay bales for seats. Simply
pure performance,” he said. “First in
those incredible performances at
Clinton, and then again in Toronto,
in Saskatchewan in Southern
Ontario auction barns, in the palatial
art centers of Ottawa, Stratford, and
Manitoba, Michael Ondaatje's
successful film, a CBC television
special, several radio versions, and
finally crowds of strangers asking,
“How did you do this?” No one
anticipated the delight people would
take in hearing their own
language and observing their own
culture.”
The production was brought back
in July 1985 at the time of Goderich
Township’s 150th anniversary. Not
all the original actors were available
then and Terry Tweed stepped in to
fill out the cast. Now we have three
of the original cast returning – Janet
Amos, Ted Johns and David Fox.
They are performing some skits
from the original play on Friday July
16 at 8 p.m. at the community
centre in Holmesville. Tickets are
only $10.
Call 519-482-7150 for tickets to
the show.
Seven years ago, Natalie Hussey
and her husband Matthew moved to
Goderich from the Sarnia area. In
spite of the demands of raising a
young family, she has managed to
set up an art studio and set out on a
career as a painter and illustrator.
If you ask Natalie when her love
for art started, she will tell you that
even in kindergarten, her passions
were drawing, painting and crafts.
That life-long passion has seen her
graduate from Sheridan College's
Interpretive Illustration program in
1997 and develop as an
accomplished artist, illustrator and
teacher. Her commissioned pieces,
often family portraits painted in her
trademark abstract surrealist style,
have made their way across North
America. Starting on Friday, July 16,
she will have a unique opportunity to
present her art to the public in an
exhibition at the Blyth Festival Art
Gallery.
For the last year, she has spent
three to four hours a day in her
studio working on this one
exhibition, titled “Carnival”. Her
portrayals of festivals and tales of
yesteryear are rich in texture and
bountiful in colour. Her abstract
surrealist style is inspired by patterns
and designs from around the world,
including textiles and even cave
paintings. She refers to these as
“symbols of civilization.”
The work is filled with the vibrant
imagination of childhood and the
simple innocence we may long for as
adults. In Natalie’s own words, “I
believe that in each painting there is
little a piece of magic. If you let it,
this magic will take you on your own
visual adventure.”
The exhibition opens on Friday,
July 16 at 6 p.m. and runs until
August 11. It is presented in the
Bainton Gallery, next to the box
office at the Blyth Centre for the
Arts. Next month, the gallery
will feature a show by another
Goderich artist, Elizabeth Van den
Broeck.
The exhibitions are mounted by
the Blyth Festival Art Gallery, a
small, enthusiastic committee of art-
lovers that believes that the showing
of a variety of fine art partnered with
live theatre is an important
contribution to the quality of life in
the community. Members of the
public are invited to be a part of their
ongoing quest to provide high
quality, stimulating artistic
experiences for gallery patrons and
for the community at large.
Interested people can phone Robert
Tetu at 519-345-2184 for details, or
email gallery@blythfestival.com
Entertainment Leisure&
MONDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2010 - 7PM
Tickets at Blyth Festival Office, Blyth Legion, Ernie King Music
(Goderich & Wingham) Credit Card Orders: 1-800-465-7829
BLYTH MEMORIAL HALL
Forthcoming Marriage
Fred and Linda Meier
are thrilled to announce the
forthcoming marriage
of their daughter
Laura Kay
to
Gregory Benjamin
son of
Ben and Teresa Blackwell.
The wedding will take place
at the home of the bride’s parents
on
Saturday, July 24, 2010.
Buck & Doe
for
Josh Jorritsma
and
Jess Austin
Saturday, July 17
9 pm - 1am
B.M.G. Community Centre,
Brussels
Tickets $5 advance, $7 at the door
Music by D.J.
Lunch provided
Age of majority
For tickets call Richelle
519-335-6836
Hussey exhibit opens
at Festival Art Gallery