HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen-Blyth Festival 2001, 2001-06-13, Page 29Forty people from across the region have become involved in various scenes in The Donnellys.
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BLYTH FESTIVAL SALUTE, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13. 2001. PAGE 5.
Donnellys pre-show actors come from far anti wide
she dreamed of joining the drama
club, but couldn't because she lived
outside of town.
She spends several hours of her
week in rehearsals for the show all
for the love of performing.
On the night she was interviewed,
she was rehearsing the Ghost Riders'
scene, in which the ghosts of the
Donnellys ride an imaginary stage
coach. In this scene she is dressed in
a petticoat and white mask made of
tape and bristol-board.
"It's awesome, it's more fun than it
would have been in high school,"
Belcourt said.
Belcourt is thrilled to be working
with theatre professionals and the
other community members. As soon
as she heard Blyth was doing a
community play she sent a letter to
director Paul Thompson. Although
she never got a response when she
saw advertisements in the
• newspapers she quickly jumped to
sign on.
Director Janet Amos made a direct
stop at the drama club in CHSS.
There she recruited 17-year-old
Briana Brown from Bayfield..
Brown has been involved in high
school productions since grade nine.
A grade 12 student, Brown balances
school and eight hours of rehearsal a
By Mark Nonkes
Citizen staff
From near and far -people of all
ages and generations are pulling
together to create a spectacular with
The Outdoor Donnellys.
Actors in the pre-show for The
Outdoor Donnellys have volunteered
many hours to create four different
and exciting Donnelly era scenes.
Acting in The Outdoor Donnellys
is a dream come true for Clinton
native Wendy Belcourt.
Belcourt, a tall woman in her early
30s, always wanted to be involved in
theatre productions. In high school
Playwright/ac
Sean Dixon' is just having fun
acting in The Outdoor Donnellys,
it's something he takes lightly.
Years ago Dixon took acting very
seriously, but now he acts for
_enjoyment. instead Dixon places the
importance on writing now.
One of Dixon's shows was
recently produced at the Factory
Theatre in Toronto.
Dixon tries to write comedies with
serious subjects in them. His shows
are based on his life and stories he
hears.
When he writes he remembers the
actors and tries to throw challenges
in the script.
Dixon has written a number of
plays that were produced in B.C.
In the early '90s one of Dixon's
shows, The End of the World
Romance, was produced in Blyth.
In The Outdoor Donnellys Dixon
plays the narrator William Port. Port
was the postmaster in Lucan at the
time of the Donnellys. He was a bit
of an eccentric, he kept a pet crow.
Researchers for the Donnelly
show turned up Port's journals. He
sympathized with the Donnellys but
didn't get too involved- with the
whole situation.
He's the type of guy who thinks
Lucan could be a great place. Dixon
said.
The show is trying to stay as true
Sean Dixon: playing and acting.
week.
When entering the productions
Brown didn't really know anyone
and was intimidated by all the older
women, but after working With them
for a while she has grown to enjoy
their company. The play is a great
learning experience for Brown who
plans to enter the world of
performance arts in the future.
For Jamestown resident Fran
Breckenridge learning the choral
lines and songs keeps her up at night.
Breckenridge is a woman in her 50s,
who runs as fast as the girls in their
teens. Whether the script calls for
the actors to fall or fight
Breckenridge is right in the midst of
things.
While they practise some of the
rhyming choral verses
Breckenridge's voice leads the .
group, a voice that is more
distinguishable and louder than the
rest. .
She joined the play because she
wanted something different to do. In
the Ghost Riders scene she plays a
horse that pulls the stage coach
loaded with people.
While the group practises reciting
their lines or rehearsing the action
they always seem to have a smile on
their faces.
tor in acting mode at Blyth
The Outdoor Donnellys
to the facts as possible because
people in the area know the story so
intimately, Dixon said.
In The Outdoor Donnellys Dixon
also plays the banjo. It is something
that was pretty easy to learn for
Dixon.
Dixon was in Blyth last summer
when he replaced one of the original
actors in Death of the Hired Man.
He is currently working on a show
about a women's book club that
decides to let men enter. It is a script
that will likely be produced by the
Montreal Young Company.