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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1992-07-29, Page 21THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29,1992. PAGE 21. Festival actor has family ties with play Family ties Actor John Jarvis, currently appearing in the Blyth Festival's "Yankee Notions", has family relations involved with the play. BY CHRIS ROULSTON John Jarvis, an actor in Anne Chislett's new play Yankee Notions at the Blyth Festival, has some interesting personal connections with the new play. The Jarvis fam­ ily played a strong role in the histo­ ry surrounding the play. The play Yankee Notions is based on what follows the struggle for reform, led by William Lyon Mackenzie against the all powerful Family Compact, a group of presti­ gious families with an iron grip on Ontario's politics in the early 19th century. John's ancestors came to Ontario from Connecticut as United Empire Loyalists and settled in the Toronto region. There were several broth­ ers in the family who maintained different levels of authority in the Family Compact. William Botsford Jarvis was the sheriff of Toronto. John is well-versed in his family history. He explains that most of the stories he knows were passed down through the family, plus he has done a little research. As William Lyon Mackenzie and his band of rebels came marching down the streets in Toronto, relates John, it was a Jarvis that fired on them. This event happened "just shy of a year previous to the play", he explains further. Samuel Lout, one of the Macken­ zie rebels, was sentenced to hang for his actions. He was a friend of a Jarvis who, declares John, wept openly in public when Lout was on the way to being hung. The two had gotten on the wrong sides of the issue. An interesting tale that John had to recount concerned a Samuel Peter Jarvis and a Rideout—the two fought the last duel ever to be fought in Ontario. Jarvis was gal­ loping down King St., Toronto, after a rain, and mud landed on Mrs. Rideout's dress. Her son chal­ lenged Jarvis to a duel. The site for the duel was on Bay and College streets. After doing his count to five, Rideout fired and missed by two or three feet. Jarvis turned and shot Rideout. Previous to the 1837 rebellion, Mackenzie was infamous among the Family Compact for his scathing comments and cries for reform which he printed himself on his own printing press. In a demonstration of their contempt for Mackenzie, the Compact, led by a Jarvis, threw the press into the lake. An intriguing present day twist to this story is that a Jarvis is current­ ly portraying one of the rebels in die Festival's new production. John is also playing the role of Lord Durham, who was brought in to arbitrate the argument between the rebels and the Family Compact. John believes that at one point his ancestors would have met Lord Durham as he was trying to resolve the conflict. He feels it is interest­ ing to sense the meeting between them. Where his two characters are concerned, John muses about how their fates are intertwined. The NOW OPEN IN LONDESBORO ____ (favt&e — ____ Townsend Tire Highway #4 (beside Radfords) LONDESBORO 523-4742 ★ Service Truck For after-hours service Call 522-1629 WITH BRAND NAMES YOU TRUST SERVICE YOU'LL COME TO DEPEND ON! KELLY ARMSTRONG MARSHALL MICHELIN WHEN YOU THINK TIRES - THINK TOWNSEND TIRE BRIDGESTONE ©^Goodrich rebel he portrays is the husband of the heroine of the story, Maria Wait. When Lord Durham steps in to reside over the rebellion, he becomes enamoured of Maria. John seems fascinated that one character he plays has the power to decide the other character's fate. The story of Yankee Notions is an enthralling, new look at Canada's history, which, for one cast mem­ ber in particular, has a deep person­ al root as well.