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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1988-08-03, Page 23Playwright helps nurture plays Over 14 seasons the Blyth Festival has built a nation-wide reputation in the theatre commun­ ity as originator of dozens of new scripts on the stage at Blyth Memorial Hall but there are also plays being developed at Blyth that may never be seen here but go on to success elsewhere. As playwright in residence at the Blyth Festival this summer, Bryan Wade has, as one of his duties, to help develop some of those scripts. As the Festival begins the summer workshop process, in which playwrights get a chance to work with some of the Festival's actors toironoutthewrinkles in their scripts, Bryan is preparing one of his own scripts “Dinosaurs" for the workshops. The play, a realistic piece about young couples in a small town and what happens when they can’t change, will be premiered at the New Play Centre in Vancouver this fall, so the extra work it gets now is welcome. “It’s really a luxury to be able to use the actors and be able to fine tune the script," he says over coffee at the local cafe. He has been using some of his time in Blyth this summer to work on the script as well as a radio script for the CBC radio show "Vanishing Point”. He's also been involved in reading the scripts of other authors and helping Katherine Kaszas, artistic director and her associate Ron Gabriel decide if a script is ready for workshopping or if the Cornball drama in “Dinsley - the Soap” is presented by [back] Holly Horton and Kris Chandler; [front] Becky Penn, Rachel Thompson and Jake Chalmers. Character raised by wolves, nuns Continued from page 22 what happens next. As in all good soap operas, each episode ends with a real cliff-hanger of a situation, although none of the predicaments the characters get into, playwright Curran assures us, are mere dreams. The good and evil identical twin sisters Kathy and Cathy Dudley, playedby ChristaCrawford and Becky Penn, are especially well done, with both girls fitting into their respective characterizations with great ease as the sweet and simple home-town girl engaged to be married, and as her thoroughly wicked sister getting set to take over the town of Dinsley. Alsoexcellent is Holly Horton as the rich and eccentric Minerva Grey who spends her days in artistic pursuits while trying to find away to share her delight in life with other artists; Miss Horton’s facial expressions and body langu­ age are worth the price of admission alone. And Rachel Thompson is very convincing as the unhappy and barely civilized 13-year-old foundling, Winona, who was raised by wolves and nu ns, and who has been engaged to act as a nanny and general servant to Minerva and her husband, Earl Grey. It’s probably best, however, not to watch too closely what it is Winona is DOING a lot of the time. Stephanie Lentz, as the objec­ tionable but thoroughly unflapp­ able Gladys Glynnis, the town clerk, alsogives a performance worthy of special mention in Episode 1. In fact, all of these young actors are well worth watching, and all give very cred­ ible performances, considering the short lead time they have had to get into their various roles. The only disappointment, in fact, is that one cannot help but feel that Sadie Hood, one of the younger actors in the show, deserves abetter role than that of a tomato, considering the excellent performance she gave as the young child in lastyear’s Young Company show, Off Track. Let’s hope better things are in store for her in Episodes 3 and 4. Episode 3 of Dinsley - the Soap, not the Street will be performed at noon and again at 7 p. m. on Friday, August 12; while the fourth and final episode will take place at the same times on Saturday, August 13, at the Festival’s Dinsley Street Garage. Admission is available at the door on a first come first Served basis, at $2 for adults, $1 for teenagers, and free for kids under 12. Trinity Anglican Church proudly presents the THIRD ANNUAL BAYFIELD ANTIQUES FAIR 6 SALE At The Bayfield Arena FRL AUGUST 5, 1988 Cala Opening — Admission $5. 7 p.m. - 9 p.m. SAT.. AUGUST 6. 1988 Admission 12. - 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. SUN., AUGUST 7. 1988 Admission J2. ■ 1 p.m. - 6 p.m. • FEATURING 35 PRESTIGIOUS DEALERS • TEA ROOM For information call: (519) 565-2573 plays are suitable at all. From the hu ndreds of scripts the festival will be workshopping four plays. Dinosaurs will be worked on by actors Carol Sinclair, Nancy Ro­ berts, Andrew Wheeler and Peter Smith on Friday and Tuesday, August 16 with a public reading on Thursday, August 18 at 5:15 p.m. A new writer Thomi Root will have his play “Caged Birds’’ workshopped August 3 and August 17. Festival favourite as actor, director and author, Layne Cole­ man will have his play “Seven Crosses for Uncle Bill" workshop­ ped from August 22 to 27. The final workshop will be “Perils of Persephone" by Dan Needles and Rod Beattie, the popular author and performer of the Wingfield farm plays. It will be directed by Katherine Kaszas and take place from August 29 to September 3. Bryan became the playwright in residence after a telephone conver­ sation with Ms. Kaszas last winter. As author of the play Polderland in 1985 he knew something about Blyth but thought that spending the summer here would be a good opportunity to get to know the people since when you’re busying writingaplay, he says, there isn’ta lot of time to really get to know the community. With getting time to write his own scripts, reading scripts sub­ mitted to the theatre and sitting in on rehearsals of the Festival’s plays it is quite exciting, he says. Sometimes a writer can get so caught up working alone on his own work that he can lose touch but going into rehearsal reminds him “yeh, this is what theatre’s all about". He has moved back to his native British Columbia where he teaches at University of British Columbia and he’ll head back for another year of work on August 20. But after going back to the west he says he can see why so many BC artists have come to Ontario. There is no provincial arts funding in BC which means it is hard for anything but the most commercially acceptable work to get done. That’s one of the things that made it so attractive to come to Blyth because there is so much going on here, he said PIZZA PIZZA PIZZA OPENS B:3O P.M. CLINTON FIRST SHOW AT DUSK 482-7030 FRIDAY & SATURDAY AUG. 3 & 6 HAVE YOU EVER HAD A REALLY BIG SECRET? Some guys get all the brakes. feral gggg — PLUS 2nd FEATURE — THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 1988. PAGE 23. Bryan Wade takes a few minutes to relax from his activities as playwright-in-residence at the Blyth Festival. The Vancouver writer is spending the summer helping other writers with their work, reading scripts to choose possible future productions and working on his own plays. THURS., FRI., SAT. 5P.M.-12A.M. BLYTH INN EAT IN OR TAKE OUT 523-9381 BROWNIE'S DRIVE-IN THEATRE Brussels Optimist Club BLAST FROM THE PAST featuring: "HOOPLES’' Saturday, August 20, '88 B. M. & G COMMUNITY CENTRE Dancing 9 to I a m. — Lunch Available Age of Majority Card Required Admission — — $7.00 per person Proceeds for Community Betterment TICKETS AT THE DOOR PARK THEATRE Home of the rich and tasteless. The Shack is Back! I I I ft 1 Phone 357-1630 for 24 hour movie information Playing from Friday to Thursday, August 5-August 11 Showtimes: Friday and Saturday at 7and 9p.m. Sunday to Thursday-one show each evening at 8 p.m. THE WORLD'S FAVORfTl AWBMTURER IS BACK FOR MORE. MUCH MORE! JPAUL HOGAN DundeeH ft 1 ft & ft 1 ft