HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1986-10-01, Page 26Theatre Review
Farm play leaves
them laughing
BY KEITH ROULSTON
One man shows can be either
very exciting theatre or little more
than boring, illustrated readings.
Luckily for the capacity audience
for the opening performance of the
Blyth Festival’s spring-fall series
Saturday night, “A Letter From
Wingfield Farm” is part of the
former.
Blyth audiences over the years
have been privileged to be able to
seesomeofthe best one-person
showsaround withTed Johns in
‘‘The School Show”, Eric Peterson
in “Billy Bishop Goes to War” and
Linda Griffiths in ‘ ‘Maggie and
Pierre” and Rod Beattie either
joins that group or comes very,
very close.
Beattie, operating now as the
editor of the Larkspur weekly
newspaper who receives the peri
odic letters to the editor from the
new farmer Walt Wingfield, now
as Walt himself, now as this or that
one of the various neighbours in
Persephone Township, gives an
impressively versatile perfor
mance.
In telling the stories of Walt, the
Bay Street broker who decides to
take up farming in the old
fashioned way (in an area where
soil and climatic conditions are the
same as Churchill Manitoba),
Beattie displayed impeccable com
ic timing. He had this audience in
the palm of his hand and he knew it
and sometimes would draw out a
particular comic stance so long that
Local high schools
host health fairs
A planning committee made up
of county health professionals and
support staff has been meeting
since February to plan a series of
Health Fairs, one to be held at each
of the county’s five high schools.
Seaforth District High School
starts off October 8, with F. E.
Madill in Wingham on October 15,
South Huron in Exeter on October
21, Central Huron in Clinton on
October 23, and Goderich District
Collegiate on November 4.
The purpose of the fairs is to
provide an interesting, hands-on
learning opportunity for students
and adults alike, set in an informal
and “fun” atmosphere. People
attending the day-long fairs will
also be able to meet the health
professionals within their own
community who are there to
provide advice and assistance with
health-related concerns on a day to
day basis.
There will be numerous displays
of interest to everyone, as well as
such active demonstrations as
fitness tests, a computer lifestyle
We are now serving
homemade soup and
a hot lunch special
every day!
•Delicious Homemade Muffins
•Pies • Tarts
The coffee pot is always on!
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Sun.&Mon.10-8
Tues.-Sat.8-8
Friday-Open tiHOp.m.
Walton 887-6061
when he made his next move, his
next facial twitch orsay his next
line he would get even more
applause. In one tale told by an old
Irish farmer-neighbour of Walt’s,
he managed to get about six laughs
out of one sentence by rationing out
the words and using just the right
pauses. Yet seconds later he could
bring the audience to complete
silence, almost to tears, as the old
Irishman’s story of how he came to
Canada after his bride died of fever
on their wedding day is told.
Seconds later, the audience was
convulsed in laughter again at a
new development.
Beattie is greatly helped by Dan
Neddies’ script that had people in
stitches.
Although the residents of the
mythical township were drawn
from another part of the province
(one suspects the Muskoka or
Haliburtan areas), the audience
obviously saw many familiar traits
in the characters. Some of the lines
also struck home as when Walt
says his farmer neighbours are
people who can lose money every
year for 30 years and then move
into a big house in town.
Considering that he had to carry
the whole show himself, Beattie
wasn’t stinting. The show was two
full hours long when the audience
jumped to its feet to give Beattie a
standing ovation.
The next event on the adult
series of the Festival is a concert by
internationally popular performer
Valdy on October 25.
analysis, and a roulette wheel that
teaches heart health. Special
events include the Heart and
Stroke Foundation’s “Jump Rope
for Heart” skippers, karate de
monstrations and a chance to get
involved in an aerobics class.
Admission to the fairs is free,
and displays will be open at each
school from noon to 8 p.m.
Fall colour tour
Continued from page 26
VI-VII of East Wawanosh Town
ship.
Visitors to Wawanosh will enjoy
a horse-drawn wagon ride over the
rolling hills of the property follow
ed by a guided hike through a
hardwood bush, alive with fall
colours. The day will end with a
taste of apple cider.
Bring along a picnic lunch, warm
clothing and waterproof footwear.
Come and join in the fun!
Formore information contact
the Maitland Valley Conservation
Authority at 335-3557.
Music, Masks and Moments, the exhibition of watercolours by Mona Istrati-Mulhern was opened at the
Blyth Festival Gallery on Saturday night. Here Ms. Istrati-Mulhern [right] discusses one of her paintings
with Maureen and Maurice Bean of Auburn.
She -tHlrtfic Spirit
Sea Somn
•Light lunches
•Afternoon tea [and coffee]
• Delightful desserts
T uesday to Saturday 10-8:30
[ and after the theatre ]
Sunday 12-4
u Blyth 523-4880
A taste treat
at
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XlleyCc
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WINGHAM GOLF
& COUNTRY
CLUB
CALL
357-2179
for
reservations
tbe
Blyth I*W
tytaao&i.
TRIPLE K
Restaurant
IN BLYTH
523-9623
AND VISIT
THE RUBBER BOOT
LOUNGE
•Everyday Specials
•Weekend Smorgasbord
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357-3341
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Wingham, Ontario
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