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18 THE RURAL VOICE
Allison Lobb, who works for the
Self Employment Assistance
Program, gives the Festival full
marks for making the rural
community "feel a part of the
theatre for "focusing on human
issues connected to the farm and
developing them" and for allowing
the farm community the "pleasure of
recognition". As for the productions
she points out: "They do have as
much honesty as I could expect of
them."
She views the rural characters in
the likes of Barn and The Tomorrow
Box. the latter a story about a
reluctantly rebellious farm wife, as
very real and in many cases, "loosely
based on people I know".
At the same time, she too has
reservations about the women
as they have been portrayed
or ignored. She perceives most of the
women in the plays as coming out of
a previous generation. "They
generally reflect the generation of my
grandmother and have not been really
effective in depicting current women
who are much more independent and
are much more involved in the
decision-making process."
Playwright and current artistic
director Anne Chislett, who was
administrator and Girl Friday back
when the Festival originally opened,
knows just how important the rural
community is to the success of the
Festival. Consequently, she worries
that the seemingly minor decision to
change opening curtain from 8:30
p.m. to 8:00 p.m. (something widely
requested by out-of-towners), may
have cut into the farm audience
attendance.
When queried about the point
made by Ireland and Lobb
concerning the portrayal of the role of
the modern farm woman, she adptits
it is a topic that has "only been very
lightly touched on" in Festival
productions. To do that though, she
notes that someone is going to "have
to find the story" that will tell their
story.
In addition, Chislett would also
like to see Festival plays that focus
more on environmental and
generational topics as they relate to
the immediate community.
From the other side of the curtain,
actors and directors are at one in
praising the sense of connection that
they get from Blyth.
For Roy, who will be back
directing the comedy Big Box this
season, the theatre allows the
community to see themselves and
their neighbours on stage, enjoy
themselves, and at the same time take
away a message that relates directly
to them. "Promise succeeded," he
claims, "because it dealt with issues
clearly and didn't pull punches. It
helped people recognize themselves
and understand that they were not
alone."
He also credits Chislett's award-
winning. Quiet In The Land, the story
about a First World War crisis in the
Amish community, with dealing with
the broader topic of rural isolation.
"Quiet is about how we relate to the
community and the play uses the
Amish community as a microcosm to
display a sense of a loss of belonging.
It speaks to the rural community
because that is what is happening
there today."
If many of the shows reflect major
shifts in the community, Roy
points out that they also mirror the
constants, for while Blyth plays are
generally chosen more on the basis of
what the theatre wants to portray, as
opposed to what it wants to avoid, the
values and morality of its supporters
still influence what makes it to the
stage. This carne home to Roy in his
first year when he was asked point
blank: "You guys going to have a lot
of naked people up there?"
Another production that Roy felt
had particular relevance for the rural
audience was Barn Dance Live, a
show that retold the story of Doc
Cruickshank's famous, CKNX
Travelling Barn Dance. Roy, who
grew up in Londesborough, is old
enough to have enjoyed the television
spin-offs of this popular old-time
country music show. "It connected
directly to the past by exploring what
we all grew up with and gave us a
sense ofpride and confidence in
ourselves and our culture."
This is perhaps an appropriate
place to intrude with a personal
note on the topic of
connecting. I had the unforgettable
experience of being part of the show,
Barn Dance Live when it ran at Blyth
in 1996 and 1997. I had originally
thought that the major thrill for me
would be the process of putting that