HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2002-11-06, Page 23Dragon tales
Hullett Central Public School student Brad Lapp was full of
smiles as he showed off his dragon mask created for a skit
to be performed as part of the senior class's participation in
a Foundation for Enriching Education, Perth Huron pro-
gram. (Janice Becker photo)
By Janice Becker
Citizen staff
The classroom was filled with
colourful masks and and dancing
students when Wendy O'Brien and
Lesley Walker-Fitzpatrick were fin-
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THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2002. PAGE 23.
Entertainment & Leisure
Coates speaks to Blyth Business Association
There's no greater example of a
marriage between a community and
its theatre than between Blyth and
the Blyth Festival, Eric Coates, the
Festival's new artistic director told
the Blyth Business Association's
Oct. 29 meeting.
Coates cited the Festival's produc-
tion of The Outdoor Donneflys with
its massive requirement for 200 vol-
unteers as an example of the co-
operation between the theatre and
the community. Imagine if London
or Toronto mounted something
where one-fifth of the population
were needed for volunteers, he said.
At the same time the play, which
moved the audience from one loca-
tion to another within the village,
made Blyth the star of the show,
Coates said. Visitors from out of
town still talk about the adventure of
travelling with other audience mem-
bers on various "stage coaches".
Coates talked about the buzz of
activity at Memorial Hall, recalling
one night he was in the building
white a Lions' Club meeting took
place downstairs, the Blyth Festival
Singers rehearsed in the rehearsal
hall and a meeting of Festival volun-
teers took place in the offices.
He said he hopes to revitalize the
Blyth Centre for the Arts, the corpo-
rate name of the Festival organiza-
tion. Already the Centre has a choir,
and art gallery and an orchestra, he
noted and he hoped to make the
Festival's Young Company even
more important as a place to expose
local young people to the arts. He
recalled one parent who told him her
son's involvement in the Young
Company had "changed our lives".
Coates said he was also moved to
realize what role one special person
could play in a community like
Blyth when he attended the funeral
of long-time Festival board member
Cenetta Bainton.
"This is such an interesting town
-- the personalities that jump out."
In return for the community's sup-
port, the Festival helps give Blyth a
national profile, Coates said. He
produced an 18-inch stack of
resumes received in a one-week
period froin actors who want to
work at the Festival. That stack
would likely more than double in the
weeks ahead, he said.
At the same time the pile of unso-
licited scripts from playwrights who
want their work produced here
would likely mount to the same
dimensions.
People want to work in Blyth
because plays produced here have
been so successful, Coates said. The
Drawer Boy, commissioned by the
Festival, will have 64 productions in
the U.S. this year and development
of a movie adaptation is taking place
in Hollywood. The award winning
Quiet in the Land is on the playbill
at Stratford Festival for next season.
But making all this happen is
incredibly risky, Coates said. He
ished with them.
The two women, artists with the
Foundation for Enriching Education,
Perth Huron, brought an artitudes
workshop to Hullett Central Public
School last Friday.
The Waterworks artitude is a day-
long program for Grade 7 and 8 stu-
dents to bring their attention to
water.
Walker-Fitzpatrick said the pro-
gram involves the making of masks,
movement and myths about water.
The students are told a story about
water then are given the opportunity
to create masks and characters to
perform the story by the end of the
day.
Walker-Fitzpatrick, who special-
izes in theatrics, teaching the chil-
dren to demonstrate their characters
through movement while mask-
maker O'Brien helps them create
the personality with design.
Because the workshop was
expanded to include movement and
a skit, the mask-making portion of
the workshop was condensed from
previous years, said O'Brien.
"We use cardboard, paper and
masking tape to make the masks
more quickly."
"Instruments are used to add a
soundscape," said Walker-
Fitzpatrick.
The program incorporates science,
art and drama while learning about
water.
compared the Festival's need to
come up with an entirely new play-
bill each year to a restaurant that
changes its menu or a store that
changes its entire inventory, and
then has to sec if the audience will
like it. "You don't know how many
people are going to come," he said.
Though other summer theatres are
less risky because they don't pro-
duce so many new scripts, Blyth is
here to develop new plays, he said,
and that's why he and others want to
work here. Even while he worked at
the Stratford Festival early in his
career, his goal was to work at Blyth
and produce interesting work that
related to the community, he said.
Also at the meeting, members
voted to donate up to $100 for
Christmas lights for the trees to line
main street. A donation of $300
from the sale of spring bulbs will be
made toward the cost of renovating
the village's entrance signs. ,
Bev Elliott reported that Blyth
As well as the workshop, curricu-
lum-based packages are provided for
the teachers, giving them informa-
tion on water and water facts, cur-
rent and future problems and solu-
tions for protection of the resource,
12 attend
Blyth
UCW
Blyth UCW met in the Sunday
School room Oct. 29 at 2 p.m. with
12 present.
Emily Phillips was in charge of
worship. Her theme was Count Your
Blessings. She read two stories
about being thankful.
011ie Craig's study Was Person's
Day, the day women became
'Persons'
Lorna Fraser provided lunch.
The next meeting is Nov. 26. The
Christmas potluck is at 6:30 p.m.
Roll call is a donation for the
Christmas Bureau.
would withdraw from the
Communities in Bloom competition
next year because, as a national win-
ner, it can only go on either to the
international competition, which is
very expensive, or partner with an
American community for America
in Bloom.
30th
Birthday
November 9
° ar
Love Wyatt & Wade
Come and celebrate
with us at Maple Villa Itl
on Saturday, Nov. 9 41
from 2-4 pm
Nipr—gr —vA,,Nrit,.'grANSKIF,OVA.
• • Water topic of Artitudes workshop