HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2000-07-19, Page 19THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 19, 2000. PAGE 19.
Entertainment^ Leisure
Local teen goes from usher to behind the scenes
By Bonnie Gropp
Citizen staff
Through the ranks
Robin Sanders, 18, of East Wawanosh Twp., is working full-
time this summer as part of the Blyth Festival’s technical
production crew.s
As a 12-year-old Robin Sanders
liked to usher at the Blyth Festival.
“I wanted to see the shows,” he said.
Just six years later, he's part of the
team putting those shows on stage.
Sanders, 18, of RR1, Belgrave has
been working full-time since May as
a production assistant at the theatre,
working in the carpentry shop, help
ing to build all the sets, load in the
sets and do changeovers. He even
had a short stint on stage as part of
the running crew for Death of the
Hired Man.
“I was there for every show, had a
costume and drove the thresher onto
the stage.”
Theatre has been a long-standing
tradition in the Sanders family. Dad,
Joe, used to perform in amateur pro
ductions and was the production
manager of Many Hands, a commu
nity play in Blyth. Brother, Jay, has
been part of the F.E. Madill Drama
Guild’s acting company as well as
being involved with the Festival’s
Young Company for several years.
Robin, however, has always been
more interested in what takes place
behind the scenes. “When I was ush
ering I would look in the windows of
the tech booth. “It looked really cool,
all the buttons. That’s what got me
into technical theatre.”
He too joined the Madill drama
club his first year of high school.
Then that summer when he was 15
phoned the Festival about doing a
co-op program. “They were looking
for someone to do the sound for
Overboard in The Garage. I actually
did a tech rehearsal 45 minutes after
I made that phone call. It was really
kind of weird.”
The following summer Sanders
actually did his co-op year through
the summer as Garage technician. “I
did the sound for the actual show and
general maintenance of the Garage
space, making sure the set didn’t fall
apart.”
Last summer Sanders was back in
The Garage as technician, but “this
time I got paid,” he says. He also
worked in the shop that year.
“Each season my responsibilities
have increased.”
Having finished his final year at
Madill, Sanders hopes in January to
attend college in Toronto, “definite
ly, probably Centennial College in
Scarborough”, to study automation
and robotics. “I’m looking for a
career in special effects.”
He recommends that any teen with
the same ambitions call and volun
teer. “It’s the easiest thing to do.”
And it may lead to an opportunity
to work with some of the theatrical
industry’s best.
“There are theatre professionals
here, both actors and technicians,
from all over Canada. It is a good
base to draw from.”
Sanders certainly knows what it
has done for him. “I am a fully qual
ified theatrical technician. I can get
part-time jobs in Toronto and can
apply for a job at any theatre with
fairly good qualifications. I wouldn’t
have had that opportunity if I hadn’t
been able to come here for so many
years.”
Freedom 55?
Your family &,
the guys at Landmark
Festival
A stage coach ride you won’t want
to miss is coming to Blyth, with the
Blyth Festival Young Company.
On July 17 the Young Company is
meeting for the first time this season
to begin rehearsals for a collective
creation entitled Outdoor Donnellys:
Part I.
The Young Company provides an
opportunity for young people to gain
theatre experience working under
professional direction. Outdoor
Donnellys: Part I will be directed by
Michael Ripley with guest director
Paul Thompson. The dedicated
group of 13 to 20 year olds will
Young Company assembles
rehearse from 9 - 5 Monday to
Friday until the end of August when
Outdoor Donnellys: Part ! will be
ready for public viewing.
While this may sound like a lot of
hard work, veteran Young Company
member and current stage manager
Cappy Onn says, “It’s not work for
me because I love it.”
The good news for aspiring actors
is that the Young Company still has
room for applicants. Paul Thompson
is particularly interested in youths
with music ability but anyone
between the ages of 13 and 20 is
welcome to audition.
Outdoor Donnellys is a collective
creation in which the actors con
tribute to the action and script. The
subject of the production is the
Donnellys, a family from the Lucan
area who operated a stage coach
company until they met their demise
at the hands of a local mob. But
according to Paul Thompson the
focus of the production is 'the theme
of youth growing up in a changing
world.’
For more information about join
ing the Young Company contact
Cappy Onn at: (519) 523-9509 or the
Blyth Festival at (519) 523-4345.
Happy 80th
Birthday
Bonanza Weekend approaches
Four plays in three days!
The Blyth Festival is preparing for
its annual Bonanza Weekend which
is coming up Aug. 4, 5 and 6.
Unlike most summer theatres, the
Blyth Festival runs its shows in
repertory. With two closing and two
opening productions culminating in
one weekend, patrons will have the
opportunity to explore the scope of
professional Canadian theatre.
The itinerary is as follows: Friday,
Aug 4, 8 p.m. Stolen Lives: The
Albert Walker Story by Peter Colley;
Saturday, August 5, 2 p.m. The
Drawer Boy by Michael Healey;
Saturday, Aug. 5, 8 p.m. Corker by
Wendy Lili; Sunday, Aug. 6, 2 p.m.
Anne adapted by Paul Ledoux from
the novel Anne of Green Gables by
Lucy Maud Montgomery.
The Blyth Festival is a profession
al theatre dedicated to producing and
developing Canadian plays. For
more information call toll free 1-
877-862-5984 or visit the Blyth
Festival website at www.blythfesti-
val.com
CRIME
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The family of
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Come & Go
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Sunday, July 23rd
1:30-3:30 p.m.
at Bill’s home
Best wishes only please
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