HomeMy WebLinkAboutSetting The Stage, 1998-06-24, Page 27Dressing
00711
Only Blyth
523-4955
is the store that
offers you both
casual and dressy
women's fashions
Sizes range from
6-18
Open: .
Tuesday - Saturday
10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
During the summer
theatre season we will be
open evenings for your
convenience.
Come in — browse
and check out our
personalized service!
Anne Chislett: Award-winning playwright
helps other authors crafts their plays.
Wilbur County Blues
by Andrew Moo the
Will shared laughter tear down barriers
of fear and mistrust?
A Nigerian immigrant moves his
son away from the tensions of Toronto,
but is afraid to join in community life.
It takes a teenage romance
and a set of unlikely conspirators to turn
Ben's village house
into a home.
July 2 - August 1
HOT FLASHES
a musical comedy by Paul Ledoux and John Roby
The surfs up and the heat is on! A weekend at a
summer resort is just what Janet and Harry need tp
put the spark back in their marriage. Will the sound of
surfside guitars rekindle the flame, or will a surly
teenage daughter put out the fire for good? There's
more than song and dance in this mid-life crisis, so
join us in "the garage" - where you'll feed every note
and relish each nuance.
July 24 through August 15
written and performed by Michael Healey
A little girl disappears on her way home from
school. The only thing found is her right
shoe. Kicked follows the investigations
through three interviews conducted by the
cop charged with finding her. He solves the
case, but in doing so reveals how incapable
adults are of understanding, let alone
protecting children.
August 18 through August 22
written and performed by Jennifer Fawcett
The Goat Show is a one-woman show with twelve
characters and a herd of goats. The narrator recreates
the story of Dick and Jane, a young idealistic couple who
want to get back to nature and raise goats. Through the
hilarious antics of their young daughter, Rebecca, and
the painful events surrounding the end of their farm,
Goat Show tells the story of the strength of love
overcoming sacrifices of money, time and dreams.
August 27, 28 anc1,29th
GARAGE THEATRE
KICKED THE GOAT SHOW
SETTING THE STAGE, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 1998. PAGE 3.
Chislett's goal at Festival is fine writing
By Bonnie Gropp
For the first time in its 23-year
history, the artistic hand
setting the stage for the Blyth
Festival's season of Canadian
theatre is a playwright.
Anne Chislett, a co-founder of
the summer theatre, wrote her first
play for the festival in its third
season. "We were in England for
the winter, and I adapted a Harry
Boyle story so we would have a
locally-based show for that year."
Since then Anne's plays have
achieved not just national acclaim,
but international as well. While she
has had one premiere at Blyth at
least every four years, she is
probably best known for 1979's
The Tomorrow Box, which has
gained prominence in Japan. It was
written as Janet Amos was set to
begin her first tenure as artistic
director. Anne, who was associate
to then artistic director James Roy,
said, "Janet came in to work with
him, so I sat out in East Wawanosh
and wrote Tomorrow Box."
Asking Anne to pick her
favourite play is like asking a
parent which is their favourite
child. However, she said Yankee
Notions was "enormous fun to
write."
When one considers the works of
Anne Chislett, they will perhaps
recognize what she is bringing to
her first season as artistic director.
Quiet in' the Land, Another
Season's Promise, (co-written with
one of this season's contributors,
Keith Roulston), Yankee Notions
and Glengarry School Days, are
rich in colloquy and subtle
humour. The plays she selects
should reflect her love of words.
"I think audiences wilt see more
attention to words and a flair for
dialogue, basically fine writing, I
hope," she said.
While the development of new
scripts has been an integral part of
the theatre's mandate from the
beginning, Anne feels that it has
not been as much a priority as she
hopes to make it. "Finding time
has been the challenge, but I'm
hoping to bring a coherent program
of long-term script development to
Blyth."
To that end, the only tried and
true production in this
year's season is Thirteen
Hands, selected simply
because Anne "adored it.
I feel it's absolutely a
Blyth show; it just didn't
premiere here."
Devising ways to
inspire creation is another
hallmark of Anne's
ability to find the story
and develop it.
This season's Wilbur
County Blues, began with
Anne's idea to bring in a
writer not familiar with
Blyth, then have him
spend as much time as he
can familiarizing himself
with the community and
its people, before sending
him home to write a play.
With the buzz word that
Andrew Moodie's
offering is very
promising, Anne thinks it
was a plan that has "paid
off handsomely."
While the season offers
a mix of humour and plot,
all the shows in this
season are "very
romantic," says Anne.
"They have a love story
at the core, which is something that
more or less just happened."
Though introducing new talent
has always been a part of the Blyth
Festival's vision, Anne is also
hoping audiences will be seeing
more of certain writers. She
already has chosen material from
some "quite prominent writers" for
the 1999 season.
"I'm trying to commission three
years ahead. That way we have a
number of producible scripts so we
have choices and can balance
seasons appropriately."
Her first season has been made
easier she said because of the
"incredible assistance" she has
received from Jerry Franken,
honourary artist, and Eric Coates,
associate artistic director. She is
also extravagant in her praise of
general manager Karen Stewart.
"She has been very much part of
the creative planning this year, that
and the running of everything and
basically being God."
While past artistic directors have
been actively involved in the
season as actors or directors, for
Anne most of this season's work is
done. "I'm still dramaturge on
Jobs ( a new play by Roillston),
but that's my only duty beyond
being hostess for the season."
"Other than that I'm looking
ahead," she said.
And what does she see in the
future? "My goal is to allow
people who have contributed to the
festival, and who want to
contribute more, to do so, bringing
us their talents and insights."
Mcw tie 2aundlAteticarttite
130 Queen St. South, Blyth 523-9825
Tues. - Sat. 10 - 5
Summer Delight
Frozen Yogurt: cones & sundaes,
Ice Cream Pies from Decadent Ice Cream Desserts
Raspberry Crostata: delicious raspberry filling
in a rich cookie crust!
Bretzel: tastes like a pretzel— soft like a bagel!
Splash Juices from V8,
Gourmet Coffees, Assorted Teas, Desserts
Free Cup of Coffee with this ad!
CANADIAN THEATRE
F ES T I V A L
gkpetrring Me eign4A1V1 11444gnettm
Thirteen Hands
by Carol Shields
Canada's Pulitzer Prize-winning author deals a trump-laden
hand in this witty, wise, and heart-warming tribute to
uncelebrated generations of women who lived before a bra was
burned. Carol catches them at their most vivacious, around a
card table, where no one is a wife, a mother, a daughter, where
a woman can simply be...herself.
August 30 - Septembe 5
Yesteryear
by Joanna McClelland Glass
Brimming-with the romantic optimism of the post-war
era, this sunny comedy brings the hopeful message
that love can be lovelier the second time around. Be
part of the fun when an Irish Sweepstakes ticket
exalts the meek above the mighty in a close knit
prairie town. Yesteryear is the perfect entertainment
for open-hearted, open-mined, joy loving people...
people like you!
June 26 - August 22
Jobs! Jobs! Jobs!
by Keith Roulston
There's comedy for the whole
family as a newly-elected mayor
strives to protect his town from
amalgamation with a hated neighbour
and keep his promise to create jobs.
But just when a solution seems at hand,
mysterious strangers, a rebellious daughter
and a case of love at first sight complicate his plans,
and escalate the shenanigans.
August 6 - 29
OrP,4,M77t, %0WO
r
ART GALLERY EXHIBITIONS
PAINTINGS
June 16th to July 11th,
Opening - Friday, June 26th
POLARIZED TEXTURES
July 14th to August 8th
Opening - Friday, July 17th
SANCTUARIES
Ada K. Hunsberger - August 11th - September 5th,
Opening - Friday, August-14th
June 26 to September 5,1998 Tickets - Call 523-9 00