HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2009-09-17, Page 22PAGE 22. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2009.In the Blyth Festival’s production,
House Hold, it would be fair to say
the members of the Young Company
have branched out this year.
The doors to House Hold opened
15 minutes before the show was
scheduled to start, with seven
snoozing Young Company members
on the floor of The Phillips Studio.
For 15 minutes they lay there, only
rousing from slumber once the
audience was seated and the lights
were down.
Set in a seemingly post-
apocalyptic world where the parents
are gone and the teenagers await
their potential return, seven Huron
County youths live together,
bunkered down in one home.
The kids are well-behaved,
regimented and draw from The
Sound Of Music for many of their
routines. They introduce themselves,
stepping forward and saying their
name. They clean up with song and
they turn in for the night with song
as well.
After being alone for over 1,000
days, they have disobeyed one rule
left to them by their parents. They
have opened the windows.
Their only contact with the outside
world is a weekly trip to
Scrimgeour’s, for which, they have
been given the key. However, apart
from their weekly grocery run, no
one comes in and no one goes
out.
Their quiet and comfortable
existence comes to a screeching halt,
however, when one day, while
cleaning the house, a world they
were told was empty, proves to be
anything but. A group of six fellow
Huron County teenagers begin
banging on the windows of their
home.
The Others, a name they’re given
by the original group of seven, are a
mix between the vagrants of
Waterworld and the greasers of
Grease, sporting dirty and ripped
clothes, topped off with leather
jackets and bandannas.
The Others are eventually invited
into the house where the two groups
have trouble getting along, as one is
regimented, clean and proper, while
the Others are dirty and slightly less
organized.
The first group attempts to
squeeze the others into the mould
they have created, which proves to
be a difficult exercise.
The fun-loving Others begin to
infiltrate their Sound Of Music-
loving hosts, specifically when the
majority of the group heads to
Scrimgeour’s for their weekly
grocery trip and Young Company
veteran Dan Moran stays behind to
keep an eye on the Others.
Moran succumbs to their fun-
loving ways, much to the surprise of
the rest of the group.
After a cacophonous scene where
everyone argues with everyone,
Amelia MacIsaac of the first group
and T.J. Robertson of the Others,
who strike up a bit of a romance over
the course of the production,
convince the entire group there is
enough food for all and that they
should set the tables.
It is Moran who elevates the
dinner scene. While the two groups
begin to silently bond with each
other, it is to a soundtrack of
beautiful piano music, the ivories
being tickled by Moran himself.
It is after this soft musical
interlude that things begin to change.
The groups begin to view eachother in a more favourable light.What began as a household out ofthe pages of The Sound Of Music,
ends up as something out of Stomp,
priming for a cathartic jail break at
the end of the play. Members of the
original group lament being caged
and discuss how much they miss the
outdoors, something they have been
deprived of for years.
This year’s Young Company crop,
under the watchful eye of second-
year director Rebecca Picherak and
dramaturge Gil Garratt, in his ninth
year with the Young Company,
clobber this year’s project in a loud
and confrontational manner.
Last year’s production had focused
on the people of Blyth. It explored
how they perceived the area
teenagers and how they felt about
themselves.
This year’s theme is “encountering
the other,” in which the Young
Company explored systems of
government. It explored how
teenagers felt about each other and
how two groups on opposite ends of
the spectrum could come together
and live peacefully.
While last year’s Teenage Home
Invasions was thought-provoking,
interactive and brave, House Hold
focused explicitly on teenage life
while incorporating several
Shakespearean references, making
for a less accessible narrative.
The Young Company doesn’t have
as serious of aspirations as it did last
year, when members discussed
topics such as life, death, religion
and homosexuality with members of
the community. This year they
are content to keep things on
their level, producing something
for teenagers by teenagers and the
results are interesting, as a
Young Company production often
is.
The Huron community Family
Health Team and the Municipality of
Huron East are partnering again this
year to promote health and fitness in
the community.
Walk for Wellness is an indoor
walking program designed to be
both flexible and safe. Participants
are encouraged to walk as much or
as little as they wish in a safe indoor
venue. Sessions are scheduled for
weekday mornings in both Seaforth
and Brussels.
Along with the walking program,
Huron community Family Health
Team staff will be providing
information sessions on nutrition,
exercise and other health-related
topics. With support from
Take Heart Huron, the Huron
community Family Health Team
will be working with all
participants to encourage health
and wellness in the community.
Sessions will be held at the
community centres in both Brussels
and Seaforth and will run to
spring 2010. This program will
give everyone a chance to walk in
safety without fear of slipping
and falling in snow and ice this
winter.
The kick off for this program will
be 9 a.m. Sept. 22 in Brussels and 9
a.m. Sept. 24 in Seaforth at the
community centres.
Participants are encouraged to
attend the opening sessions as free
pedometers will be available to
participants in the program while
supplies last.
Under house arrest
This year’s Young Company went apocalyptic with their production of House Hold. The teens
pondered very adult concepts like government and prejudice in this year’s project, one of
their wildest plays yet. The Young Company 2009 is, back row, from left: Becca Beardsley,
Danielle Dobbyn, Curtis teBrinke, Curtis Hall, Sadie Chalmers, Allannah Roy, Natty Barnett,
Liese Bornath, Regan Bezaire, Katey Bornath, Dan Moran, Beth Beardsley and C.J.
Bouwman. Front row, from left: T.J. Robertson, Amelia MacIsaac and Reuben Elliott-Fisher.
(Courtesy photo)
By Shawn LoughlinThe CitizenTheatre reviewYoung Company stomps through House Hold
Brussels holds Walk for Wellness on weekdays
MP Ben Lobb, Member of
Parliament for Huron-Bruce,
announced support, Sept. 9, from the
Government of Canada for the
second Annual Celebration of First
Nations in Huron County
celebrating the local arts and
focusing on First Nations culture in
Huron County.
“This funding is a great vote of
confidence for the event,” said Rick
Sickinger, co-ordinator, Heritage
and Culture Partnership. The
Heritage and Culture Partnership has
received funding of $10,065 to help
present its event which will take
place Oct. 3 and 4 at The Blyth
Festival, Blyth, Goderich Library
and Huron County Museum,
Goderich and the Clan Gregor
Square in Bayfield.
For more information on the
Celebration of First Nations in
Huron County please visit:
www.heritageandculture.on.ca
Congratulations Mom & Dad
Happy 50th Anniversary Jean & Don
Happy 80th Birthday Don ~ Happy 75th Birthday Jean ~ Happy 11th Birthday Ryelle
Open House ~ September 20, 2009 ~ 1 pm - ???
41656 Cranbrook Rd.
Everyone welcome BYOB & lawn chairs
Love from Hugh & Monica, Ken & Linda & grandchildren Krista, Raven, Ryelle & Kaylee
MP brings celebration funding