HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1992-05-20, Page 25THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MAY 20,1992. PAGE 25.
Blyth Festival announces casts for ’92 season
Blylh Festival Artistic Director,
Peter Smith, unveiled the creative
team performers and artists who
will be a part of the theatre's 1992
season. With the season opening on
June 12, rehearsals began on May
19. The stage is set for a dynamic
season of comedy, mystery and
premieres by Canadian play
wrights.
Before the season officially
opens, the Furano Theatre
Company based in Japan, will
perform an original work entitled
Kanashibetsu on Friday, June 5 and
Saturday, June 6. Presented in
Japanese with English surtitles, this
play tells the story of a coal mining
town that shuts down, the
community breakdown that is
directly related to the closure, and
the ultimate realization that the
hope and energy for the future lies
inside of its people. The company's
50 actors, crew and entourage are
all billeted in the area and are a part
of this exciting cultural exchange.
The Puff ‘n’ Blow Boys by
Valoreyne Brandt Jenkins opening
on June 12, is directed by Bill Dow
and features Jerry Franken, Dwight
McFee and Patrick Masurkevitch as
the cowboys who tell tall tales from
the bunkhouse - the beautiful mail
order bride that ran away, a saddle
tramp's lovelorn tale of “Miss
World of Beef’, the horseback vet,
the bullrider, and the homesteaders
- all Western heroes. Composer
Michael Taylor weaves music into
the western legends and stories.
Warren Carrie has designed sets
and costumes that transport you to
the foothills of the Rockies with
lighting design by Lesley
Wilkinson. The Puff ‘n’ Blow Boys
was a hit at the 1989 Edmonton
Fringe Festival.
Opening on June 19, The
Hometown Boy, a new comedy by
Robert Clinton, is directed by Peter
Smith, and brings together an
incredible cast of powerful
performers. Dan Lett plays Ryan, a
failed country and western star,
who returns home to his favourite
cafe on Christmas eve. Robert King
is Wes, the garage mechanic who is
a thorn in the side to cafe owner
Rita (Kate Lynch), Trixie (Barbara
Worthy) and Peggy (Stephanie
Morgenstern). But everything
changes the moment a devilishly
clever customer (Alan Williams)
comes along with an offer too good
to pass up. Ange Zhang, a gifted
opera and theatre designer who left
China four years ago and is
working with Susan Benson at the
Stratford Festival, is set and
lighting designer of this unpredict
able comedy. Costumes are de
signed by Christine Plunkett.
Beverley Cooper is assistant direc
tor.
The Glorious 12th, an intriguing
drama directed and written by
Raymond Storey, premieres on July
10. Laurel Paetz and Jerry Franken
are featured as the crafty American
introducers who meddle into the
affairs of a powerful family who
have been hiding a horrible secret.
Other performers are Julie Bond,
Marianne Copithorne, Patrick
Masurkevitch, Dwight McFee,
Wally McSween and Patricia
Vanstone. A fascinating look at the
Orange Lodge and its fraternal ties
in 1927 by Raymond Storey, a
descendent of generations of
Orangemen, with set design by
Morris Ertman, costume designs by
Julia Tribe, and lighting design by
Kevin Fraser.
Back Up and Push or The
Confessions of a Reformed Cynic is
written by, and stars, Ted Johns.
Directed by Paul Thompson and
assisted by Elliott Smith, this
inventive comedy premieres and
opens the Blyth Festival's second
stage - the Garage Theatre on July
11. A comedy in the tradition of
other creations by Ted Johns - The
School Show, He Won't Come In
From the Barn, and Naked On the
North Shore.
Yankee Notions by Anne Chislett
was commissioned by the Stratford
Festival under the direction of John
Hirsh. Under the direction of Damir
Andrei, this drama follows the
simmering tensions between
Loyalists and Reformers in the
Mackenzie Rebellion after 1837.
Yankee Notions, opening on July
17, is a gripping tale of two
amazing women (played by
Stephanie Morgenstern and
Deborah Drakeford) caught in a
dangerous political game, who
despite their opposing views, join
forces to save their families. The
cast, with a host of historical
characters, includes Oliver Dennis,
John Jarvis, Robert King, Dan Lett,
Kate Lynch, Christopher Royal,
Severn Thompson, and Alan
Williams. Yankee Notions is
designed by Brian Perchaluk, with
lighting by John Monroe, and has
been revised from its first
production by Ryerson Theatre.
Thirteen years after its premiere
in Blyth, I'll Be Back Before
Midnight by Peter Colley, returns
to Blyth Memorial Hall, opening
on August 14, with performances
until September 12 plus an Ontario
tour in the fall. Katherine Kaszas,
who stage managed Midnight's
early beginnings at Blyth, returns to
direct this tale of humour, intrigue,
suspense, and murder. Robert King
plays a rather eccentric farmer,
George, who tells ghastly tales of
mystery and ghosts to a young
couple (Oliver Dennis and Deborah
Drakeford) who flee the city to
repair their marriage. Charlotte
Dean is set and costume designer
with lighting design by Kevin
Fraser. A play, inspired by a lonely
Huron County farm house in 1979,
has gone on to international success
with productions in 13 countries.
“We'll sell you the whole seat, but
you'll only need the edge.”
Two Worlds - A Journey
Through Listowel is a community
play commissioned by the Blyth
Festival and the Listowel
Homecoming Committee and will
be presented in Listowel from
August 1-2, 1992 at Listowel
District Secondary School. Under
the direction of Paul Thompson,
who was born and raised in
Listowel, performers Peter Smith,
Anne Anglin, Greg Spottiswood
and members of the Blylh Festival
Company of actors are participating
in the project. It is a play that will
catch the atmosphere of the last
days of the Tempereance Act in
Listowel, and features the stories
and characters from the commu
nity. Tickets for Two Worlds - A
Journey Through Listowel are
available through the Listowel
Homecoming ’92 Committee, P.O.
Box 232, Listowel, Ontario, N4W
3H4.
The Blyth Festival has frozen
ticket prices to keep them at 1991
prices. Ticket prices to perfor
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