HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1994-07-27, Page 18PAGE 18. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 27,1994.
Where are they now?
That summer 19 years
ago a group of young
actors came to Blyth
for the first Blyth*
Festival season. Like
all of us, they're
grown older and gone
on to other things.
Many will return for
the 20th season
retrospective.
They came to town, a tiny band of eager
young theatre professionals, most just a few
months out of theatre schools. They joined a
group of enthusiastic local residents to put
on that first season of the Blyth Festival and
change the face of Blyth. In many ways they
also changed the face of Canadian theatre
because the Blyth Festival has influenced the
birth of other small town theatres and
inspired others to tell Canadian stories.
Many a young person from Huron County
has gone on to a career in theatre because of
their introduction to the stage at Blyth.
But where are these pioneers nearly 20
years later. Here's what has happened to the
first year company members and a sampling
of other familiar faces from over the years:
James Roy: was only a year out of York
University's theatre school when he founded
the Blyth Festival in 1975. A native of the
area, he had visited Memorial Hall as a
school student before he moved to the
Sarnia area as a youngster. He returned to
Huron County to finish his high school
studies.
After five seasons at the helm of the
Blyth Festival he left in the fall of 1979. He
later became artistic director of theatres in
Victoria, B.C. and Winnipeg. Today he is a
producer of radio drama for CBC Radio. He
has a house in the country near Benmiller
where he spends as much time as possible.
This past year when the Festival found itself
facing a crisis, he became a member of the
board of directors.
Anne (Chislett) Roy: When she served as
administrator in .'.hat first Festival season,
Anne Roy was one of the more experienced
members of that first company. Bom in St.
Johns, Newfoundland, she had studied
theatre at the other end of the country at
University of British Columbia. She was
involved in summer stock in British
Columbia, Nova Scotia and Quebec City
before coming to Blyth. She had also
directed theatre in various high schools,
mostly in Hamilton.
Things really began to change when she
adapted Harry J. Boyle's A Summer Burning
for the 1977 season. Writing under her
maiden name, Anne Chislett, she went on to
write The Tomorrow Box, which not only
was produced by dozens of theatres across
Canada including the largest English
language theatre in Montreal, but was
translated into Japanese and has been seen
by more than 100,000 people over there. She
has travelled to Japan several times to
witness productions there.
In 1981 she wrote Quiet in the Land
which won her the highest award for
playwrighting, the Governor General's
Award.
Today she and her husband James split
their time between their Toronto apartment
and their country' home near Benmiller. And
of course she has written the premier
production for the 1994 season, Glengarry
School Days.
Steve Thorne: was the writer who helped
pull the script for Mostly in Clover together
from the improvizalions of the cast
members. He also directed the second
production of that first season — The Mouse
Trap. He was part of the 1976 season of the
Festival as well. He recently graduated from
the University of Waterloo with a Masters
Degree in Cultural Affairs.
Jim Schaefer: started out as a journalist in
London, writing for the London Free Press
at one point, but he loved theatre and worked
in amateur productions. In 1975 he joined
the first Blyth season as one of the most
popular members of the company. He moved
to Blyth at one point and put his writing to
work in the plays Shape and Blyth
Memorial History Show. Later he went on to
found the Port Stanley Summer Festival.
Today he is still involved in the theatre
scene in London as a theatre teacher.
Angie Gei: was the only woman among the
cast members in that first company. She
became a favourite with audiences and
members of the community over the next
few years, often playing women much older
than herself. In 1979 she originated the role
of Jan in one of the biggest hits ever to come
from the Blyth stage: I'll Be Back Before
Midnight.
Today Angie has a family and has been
doing some radio work.
Ron Swartz (Barrie): who provided many
merry moments for Blyth audiences over the
early seasons of the Festival as a
wonderfully funny performer (few who saw
it forget his buggy race scene in Mostly in
Clover in which he plays both a horse and
the frightened school teacher). Having seen
that talent, then, it's hard to believe he
doesn't act any more. Today he is an agent
for other actors. (He changed his name to
Barrie after the first season in Blyth when he
became a member of Equity, the actors'
union.
Gordon Bradley: combined his love of
music and acting in contributing to Mostly in
Clover. He provided the music for that first
show as well as acting in it. He's one of the
members of the first company that has not
been located for the reunion.
Ron Ferguson: as the first stage manger, set
builder, electrician and anything else that
was left to be done, that first season,
"Fergie" has become part of the legend of
the Blyth Festival. Not only did he string the
lights and build the sets (along with
apprentice Jim Wellwood) but he had to
build the dimmer switch for the lights out of
household dimmers. He started with just a
bare stage at Memorial Hall and created two
distinct sets, a simple one for Mostly in
Clover and an elaborate one for The Mouse
Trap. He then had to find ways to store one
set on the crowded Memorial Hall stage
while the other was being used.
After the 1980 season, Fergie decided on
a complete change of career and became a
social worker in Kitchener.
Jim Wellwood: worked as an apprentice
stage manager that first season. A student at
Continued on page 19
Jr-" %
Congratulations
to the Blyth
Festival
on your
20th Season
from
The Village
of Brussels
Seana McKenna in St Sam and the Nukes in 1980. After an inauspicious debut
at Blyth she's become one of Canada's most wanted actresses.
Celebrate ‘Blytfi festival's 20tfr Season
D
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SOUTH END AUTO
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BLYTH FESTIVAL
on your 20tfi Seas on
1975-1994
Don & Lenore, Kevin, Brent & Heidi
SCRIMGEOUR’S FOOD MARKET
Blyth 523-4551
• CONGRATULATIONS • CONGRATULATIONS
The businesses of Blyth
are proud to salute the
Blyth Festival on its
20th Season...
We look forward to the encore!
The Blyth Business Association
• CONGRATULATIONS • CONGRATULATIONS •