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Home My WebLink AboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1981-03-25, Page 13"-. • • BY JOANNE 'BUCHANAN Si Sam and the Nukes, Ted Johnshilarious play • about nuclear power which proiniered at the Blyth Summer Festival last year, has been reborn, And even if • you saw it the firat .thrie around, you must see it again, You will find it Much changed. - After a winter ofreting by Johns and with the strong conviction that ° the -play deserves a longer life, Blyth, Festival has 'decided to. take • St Sam on a four week tour of southern Ontario. This• tour will 'begin on Mareh 30 at 0 p.m. in the Blyth Memorial Hall. The following night, the play will be .performed at Hamilton Place and then it will openin the Kincardine District Secondary School for three nights, April 1,2 and 3. After this, the play will: travel to 1Vieaford, Mount Forest, Paisley, Fergus, Stratford, Petrolia, Oakville; Port Hope, Kingston; Kenptville and Arnprior, This represents an am- bitious schedule but one which Johns is enthusiastic about. "I believe this show 'has to get out and be seen. It's a good show and it -deserves an audience. It . will put Kin cardine on the map, 'A lot of people hear the word 'nuclear' and think 'boring' but thernainPurpose of this play et—tUnten It oily incidentally Interests people in thedebate about 'nuclear power," he explains. The updated version of the playleaves only three o scenes untouched and the dialogue is Mar- pened, "Some things got lost in the re -writing but Ithink the play is more evenly developed now and has a sense of community," says Johns. The play centres on the lives of the people who .the at Bruce ' Nuclear PoWer Development; the largest nuclear power station in the world, thelr fears and joys, their fights and triumphs. There are five characters in • Birthday • party for Nancy. • By Kathryn Todd A family birthday party was held Sunday at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Jim Mt. ehison, Nancy Aitchison c'ele. brated her sixth birthday on March 17th, She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Aitchison of RiPleY. •Jennifer Brown, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bev Brown, of Wingham also celebrated her third birthday o March 26, Mr. and Mrs, Doug Aitchison also attended the party. • Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Todd and family visited with Mr. and Mrs. Rick Humphrey of Clinton ' the play. Howard, the plant manager, is played by William Dunlop who also played thestone role last year. Howard's special assistant, Paul is played by Ron Oltrancy. Howard's Wife Joan is played .by Diana Belshaw who played the same role lest year. Howard's' 'niece 1.1011Y.Is played by Anne Marie Maollonald. And Sam, anew kind .of capitalist with a scheme to save the economy of Kincardine, the Bruce and Ontario,.is played: by Thomas Hauff. In the new version of St Sam, the character of Sam is more fully developed and he ap. pears in ,a lot more scenes while Holly is reMovedas earlyt as the end of the first scene.' The whole play takes Place within a 24 hour thne. span. • Johns, whowas born in Seaforth and attended high. sohool in Mitchell,: admits' . that he had no idea What , nuclear power was all about when he first decided to , -write St. Sam, Even. those people who work at the plant, are only aware of .a small - corner of it, he says. In his play, Johns presents both sides of the nuclear dehate but does not attempt to make up the audiences' mind �n the question. What does become clear in the play is that people run the Bruce and, after all, they are only human, • Johns has received good • reviews about his play. Modem's ‘Magazine says, "St. Sam teaches the . audience more about nuclear reactors than they will learn in a lifetime,: yet it manages to thoroughly entertain at the same thne." Alms says good reviews • have come from everywhere except Atomic Energy of Canada, "They (Atomic ' Energy) . lay the' play should be buried. They feel it is wrong for the general public to know too much about •nuclear power. They think it . is too complicated for them. On the other hand, .Ontario Hydro has been completely • co-operative . and stip* POrtive," he.says. • Johns . explains . that Sam is note,* of the great* plays 4s:has:ever Written in terins. of aUdience appeal. People..only 'pante back to see •1'.' St. Sam two or three times .• last year whereas many returned to see The. Selt001. Show six or. seven •times. The - reason...for -this,. be . feels, is • that manypeople already have their Olinds made up • about • •nuclear power . • • .. • . The School Show toured • • southern Ontario last year And will probably tour again sometime in the near future • while another of, jolm0".. plays, .11e .Wont 'Come • in . from the.Barn, will be staged • at -.the. ' •Blyth. .Summer Festival again thisseason, Touring is expensive but Johns feels' &. Sam is worth it. Now that the re -writing is. finished, he-seet his job as. going :to .. the .. tour '...,towns before —the -aetors'. and . 'beating 'the...• drum' to • an- nounce the play's arrival. .. Johns, who has been an actor •and playwright for 10 yeais.ttow, also likes. to 'beet the :.drum' for. the Blyth Sumner Festival. • "Very few theatres create • their own. pktys, We (Blyth) ere the only theatre that does 'ell Canadian originals," he explains. . • . . . • . . He 'says .the spadework of• James Roy, the, first artistic director 'at Myth,. is paying'. off now. Last year •22,000 people saw plays. in Blyth within Et relatively. short . season. .. "The people wholIve in. this _area make terrific :. • audiences. They're getting more sophisticated all the time though and our problem now is trying tokeep one step ahead of them with our, productions," Johns says. As for the future, Johns sees no. shortage of local material to write about and he will devote his time to •helping his actress -wife, Janet Ames, now in her second season as artistic director at Blyth, In promoting and elevating the new type of theatre which Myth represents,. • • .• . Ted Johns has re -written his play, St. Sam and the Nukes, and it viill begin a four week tour southern Ontario on. March M. St. Sam is an entertaining comedy which presents both sides of the nuclear debate. Here, Johns displays the T-shirt presented to him by Ontario Ifydro4(Photo by Joanne Buchanan) • 1 • SHORT SLEEVE VELOURS a $19.95 Team up with a SPRING JACKET NOW While selection Is at Its best • PRICED FROM $18.95 AGENT FOR WINOHAM 1:ttlY CLEANERS Chars Work Clothing tug:know • • • Phone 52E4526 J 1 West Walanosh Mutual Fire Insurance Company bungonnon, One, NSM110. • S24.1961 PAM • RESIDENTIAL . 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