The Rural Voice, 1999-06, Page 21a realistic picture of the rural
community. He recalls his wife's
reaction to Aylmer Clarke, in Ted
Johns', He Won't Come In From The
Barn. "She thought it was me up
there." Dave admits that, like
Aylmer, "I can go to the barn for a
few hours to escape. It's peaceful out
there. Lots of farmers will bury
themselves in their work and we all
see'changes we'd like to control."
The production that hit him the
hardest was Another Season's
Promise, a play that deals with
the farm debt crisis of the mid-1980s.
Its realism had more than just a ring
of truth for Dave and Brenda Linton
because they knew people down the
line who were forced to sell during
that time.
"It really moved us. I actually sat
down and wrote a letter to the
playwrights."
Linton points out that the kind of
pressure from large conglomerates
portrayed in Promise is an ongoing
challenge for farmers and he feels
that the story would not have to be
changed a lot if it were updated to
deal with the situation that is
currently facing many pork farmers.
For Brian Ireland, who rents out
his farm and works for the Queen's
Bush Rural Ministries Help Line, the
Festival has helped to broaden the
community and give it a sense of
pride. He likes the way some of the
shows have encouraged the
community to laugh at itself.
Again the identification factor
plays a role in his enjoyment of
Festival productions. Garrison's
Garage, a play about tax collectors
from Revenue Canada, which he
terms "a classic", was memorable
because of the "mannerisms" he
could identify among the characters
and Barn, while it was a lot of fun,
was a play that still had a message
that farmers could relate to.
As with Linton, Promise had
personal significance for Ireland.
"Just before opening night, I had a
friend who had just gone through an
RCMP search." While he points out
that the subject matter was "pretty
close to the bone", he also declares:
"It was a play for the times and a
story that had to be told."
From the distaff side of the theatre
audience, the reviews are a little more
mixed when it comes to assessing the
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theatre's place in the 'rural
community. Gisele Ireland agrees
that, in general, the Festival ha,
delivered a truthful and realist',
representation of farm people. The
"typical male attitude" of Barn hit the
mark and, for her, the relevancy of
Promise was almost "a little too close
for comfort at that time," because the
crisis was not quite over when the
play was first produced in 1986.
She does have some qualms,
however. As an individual who
once worked for Concerned
Farm Women, Ireland wonders about
how rural women have been depicted
at the Festival. "I have never seen any
writer try to tackle the real role of
farm women. It has never portrayed
them as having the influence they
have on a family. They have missed
the nuance and by-play of women in
the farm marriage relationship. It's
subliminal, something women have
learned very well, such as what a
woman wants relates directly to how
well the farm does."
In addition she wonders why the
effects of the various crisis on
children have not been delved into
more.
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JUNE 1999 17