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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1994-06-29, Page 36Page 8 — Stops fltong ‘Tfte ‘Way ’94---- Blyth Festival begins 20th season Alive and well This year Blyth Festival is celebrating its 20th anniversary season with a return of familiar faces and names. For those who were in the audience that hot and sticky July 9, 1975 night, it seems hard to believe that Blyth Festival can be starting its 20th season in 1994. Hard to believe, at least, until they take a look at the magnificent facilities the Festival now resides in and the immense impact the theatre has had, not just on the village or the county, but on the theatre scene in all of Canada. Today the Festival is known as one of the foremost originators of new plays on Canadian (particularly rural) topics. It has originated plays that have been performed from New York to Japan, England to Rumania. Hard to believe this giant began life as such a frail infant in 1975. In the 1990s when feasibility studies and business plans are essential before any project can get off the ground, it would probably be impossible for a Blyth Festival to start again. Luckily James and Anne Roy and the group of local supporters who helped put together the first Blyth Festival season didn’t know it couldn't be done, and they did it. Indeed, it may have been the sheer audaciousness of a professional theatre in a village of 1,000 people that wasn't even a recognized tourist resort that attracted some people to come and try plays at Blyth in the early years. Later people would be attracted by the Festival's reputation for quality and for telling stories about real people. Today's Festival seemed an impossible dream when James Roy wrote a letter to a local Blyth resident in March, 1975. The young director had heard from legendary Toronto director Paul Thompson that there was a fine theatre in Blyth and a small group of people were interested in starting a summer theatre. Mr. Thompson had earlier been approached about bringing his Theatre Passe Muraille to Blyth as summer resident of Blyth Memorial Hall but the need for repairs to the hall had scuttled such attempts. Indeed, village councillors had wondered whether to spend the then-enormous sum of $50,000 to replace the entire roof structure on the hall at all after an engineer's report had found the building unsafe. There was the option of closing off the theatre permanently by putting posts up to support the roof. Eventually the brave decision to invest the money was made in the fall of 1974 and almost immediately it began to pay dividends. With barely four months to organize a board of directors, develop a playbill and hire professional theatre people (with a promise of more work than money) and rehearse and mount plays, James Roy had given himself a huge challenge. He was assisted by his wife Anne, then a high school teacher, who came on board as the company's unpaid administrator and fund raiser, once the school term had ended. They mounted a season with a budget of under $10,000 (aided by the fact neither of them took any pay for the first few seasons). There was a small grant from the Ontario Arts Council and donations by local residents and businesses but it wasn't much to work with. It was James Roy's choice of an opening play that would be the mark of genius that contributed to the Festival's success over the next 20 seasons. A Huron County native himself, he remembered the books Harry J. Boyle had written about growing up in Huron County in the 1920s and 1930s. With the help of a creative cast, he turned the books into Blyth's first hit, Mostly in Clover, which not only packed in local audiences that first season, but was a hit for the second season in 1976 and toured to Victoria Playhouse in Petrolia. James Roy's interest in producing plays BRENTWOOD ON THE BEACH BED & BREAKFAST ON LAKE HURON A warm welcome awaits you! Walk on the beach, swim in the lake or indoor pool; whirlpool, sauna and exercise room. Breakfast served in sunroom overlooking lake. Enjoy spectacular sunsets. A stay at BRENTWOOD ON THE BEACH is sure to leave you with many fond memories. Call or write: Joan Cassidy, St. Joseph Shores N0M2T0 (519)236-7137 A scenic 10 minute drive from Huron Country Playhouse that reflected the lives of people in Huron County led to the Festival becoming famous for producing new plays, because there just weren't many plays around dealing with rural issues. He began to develop writers who knew the people who lived in the area. Seaforth-area native Ted Johns began a long association with lhe Festival when his The School Show was produced in 1977. James Roy didn't have to look farther than across the breakfast table to find another writer, one who became perhaps the Festival's greatest gift to Canadian playwrighting. Having proven her ability to run a theatre on a shoestring during the first season, Anne Roy, writing under her maiden name Anne Chislett, adapted Harry J. Boyle's A Summer Burning in 1977. Later she would author Quiet in the Land in 1981, the first Festival play to draw international attention, playing in New York as well as Toronto and Montreal. The play won Ms Chislett the Governor General's Award, the top award for playwrights in Canada. But another Chislett play produced that same season, The Tomorrow Box, went even further, all the way to Japan. Ironically, though it has become known as a typical Blyth play and features Huron County people, The Tomorrow Box was given its first production at the Kawartha Festival in Lindsay. It was the Blyth production that brought the play to wider audiences, however and soon the comedy about a Huron County farm wife who divorces her husband when he decides to retire and sell the farm without consulting her, was on the playbill of theatres across North America. It was translated into Japanese and struck a chord there, with 100,000 Japanese having seen the play over the years. One of the last plays of James Roy's five year tenure as artistic director also went on to international fame. Inspired by a night spent in the Roys' creaky old farm house, city-bom Peter Colley wrote a play about a young woman living in a farm house and fearing for her life. I'll Be Back Before Midnight would change the life of Mr. Colley. An instant hit, it was performed in countries all over the world. He wrote a screen play for a movie version and moved to Hollywood (unfortunately the movie version couldn't match the stage version). James Roy was succeeded by Janet Amos Continued on page 9 come to THE WHITE SQUIRREL • Century Home • Quiet Residential • Indoor Pool • Central Air • Open All Year • Pels & Children Welcome • Colour TV in every guest room • Minutes from downtown YOUR HOSTS TREVOR & WENDY BOYLE C33 240 William Street Exeter, Ontario, Canada N0M 1S2 (519) 235-2821 The Finest in Family Camping! > FALLS RESERVE CONSERVATION AREA along the scenic Maitland River at BenmiUer! Settle -into one of our spacious campsites and get ready for camping fun! Swim, fish, hike or just relax on our beautiful 230 acre site. The shopping and attractions of Goderich are just minutes away. Reservations are available! For a free brochure write 'Falls Reserve' Box 127, Wroxeter, On NOG 2X0 or call (519) 335-3557 ► ► ► ► ► ► ► Spacious serviced sites Reservations Hot showers, Snack bar, Picnic area, Fishing, Swimming, Hiking Beautiful natural setting, Weekly and seasonal rates Friendly courteous staff Family fun begins at Falls Reserve! the Blyth Iw offers delicious home cooked meals in a casual country atmosphere. Lunch Served 12:00 noon to 1:30 p.m. Dinner Served 5:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Situated on the main corner in Blyth across from the Festival Open daily 12:00 noon -1 a.m. Closed on Sundays 523-9381 l.l.b.0. Blyth, Ontario. 4ll Stop in and enjoy light lunches and specialty desserts anytime.