Village Squire, 1978-09, Page 26THEATRE
No theatre this winter at Festival
If you were looking forward -to going to
some theatre in Stratford this winter
without the usual rush of the summer
tourist crowd you can forget it for at least a
year.
Cancellation of the proposed winter
season of the Festival was announced in
late August by Artistic Director Robin
Phillips. He cited lack of funds as the
reason behind the move. It was one of a
number of news stories emanating from
the Festival in late August which included
Mr. Philips' decision to withdraw his
resignation as artistic Director and instead
take a one-year sabbatical.
The winter program, announced earlier
in the year. was to have begun at the end of
January, 1979 and -to consist of two
productions at the Avon Theatre and
weekend youth performances at the
Festival Theatre.
John Heney President of the Festival
said the cancellation was due to a short fall
in funds and "one answer to this was a
change in the program." He stressed that
the project is not cancelled completely and
said hopefully the funds can be found to
undertake the program next year.
Mr. Philips said the cancellation of the
winter season was a great personal
disappointment to him. "The committment
that we could have made to the community
through the winter season could have
grown into a very important link between
the Festival and the city," he said.
Mr. Heney said the departure of Mr.
Phillips from the Festival for a year also
had some bearing on the decision to cancel
the program. "I'm sure when Robin is back
with us he will want to address himself to
the winter season again," Mr. Heney said.
The two productions were specifically
the victims of the shortage in funds. The
youth performances which were to have
been written and acted by students from
Perth county schools guided by Festival
personnel were the victim of a lack of
interest from a sufficient number of
schools.
Meanwhile Mr. Phillips announced that
he was to take a year off from the helm of
the Festival in 1979 and that a number of
"world class directors" will take his place.
The announcement ended weeks of
speculation which followed the surprise
announcement that Mr. Phillips was
resigning as Festival Artistic Director
effective in November. That announcement
came while Mr. Philips was in England
recovering from surgery and the mystery
over the move was not enlightened any on
his return when he and members of the
Festival board of directors were tight-lip-
ped about the whole affair.
It wasn't until August 28 that the
arrangement was announced that will give
Mr. Phillips the time he needs to rest and
think and still not mean he will be leaving
the Festival. Mr. Heney pointed to the fact
that in academic circles the need for
sabbaticals had long been known and that
other professions where people undergo
heavy workloads and high creative output
may need the same kind of respite.
Mr. Phillips said he needs the time off to
live at a normal pace and re -acquaint
himself with theatre outside Stratford and
with the world at large.
He will oversee planning and casting of
the 1979 season prior to beginning his
sabbatical.
• HIT SHOW RETURNS
While there may not be a winter season
at Stratford for the first time, there will be
an autumn season at the Blyth Summer
Festival for the first time.
This hit one-man show by Ted Johns.
"The School Scandal" will return for a
special one week stand from Sept. 26-30
including a matinee on Sept. 28.
The show was the surprise hit of the 1978
Festival season, breaking all box office
records for average attendance, playing for_
full houses during most nights.
Demand for tickets near the end of the
run was so heavy that many people had to
be turned away and the idea of holding the
show over came up. This success
co-incided with the urging of many for the
Blyth theatre to hold some kind of show
during the 1978 International Plowing
Match in Wingham, which is expected to
draw attendance of a quarter million
people if the weather is good. Such urgings
had been made to the theatre group for
nearly a year but the economics of staging
a new show for one week made such a
possibility forbidding.
The success of The School Scandal and
the desire for the September show were
perfectly matched.
The Scandal sees Clinton -native Ted
Johns take on six different characters,
complete with costume changes, in an
effort to portray the problems of our
educational system in the 1970's in general
and the events of the 1978 Great Teachers'
Strike in particular. His characters range
from the nostalgic old school marm Mrs.
Heartwright, to the soul-searching teacher
Bill MacDonald, to the bewildered Elmer
Clarke, farmer and father of one of the
teachers leading the strike, to the bigoted
redneck Old Nip.
The show won Mr. Johns standing
ovations nightly from his audiences and
strong reviews from nearly all reviewers.
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VILLAGE SQUIRE/SEP'1'EMISER 1978. PG. 25