HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2019-03-07, Page 18THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2019. PAGE 19.
Deeper Roots series coming
Ag. panels to accompany ‘The Team on the Hill’
Art with an expiration date
While the students at North Woods Elementary School used the school’s environmental
learning grounds to its full advantage last week, one of these days, spring will come and the
snow will melt and their paintings will be a thing of the past. For the time being, however,
Bridget McCallum, left, and Adel Fischer made the most of a sunny winter day, getting in touch
with their artistic sides. (Photo submitted)
As part of the newly-created
Deeper Roots series, the Blyth
Festival will be opening the floor to
some serious discussions about
agriculture connecting with the
world premiere of The Team on the
Hill this year.
The Team on the Hill is a play
focused on the Ransier farm, a cattle
operation on the north side of the
fictional town of Drumlin. Patriarch
Austin watches as his son and
grandson argue over the best way to
farm, which is only further
complicated when a developer with
plans for a golf course arrives.
The show is penned by Dan
Needles, who is famous for his
Wingfield series which has been
performed across the country
including the CBC and in Blyth.
This year, the Festival sought to
create the Deeper Roots Series,
which gathers and codifies many of
the events the Festival has
previously run, including talk back
sessions after plays.
“People love the Blyth Festival
shows and, at the end of the show,
we can always see the audience
talking, arguing and continuing the
conversation that takes place on the
stage,” Artistic Director Gil Garratt
explained to The Citizen. “They are
engaged and excited and we want to
make sure that we capitalize on that
with events like this.”
He said that, through 29 special
events across the 2019 Festival
season, he hopes the audience will
immerse itself in the plays on stage
and continue a conversation related
to what they have witnessed.
“With The Team on the Hill, we
have a family farm at the
crossroads,” Garratt said.
“Grandpa’s farm versus grandson’s
farm proves for a lot of conflict and
excitement and a lot of chances for
discussions.”
Three special panels are being
scheduled around the themes
discussed in The Team on the Hill,
Garratt said. The first will be
moderated by University of Guelph
professor and local agriculture
expert Wayne Caldwell.
“He will facilitate a panel of
agriculture students,” Garratt said.
“Hopefully we will have grads and
undergrads, and they can talk about
the future of farming.”
The second panel will focus on
women in farming, and while it will
be tied to The Team on the Hill,
Garratt said the discussion definitely
had roots in the 2018 premiere of
Judith: Memories of a Lady Pig
Farmer.
“There was a panel in Goderich
after that play that featured local
farmers like Amy Cronin and Tony
McQuail,” he said. “This is very
much based in that.”
Garratt explained the panel will
focus on the fact that though women
have been one of the major supports
for farming over the centuries, their
roles just weren’t recognized
because what they did was classified
as “women’s work” years
ago.“They’ve never been fully
appreciated,” he said.
While the panel for that discussion
hasn’t been set, Garratt said the
Festival is looking for combinations
of women in farm families, like
mother-daughter or aunt-niece duos
who will discuss the evolving nature
of women on the farm and women
farmers.
The final panel will revolve
around the question of when it’s
time for a farmer to hang up his
overalls and leave the farm.
“It’s focused on succession and
wonders when it’s time for a farmer
to move on,” he said. “It’s a tough
decision because farmers are often
considering ensuring their legacy of
labour while at the same time being
able to afford to leave farming and
offer opportunities for the next
generation.”
Garratt said that the Morrison
family, of Lucknow’s Morrison
Berry Farm, has been contacted for
that panel as has Ontario Ministry of
Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
representative Vicki Lass and her
daughter.
“These panels will be a great
opportunity for the audience to
connect not just with the themes of
the play, but also to become part of
the ongoing discussions around
these issues,” Garratt said.
For more information visit
blythfestival.com.
Canadian author Lawrence Hill
will highlight a unique series of
events at Blyth Festival to celebrate
45 seasons of developing and
producing plays that give a rich
voice to both rural southwestern
Ontario and the entire country.
The award-winning author of The
Book of Negroes and The Illegal will
speak from the theatre’s main stage
about his passionate views on elder
care and assisted dying in Canada,
providing his perspective on the
journey to death for his
extraordinary mother, Donna Mae
Hill. At 90 years old, after a
remarkable life, much of it spent
fighting for civil rights in Canada,
Donna Mae Hill travelled to
Switzerland for an assisted death
because Canada’s laws prohibited it.
Lawrence Hill and his niece were
present at her end of life.
“We are profoundly moved by
Lawrence Hill’s decision to share
the inspiring legacy of his tireless
mother with our audience. This past
summer, I read his Act of Love: The
Life and Death of Donna Mae Hill in
the Globe and Mail online, and I was
utterly blown away. His passion, his
eloquence, his care, and his
ferocious opinion, caught me
immediately, so I wrote to him and
asked him to please come and share
his story. We really look forward to
helping him amplify his message,”
said Gil Garratt, artistic director of
Blyth Festival.
In its 2019 season, the Festival
will premiere In the Wake of
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Entertainment Leisure&
Continued on page 20