Village Squire, 1980-05, Page 20LONDON'S CENTRE STAGE
GOES UNDER
Centre Stage, London's second
theatre company, has died after the
theatre's board failed to raise any money
within the community.
Artistic director Ken Livingstone, who
led the company under one name or
another since 1972, said he doesn't have
any further plans to hold together a
theatre that London plainly doesn't want.
Mr. Livingstone was quoted as saying,
"We've run out of money, we've run out of
support, we've run out of audiences and
there's just no point in trying to keep up
the pretense any longer. It's a lost cause."
While the company's productions had a
good deal of critical success, and earned
the admiration of other theatre pro-
fessionals, the plays, usually contemporary
works, tended to attract only dedicated
theatregoers.
Centre Stage never had an audience of
more than about 1,500 people at a
production and couldn't attain a secure
financial base from one season to the next.
When the company was located in City
Centre Mall, starting in 1976, it produced a
number of shorter pieces performed at a
lunchtime theatre. Audiences could bring
their lunch and munch on it while watching
the 45 minute productions of plays like The
History Show, a revue about Canada's
history.
When City Centre refused to renew the
theatre's $1 -a -year lease in the mall, the
theatre company arranged to stage two of
its shows at the McManus Studio at
Theatre London and in UWO's Talbot
Theatre.
The company was counting on the
second and third shows to be the
money-makers of the season, but wasn't
able to survive long enough to produce
them.
The second show was to be Terrorist
Tropicale, a new rock opera by Toronto
composer John Mills Cockell, which would
have opened early in April.
The second show was the Broadway play
Wings, which was going to star veteran
Canadian actress Frances Hyland.
Ken Livingstone said he will be leaving
London, but he hasn't decided where he'll
go.
"There's no money for the arts and most
of the country doesn't care," the artistic
director said. "We're retrenching rapidly
and theatres like Centre Stage just aren't
going to survive."
ARTISTS NEEDED
FOR BRUCE COUNTY FAIR
Non-professional artists whose work
focuses on the Bruce County area are being
asked to take part in the 1980 Walkerton
Heritage Fair, planned for late October.
The fair's theme is the encouragement of
creative art and handwork and their place
in our heritage. This year the fair's
organizers are expanding the art section of
the event.
Students. non-professionals and new
artists are invited to submit pen and ink
line sketches of historical landmarks of the
Bruce area. The sketch should be done on
11" by 14" paper, the actual drawing size
should be 81/2 by 11". At least four of the
designs submitted will be selected for
commercial reproduction to be sold to the
public both as hasti-notes and as larger
prints suitable for framing.
The fair committee will offer $50 to the
artists for each drawing chosen for these
reproductions and all entries will be
displayed during the two-day fair.
The sketches should be forwarded to the
fair committee no later than May 31. The
artist is also asked to include the location
of the sketch. Entries can be sent to Tim
and Louise Mancell, Walkerton Heritage
Fair Art Entry, Box 1201, Walkerton,
Ontario.
The Grand Central Hotel, built
in 1847, was for decades a
welcoming place to spend the
night. Today it is a group of
three connecting shops. What
was once the lane for horses &
buggies to reach the stable at
the back is now a charming
CARD & CANDLE SHOP. The
original bar is now the LADIES
WEAR with its handcraft
section. Browse on into the
GIFT SHOP, once the dining
room, where full use has been
made of the charm of this old
building. Many of the original
antiques are used to display
imports from around the world.
MARSHALLS
�5 T
m ARYs
fflARSHfILL'S of ST. fflfIRYS
"WHERE THE UNUSUAL IS USUAL"
GIFT SHOP LADIES WEAR CARD SHOP
150 QUEEN ST.
"DO COME VISIT US SOON"
284-3070
PG. 18 VILLAGE SQUIREIMAY 1980