The Citizen, 1996-07-10, Page 2390TH BIRTHDAY
ROY B. COUSINS
The family of Roy Cousins
invites friends to attend an
OPEN HOUSE
In honour of their father's
90th Birthday
SUNDAY, JULY 14, 1996.
2 P.M. - 4 P.M.
at Brussels United Church.
Best Wishes only please.
Buck & Doe
for
Tim Fritz &
Lisa Pennington
Friday, July 12
at the B.M. & G.
Community Centre
from 8 to 1
Tickets $5/person
Phone 887-6291 for tickets
BUCK & DOE
for
TERRY GREIDANUS
& KIM ELLIOTT
Friday, July 12
Age of Majority
For information call
523-9660 or 9533
i4111,-- • PARK THEATRE •
It ?P:- CODERICH 524.7811
The question of whether or not sit are
/ 4one in the univergia , ans 4,„ 4
FRI. & SAT.
6:45 & 9:15
SUN. - THURS.
8 PM
_srlvAA4-ziz_
L
WEE
2nd
IV.-
4
FRI. - THURS.
JULY 12 - 18 I 1?
n CV
MIRPENOENCEon't make'plans fur DRY
LONG DISTANCE? CALL 1-800-26,,5 -3438 FOR TOLL FREE MOVIE INFO
THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 1996 PAGE 23.
Failure to follow Entertainment council motion
irks councillors
They come from afar to Blyth
East meets west
Playwrights Colleen Curran of Montreal and Gordon
Portman of Edmonton are happy to be here in Blyth,
where their plays, Villa Eden and Fireworks respectively
are premiering this month as part of the Festival's season.
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By Bonnie Gropp
They come from afar to be part
of Blyth Festival's season.
One of the many interesting
aspects of the Festival's work is its
dedication to producing new Cana-
dian plays. The final two offerings
of this year show the diversity of
talent for which the invitation of
opportunity is extended here.
Colleen Curran is a Montreal
native, whose comedy Villa Eden
which opens July 24, is her sixth to
preniiere in Blyth. Conversely Gor-
don Portman, who scripted the fam-
ily drama Fireworks, opening a
week later, comes to this area from
western Canada. A native of
Saskatchewan, Gordon now lives in
Edmonton. While this is his third
play, the second to be professional-
ly produced, it is the first to be pro-
duced east of Regina.
Despite these differences, the
pair came to the world of theatre in
very similar manners. Gordon
wrote and acted in high school then
trained for the stage. He found
work intermittently throughout the
next few years until he got fed up
and decided instead to concentrate
on his writing.
"It has been more rewarding than
acting. Not just in a monetary
You can write in your own living
room."
Colleen too, began writing in
high school. "I didn't like the stuff
we were doing, so the teacher told
me to do one of my own. So I
wrote a play for my cousin and
myself."
But it was Blyth, she says, that
made her a professional playwright.
"Cakewalk — (her first Blyth pre-
miere) that changed it for me."
Curran's success can be attributed
to her sense of fun. Her plays typi-
cally feature eccentric, though like-
able characters, in settings familiar
to everyone. "My plays have a
national flavour. Coming from
Montreal, people assume that they
might be based on the pain, the lan-
guage problem. I prefer to be very
non-political. I try to stay away
from all of that."
"If there's anything about Villa
BUCK AND DOE
for
Tracy Bosman
and
Paul McLennan
Saturday, July 20, 1996
9:00 p.m. - 1:00 a.m. Seaforth Arena
$5.00 per ticket
Music by D.J. Lunch provided.
ABSOLUTELY NO MINORS
For information call 527.1247, 887-9558
that's eastern it's that it's fast and
energetic. People are drinking cof-
fee a lot." .
Villa Eden is set in a ramshackle
bed and breakfast, where a week-
end rush of guests and a shocking
death set the stage for farcical fun.
Gordon says that while his plays
are not necessarily about the west
they do have what some might call
prairie sensibility. "It's about fami-
ly and the need for strong relation-
ships. It's about how those feelings
help families work out their prob-
lems."
His Fireworks focuses on a bro-
ken family, held together by an
elderly woman. Her death shatters
their world, but her memory contin-
ues to guide them.
"It is a story that I think translates
well to the Blyth stage. It has good
family values and I think perhaps
that is what Janet (Artistic Director
Janet Amos) found appealing."
Gordon always felt that his play
was perfect for Blyth audiences. He
submitted it five years ago for con-
sideration and received a letter
from then Artistic Director Peter
Smith, stating that the play was
being considered. "Five years later
Terry Tweed was reading through a
pile of scripts. She pulled mine and
gave it to Janet, who liked it. I've
been very lucky."
Anne Anglin, who has worked
with Colleen on three other projects
and is directing Villa, heard that
play at a Montreal reading. "She
liked it, remembered it and talked it
up with Janet. We've been doing
workshops ever since," says
Colleen.
Both productions feature actors
who have been with them since the
first workshops, in addition to new
faces. "I like the idea of them car-
rying on from the beginning. Yet
by the same token there's some-
thing to be said for fresh eyes. I
like the mix," says Gordon.
Whether from east or - west,
whether newcomer or old friend,
coming to Blyth is a welcome
experience.
"It's great being here," says Gor-
don.
"Have a good time," responds the
veteran. "It's such a wonderful
place to work on a show."
BUCK & DOE
for
Rita Van Den Broek
and
David MacPherson
SATURDAY,
JULY 13, 1996
BMG Community Centre,
Brussels
9 p.m. - 1 a.m.
$5.00 per person
BUCK & DOE
for
BILL PATTERSON
AND FRAN SMITH
Saturday, July 20, 1996
Elma Logan Arena, Monkton
Lunch Provided Dancing 9 - 1
Tickets, $6 00 each
Age of majority required
For tickets call' Steve 348-9509
Scott 887-6558 or Rob 347-2814
Huron County will advertise this
week for applications for the posi-
tion of county engineer but several
councillors were unhappy because
the advertisements were not placed
in June as county council had
instructed at its February meeting.
Warden Bill Clifford, reeve of
Goderich, and committee chair
Murray Keyes, reeve of Hay, were
hard pressed to defend the actions
of the Agriculture and Public
Works Committee in holding off
the advertising of the position. Clif-
ford said the committee felt some-
one at the July 4 council session
might have had another proposal to
make other than advertising the
position. Keyes indicated the com-
mittee felt there might be a propos-
al to offer the position, on a
permanent basis, to acting engineer
Sandra Lawson.
But Brian McBurney, reeve of
Tumberry, said the committee had
been instructed by the February
meeting of county council to adver-
tise the position in June. Tom Cun-
ningham, reeve of Hullett, said it
isn't proper for a committee of
council to override the whole coun-
cil.
"It will still meet the deadlines
for interviews," Warden Clifford
said. The deadline for applications
is July 31 with the shortlist to be
completed by Aug. 6 and inter-
views to take place Aug. 16. "The
committee will bring its recommen-
dation back to the council for its
September meeting," Clifford said.
"It won't meet the deadline
because the deadline for advertising
was to have been in June," McBur-
ney objected. "The direction (of
council) was quite direct and it
wasn't followed."
Clifford said the committee
would have to take responsibility
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for the delay. It was not the fatilt of
staff, he said. The committee dis-
cussed the issue and decided to
hold off advertising until after the
July meeting in case council want-
ed to recommend other action. But
McBurney pointed out there was no
record of any such disculsion in the
minutes of the committee meeting.
"It was a discussion only," War-
den Clifford said, with no notes
taken.
Bob Hallam, reeve of West
Wawanosh said he had confidence
in Lawson but felt on principle the
position of department heads
should be advertised. By delaying
advertising until July, he said, some
good candidates might miss the ads
because of their holidays. "The
committee should have considered
this in May if they were going to
change the procedure."
Lynn Murray, clerk-treasurer,
said there had already been several
inquiries from people interested in
applying for the position.
"It seems we have been straying
from our policy manual several
times lately," said Bill Vanstone,
reeve of Colborne. "Perhaps we
need to look at it and update it if
necessary."
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