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Village Squire, 1978-08, Page 6feelings of the community that in the long run though his show is about the strike, it also works in most of the other themes that he was originally concerned with. Though he feels his Huron county roots are important to his being able to understand all the undercurrents of public feeling on the whole school issue, Ted says he himself is not to be found in the play. After working out the scenario with his friend and mentor Paul Thompson of Theatre Passe Muraille it was just a case of finding the style of the show and finding the characters that he needed to speak the concerns of the people he had talked to. Once he found the characters he didn't have any problem he says. The strike aroused such large emotions in people that nearly everyone had an opinion even if they were not as articulate as they might have been. The characters don't say words that anyone actually told him, Ted says, but what he imagines these particular characters would have said in the given situation. The strike didn't have two sides, Ted says, but about six and there are six characters that he has invented to give varying viewpoints of the situation. Naturally the viewpoint of women is involved so that's where Ted dons the female attire to try to get the feminine opinions across. Among the memorable characters are Miss Heartwright. a retired teacher who recalls the days of the old one room school house when teachers had little money, a great deal of responsibility and were looked up to as role models for the younger generation. Then there's Peg, the sophisiticated wife of a teacher who is tired of seeing him pulled apart by his conflicting emotions over education and the strike. And there's Roxanne Dupuis, a mother who's had it up to the ears with the strike and goes right to the top to the premier's office to demand action. Old Nip, a crusty commentator on the goings on of the strike is the most colourful male character while the human conflict between the local population and the conflict between generations is portrayed by an old farmer whose son is a teacher and the complete lack of understanding between the two. "I care quite a lot about the voices I'm presenting" Ted says. "Their voice is an impassioned voice." The cultural clash that was brought about during the strike is not an accident, Ted says. The strike brought out the opposing ideas of the education system and the people of the county. Getting back to the growth of the little red school house Ted.says that the industrialization of the nation after the Second World War and the trauma that swept North America after Russia jumped ahead in the space race after the launching of Sputnik in the late 1950's changed the direction of society. The movement was to get people off the land and into industry. It is implicit in the school system of Huron county to get people out of the county, Ted says. This isn't explicity stated because there is no philosophy of education but it's still there. Thus when the strike came, it brought with it what Ted calls "the politics of paranoia" with each person making of the strike what he or she needed. All the grievances of all the people about the education system came out. One of the beliefs that Ted came to through working on the play is that the Huron county society is one that is deeply rooted with its own ability to deal with problems. It doesn't need outside "experts" to solve things, he says, referring to the arrival of several noted writers of national importance recently to defend the right of senior students to read controversial books in the schools. In developing his characters, Ted says, he took a lesson from Shakespeare in realizing that the best things happen when you give a character his strength. He takes the premise that none of these . characters are stupid, that they each have something important to say. While performing a one man show is an undertaking few actors ever manage, writing it puts even more strain on him, and yet this is not a !new experience for Ted Johns. It's actually his second one -mad show. The first was the provacatively titled Naked on the North Shore which was back in the days when he was a virtual baby as far as stage experience went. PG. 4. VILLAGE SQUIRE/AUGUST 1978. 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