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PAGE 2. BLYTH FESTIVAL SALUTE. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16, 2004.
Memorial Hall made Festival possible
In the beginning
Blyth Memorial Community Hall as it looked in 1921.
All the creativity of all the artists
in the Festival's 30th season, all the
ingenuity of the board members and
the administrators, could not have
created the Blyth Festival if it hadn't
been for the far-sightedness of the
Blyth community more than 80
years ago.
Following World War I
community leaders decided it was
time for Blyth to have a large
community hall.
At the turn of the century the
village had no place to hold concerts
that could attract large audiences.
Unlike other communities which had
built town halls with second-floor
auditoriums, Blyth depended only
on smaller halls above stores. But
when the village looked-for a way to
honour the men of the community
who had served and died, in World
War 1, people agreed that a
community hall would be a lasting
memorial.
The community worked together
to raise the money to build the
magnificent new hall which
contained a theatre seating well over
500 (modern safety requirements
have shaved the number of seats)
plus a downstairs meeting hall.
In the decades following the 1921
opening. Memorial Hall was a centre
of community life. By the 1970s.
however. the use of the theatre
portion of the building had declined
to the point it was often used only for
the annual Remembrance Day
ceremony.
In 1972 a group of local citizens
worked to spruce up the hall, using
volunteer labour. But concern for
safety. first because of a lack of fire
escapes. then over the safety of the
Memories
Building
the 'link'
Don McCaffrey of Exeter is still
involved in the Festival, working
front of house. where he ushers and
mingles with the audience before the
plays starts.
He was president from 1994-95
and said he had "a lot of great
memories," including the
completion of the 1990 building
project, which he supervised.
"The people we worked with and
the interest they had in the theatre
and in their job was one of the
greatest parts. It is a • pleasure
working with people who enjoy
what they do."
McCaffrey said he usually tries to
make all opening night plays and
works about two or three shows a
week during the summer.
His most memorable plays are
Garrison's Garage written by Ted
Johns. Another Season's Promise
written by Anne Chislett and Keith
Roulston and Chislett's Quiet in the
I .and.
roof, stopped the efforts to put the
building back in use. An engineer's
report said the roof needed either to
be replaced with a stronger structural
design. or needed to be supported by
pillars in the middle of the
audito-ium. With the limited use of
the theatre, it was tempting to just
close that part of the building and
save the money. But urged on by
some members of the community,
particularly senior citizens who
obtained a special grant to help
restore the building to its former use.
village councillors voted to replace
the roof structure in the fall of 1974.
By the next summer, professional
theatre arrived with the Blyth
Festival.
Since those make-or-break days,
the Blyth Festival has twice
expanded the building, providing
dressing rooms and added back-
stage space as well as a larger lobby
and many more washrooms. The
Festival has also equipped the hall
with modern lighting and sound
equipment. making it an attractive
Memories
Liz Herman of Goderich said one
of the most enjoyable moments
while being president of the Blyth
Festival was the "huge community
interest and the pride that the
community had with the Festival."
"I remember how the village
buzzed with excitement before an
opening night," said Herman who
ran a shop in the village at the time.
She said she also remembers all
the hard work she and the other
venue for touring performers.
Liona Boyd. Maureen Forrester,
Haygood Hardy, Murray
McLaughlin, Valdy, Andre Gagnon,
Loreena McKennitt, Veronica
Tennant, Timothy Findlay, Irish
Rovers. Frank Mills or Catherine
McKinnon and Don Harron (alias
Charlie Farquharson) . the list of
performers who have performed at
Blyth Memorial Hall reads like a
who's who of Canadian
entertainment.
Memorial Hall has developed,
over the years, to be the
entertainment centre of Huron
County. All .summer long it hosts the
Blyth Festival, one of Canada's top
professional theatres and a creator of
many popular plays seen not only in
Canada but around the world. In the
winter, however, it becomes a
concert hall, a favourite place for
both performers and viewers.
The hall is a spectacular place to
attend a concert, particularly for
those performers who depend on
natural acoustics instead of decibels
of electronically amplified sound.
When Sylvia Tyson and her group
"Quartette" played Memorial Hall
the performers stopped several times
between numbers to comment on the
glorious acoustics of the building.
Memorial Hall is attractive
because it seats more than 400'
people in a community that, because
of the Blyth Festival, has become
known as the entertainment centre of
the region. Despite the large seating
capacity, the hall is a very intimate
space (only 50 feet from stage to
back wall) that allows the audience
to feel more like they're in an
impromptu concert in someone's
living room than in a concert hall.
All this was made possible by the
vision and hard work of community
leaders nearly a century ago.
board members did with fundraising.
but it was "exciting".
Herman was president from 1983-
84 and said she still "enjoys the
theatre immensely," as she and her
husband try to attend at least one
play each season.
She said she enjoyed a lot of the
plays, but she really likes "anything
with Janet Amos," including Quiet in
the Land and He Won't Come in from
the Barn.
Setting the village abuzz
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