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Village Squire, 1977-07, Page 21working, day and night, winter and summer. He chose Grand Bend as the most likely site for his theatre because it offered a rural atmosphere but still a good potential audience because of the huge tourist influx into the village of 800 each summer and the proximity to cities like London, Sarnia and Port Huron. He found the old farmstead just east of the village and settled on it as the home of his theatre. It's been six years of struggle now but at least some things are a little settled. That very first summer a tent was set up beside the barn and before the six-week season was over, it attracted 5000 people. That winter a Local Initiatives Program grant was received to fix up the old barn so that it could be used for many of the auxiliary facilities like dressing rooms, set building and storage, rehearsal space, washrooms, lounge, snack bar and bar and even a diningroom. Another small building on the property was renovated to provide dormatory facilities for actors, offices and the box office. The audiences that first summer were so encouraging that the original tent was replaced with a larger one in 1973 and seating capacity increased from 300-400 seats. Audiences continued to build but it became apparent that interesting as it was, the tent could not continue to be home for the theatre forever. There was a lot of work putting the tent up and having to install the seats every year. Producing shows in the tent was difficult. When high. winds hit they set the tent poles rocking and threatened to dump heavy, hot lighting instruments that were mounted on the poles, in the lap of the customers. Rain on the tent made it hard to hear the actors on the stage. As early as 1973, Mr. Murphy was seeking ways of turning the old barn into a theatre. The problem was to alter the barn enough to accomodate the theatre without changing its character. When that became impossible it was decided to go ahead and build a permanent theatre. The architects then constructed a theatre that looked like a barn, indeed using barn boards from several old barns that were being torn down to build the building. The new building makes both producing and watching theatre much more comfort- able. It has a huge stage, Targe orchestra pit and wide, fan -shaped auditorium. The Playhouse also has excellent lighting facilities. In short, it's a huge improvement over the old days. But that improvement has led directly to some of the criticism from the critics. In the old days they. were willing to accept faults because of the horrid conditions the performers were working under. But once the company was firmly established in the new permanent home the expectations of the critics rose higher than the product delivered. Undoubtedly, some of the problem lies in the fact that the Playhouse uses the summer stock idea of theatre which means a new play is produced nearly every week (some other theatres perform fewer plays and alternate them throughout the season). Mr. Murphy was answering the criticism even way back in 1973 when he spoke with Village Squire. The difficulty, he said, is finding the right kind of people who know how to work in summer stock. It's a highly specialized skill. "It wouldn't be good to work this way all year round, year after year after year," he said then, "because it requires a certain technique...some call it a shallow approach. You go right to the quickest possible way of doing a thing. And there are some, because it allows a great deal of spontaneity, who excell. A lot of shows are sort of worn out through this period of gruelling rehearsals and the spark of the damn thing sort of wears thin. (-And in these things when you get people who really know what they are doing and you have really expert, professional people, highly competent people, you can do a show a week with no trouble at all. But you've got to have the whole core that way, designer, director, everybody's got to be geared to that kind of production and then it works beautifully." Rehearsal period has been lengthened since then so that now each show gets more time for work before opening. Still, some claim that there isn't enough rehearsal time and some suggest that the theatre should switch to the repertory system. Mr. Murphy has resisted because the summer stock idea is something very dear to him. He went to Grand Bend in the first place because he wanted the light. straw -hat theatre operation. He'd fallen in love with that concept earlier in his career. He studied in New York City as an actor though "I knew I wasn't going to be an actor. So 1 started working as a stage manager, well, as an assistant stage manager, for one production of a show in ' Washington Square. I got $25 for the job which seemed to me like a great deal of money, but I mean it involved about a week's work. I've never been so thrilled about a job." After working with that company for a while he got into booking tours and administration, then studied directing in Ireland at the Dublin Gate Theatre. "I did one of those sort of two-year stints where I went traipsing around all over Europe, looking at theatres and working where you can," he said. When he came back to North America he taught school for a while in Guelph and in the U.S. but theatre kept drawing him back. It was then that he fell in love with summer stock. He worked at a theatre in the States that was "not dissimilar to this. l worked there for about four seasons and it seemed to me such a good theatre. I've stolen alot of its ideas and tried to adapt those ideas I could here," he said in the 1973 interview. So it will take more than harsh critics to dissuade James Murphy from his idea of light-hearted summer stock productions. And it will take more than harsh critics to keep audiences away from the barn theatre. Indications are that new atten- dance records will be set this year following on a tremendously successful season last year. Definitely Huron Country Playhouse is here to stay. FEATURING - Royal Doulton, Minton, Royal Albert And most other popular English Bone China Dinnerware. Plus Aluminum, copper and silverplate for Weddings, Showers, Anniversaries, Birthdays or Souvenirs SEAFORTH JEWELLERS Phone 527-0270 Seaforth • Jfie 611fie e Xelde Ao Sebringrille Opp. Post Office LOVELY THINGS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD. VILLAGE SQUIRE/JULY 1977. PG.19.