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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2004-05-06, Page 31:210 oth Annivers: Forthcoming Marriage Smith - Bachert We, as happy parents, Art & Debbie Smith, Portage La Prairie, Manitoba and Keith & Janet Bachert, Walton, ON are pleased to announce the forthcoming marriage of our children Mark Albert Bachert, Nicaragua & Brenda Lee Anne Smith, Manitoba. They plan to wed, in the will of the Lord, May 22/04 at Island Park, Portage La Prairie, Manitoba May 15 5 pm - 8 pm Belgrave Community Centre $10 for adults $6 for children 10 & under "ONE AWESOME ROLLIRCOASTE R RIDE!" Fri & Sat 6:45 & 9:15 Sun -Thur 8:00 $6•25 ! OWN' ttlultt KXTE ISCKMAN SECKINSALL VAN HaWr 1u VS liolesce Frightening Scenes QQloo,evi Not Recommended for DIGITAL Young Cnildren Crude Content Coarse Language Sexual Content Not Recommended for Young Children UNIDSAYLOHAIR WATCH YOUR BACK GODERICH 524-7811 Fri & Sat 6:45 & 9:15 Sun - Thur 8:00 www.movielinks.ca long distance?1''800 -265-3438 Contest c'eut sat'? Want a chance to win $10,0007 Steelback Beer and The Blyth Inn (plus 42 other bars) are hosting a Karaoke Contest starting Friday, May 7th Details at the Wed 5 Kids Eat Free 12 Kids Eat Free Thims 6 Wing Nile 13 Wing Vite 7 haraoke Steelback Bar Star Search 14 Karaoke Steelback Beer Star Search Lathes Night Dancing, DJ 15 Jununaoke Scavenger You're the singer & they're the backup othetets Bru 11a Su $ "et Fri. Sot Upcoming Events hotel! 422 Queen St., Blyth, Ontario 523-9381 C.) C.) C.) C.1-) c.) (,) (,) c-;- ) c.) c.) -t-c,> -r -r C.) ) -r C-r-, C,) C,) C-r.) C.) C.) C.) S? Love from your family Mappv 4 0th anniu.eutat v Caked Lena Necatitt an May 9 Sponsorship donatio• n John Weese of CKNX radio presents a cheque for a season's sponsorship for the 30th anniversary season to Eric Coates, Blyth Festival artistic director at the kick-off of the Festival's season, Saturday in Blyth. (Keith Roulston photo) THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 6, 2004. PAGE 31. Entertainment & Leisure Beginning not always easy to find "In the beginning...", is one of the traditional ways to begin a story, but sometimes it's hard to know just where the beginning is. Such was the case Saturday night as the beginning of the Blyth Festival's 30th season was celebrated with a festive evening featuring poet- novelist-filmmaker Michael Ondaatje reading passages from his writing and showing excerpts from his film The Clinton Special, about the creation of The Farm Show more than 30 years ago. Ondaatje was an unknown at the time he made the film, long before his international fame with his novel The - English Patient which became a mammoth hit movie. His film had the audience of 300 chuckling at the youthful faces of the actors. They were all unknowns back then but as they came up on stage to replay some choice bits of The Farm Show, they represented legends in the Canadian entertainment world. There was David Fox who'd just received rave reviews in the new movie The Saddest Music in the World. There was Miles Potter, now directing at prestigious theatres like Stratford Festival more often than acting. In the audience in the hay mow on , Ray Bird's Holmesville farm in the summer of 1972 when these young actors nervously performed the show they had created after talking to local farmers.- was a young Blyth-born, Clinton theatre student, James Roy. Later when The Earth Show proved a huge success, it went on tour and stopped in Blyth. Memorial Hall's auditorium was closed for safety concerns at the time so the show was performed in the basement. Later director Paul Thompson would bring his company back to Blyth to rehearse 1837 —The Farmers' Revolt on the Memorial Hall Stage, Signing an agreement not to hold the village responsible if anything happened in the condemned theatre. Among the actors in thos.e rehearsals was Eric Peterson, now a star on the hit CTV situation comedy Corner Gas artd one of the country's most respected actors. Saturday night Peterson was on stage recreating his fiery portrait of William Lyon MacKenzie, leader of the 1837 Rebellion. In one scene MacKenzie and Col. Anthony Van Egmond (played by Fox) meet with Tiger Dunlop (played by Potter) who had been instrumen- tal in opening this part of Ontario to set- tlement, to try to convince him to join the rebel- lion. During the scene the dreams of what this part of the country could become are outlined. Later in Saturday's show. Raoul Bhaneja. now star of Train 48 on Global Television, came on stage to sing some of the music from Barn Dance Live!, the Blyth Festival's tribute to the days of the CKNX Travelling Barn Dance, Moments later Bhaneja became emotional as he introduced Ernie King. the real-life musician he portrayed in the show. Would the Festival have existed to have paid tribute to King and the barn dance without the pioneering work of Doc Cruickshank. CKNX founder in helping create a western Ontario culture? One of those listening to CKNX and being influenced, was a young boy in Atwood who grew up to become the indefatigable theatre director and producer Paul Thompson who created The Farm Show; 1837 — The Farmers' Revolt and many other plays. all using his collective creation techniques. It was Thompson who told the young Clinton director Roy of Memorial Hall in Blyth and the group of people who wanted to bring back to life the theatre that had been built by far-sighted community leaders following World War 1 as a tribute to those who served. After five years working hard to make the Blyth Festival a success starting in the summer of 1975. Roy decided it was time to move on to something new. He turned over the artistic directorship to Janet Amos who had been in The Farm Show. She brought along her husband who had grown up on a farm between Clinton and Seaforth, became a teacher and then caught the acting bug, taking over a role in The Farm Show when it toured. Ted Johns started writing plays, with his greatest successes on the Blyth stage. So there they were Saturday night, Ted and Janet playing Aylmer and Ro'se Clark, recreating their roles from He Won't Conic In From the Barn. the characters were based on Johns's aunt and uncle, Mervyn and Jean Lobb. Amos had portrayed Jean Lobb in The Farm Show. Amos led the Festival through some of its greatest successes in the early 1980s, then returned in 1994 when the Festival had run into serious financial problems. When she left after 1997, she turned leadership of the Festival over to Anne Chislett who had written one of the most successful plays of Amos's 1980s period: the Governor-General's-Award-winning Quiet in the Land. Chislett had been one of the founders of the Festival in 1975. It was Chislett who saw the potential in a young actor who had arrived at the Festival in 1996 to take a 'role in Thompson's Barn Dance Live! and so there on Saturday night, hosting this event to kick-off the 30th anniversary, was Eric Coates, the current artistic director. And as if to confuse time-lines even further, there on stage were David Fox and Jerry Franken, recreating their original roles in the most-produced play in North America this year, The Drawer Boy. While acting-at the . Blyth Festival, Michael Healey had conceived a play about two bachelor farmers bbing interviewed in 1972 by young actors from the city who intended to produce The Farm Show. Fox, who had been one of the actors doing the interviewing, had now become One of the farmers being portrayed. Jim Fitzgerald. who was editor at The Clinton News-Record in 1972 chuckled Saturday night when he remembered thinking, when he heard of a bunch of actors holed up in Holmesville. that there were no ••••••••••••• BelgraveOptimist: :Po < • • • 7 7 • • • • • • For advance tickets • phone 357-1417 • Tickets also available • at the door •••••••••••• interesting stories for them to tell in Holrgesville. But born of that Farm Show tradition oftelling local stories. the Blyth Festival is now beginning its 30th season. And there on stage was Michael Ondaatje reciting a poem about staying in Thompson's farm home in East Wawanosh and listening to Joe Chatterton playing his harmonica at the Blyth Inn. So where does the story begin? It doesn't really matter. It matters only that the story continues. Mom & Dad (Martin & Janie Wilts) on Saturday. May 8, 2004 Love from your family WEDDINGS Performed - your location or our iindoor or outdoor chapel (non-denominational) For brochure call: REV. CHRIS MORGAN ALL FAITHS PASTORAL CENTRE BENMILLER, 524-5724 WEDDINGS • • • • • • • • • • • •