HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen-Blyth Festival 2000, 2000-06-21, Page 39BLYTH FESTIVAL SALUTE, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 2000. PAGE 15.
After a Jamaican boyhood a private school
in Canada changed Blackwood's course
By Mark Nonkes
Freelance Writer
wound that caused brain damage.
“I'm kind of thinking it’s like a
Rain Man part.” he said.
For John Blackwood, who plays
Angus in The Drawer Boy, his first
role in theatre was Eliza Doolittle in
Shaw's Pvgmalion when he was 11
and attending a boys’ boarding
school.
“1 started out playing Eliza
Doolittle and it was great. The
school I was going to was pretty
awful but when you were in the
school plays, suddenly you got
better food," he laughed.
Blackwood fashioned the role
after his grandmother who
performed in musicals. During his
years at the boarding school he was
in several productions and received
great reviews.
Many years later, Blackwood,
with lots of experience in the acting
field, is happy to be in Blyth for the
first time.
In The Drawer Boy Blackwood
plays Angus, a farmer with a war
In Corker, Blackwood plays a
lawyer who is not very sympathetic.
“I’m a lawyer, what more do you
need?” he joked.
Blackwood is excited to show his
diverse acting abilities with these
two characters.
“You go from playing somebody
like a lawyer who’s pretty sharp to
someone like Angus who can’t
remember what happened five
minutes ago.”
Blackwood grew up in Jamaica
and was sent to boarding school in
St. Catharines. He studied theatre at
Brock University and graduated in
1972.
Over the 28 years he has acted
Blackwood has worked in smaller
theatres across Canada.
Last year he was in Sir John Eh!
at Theatre Passe Muraille and was
nominated for a Dora award.
Also recently he was
Shakespeare’s Love's Labour Lost in
Oakville, A Short History of Night at
the Factory Theatre in Toronto.
He has been in many workshops
of plays in the last while and also
appears in TV and film.
“I’m getting good at it after 30
years,” he laughed.
in
For ticket
information call
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Box Office
523-9300
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McDonalds have
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John Blackwood
Split second decision began
John Fitzgerald Jay's
international theatrical career
first priority.
“Before I had a child acting was
my greatest passion...and that’s not
the case anymore.”
Fitzgerald Jay said the facilities
for raising a child in Canada are
superior to England.
Now Fitzgerald Jay’s interest in
science is very high again.
“Now I’m quite interested in
science again. I think now I have the
maturity to study it consciously.” —
NM
Continued from Pg. 10
“I had a great time doing it and I
got fantastic reviews in the local
papers,” he recalls.
On the last day of auditions for
the Dalhousie acting program,
Fitzgerald Jay happened to go into
the drama department and make a
few inquiries. When he found out
auditions were being held he made a
split second decision, signed up and
got the final audition spot at the end
of the day.
When Fitzgerald Jay went into
the auditions the director told him to
come again in the morning because
he knew he was not prepared.
Fitzgerald Jay cannot remember the
night.
“There have been a thousand
nights like that since then.”
Fitzgerald Jay was offered the
final spot in the acting program.
After he graduated, he acted in
London theatre and British TV.
When he moved to Toronto last
year, it was the first time he had been
to the city.
Fitzgerald Jay said his child is his
f_
When the shows
have opened
check out the
reviews
by The Citizen
reviewers at
www.northhuron.on.ca
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