HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record-Blyth Summer Festival, 1980-07-03, Page 32It all began the first week' after Keith"
Roulston: bought the Blyth Standard and
attended a Lion'sClub meeting the, old
.
Memorial Halm
"It was Arty and dusty, bat I kcouldn't
believe tb theatre ',inside," he said. "1
►-'kept thinkingwhat a tern 1i41e theatre it
would.xnake,"
Keith, one of the founders of th �Biyth.
,Summer Festival and this ear's adminis..
trator, said it wasn't until his second year.
Blyth when he became active with the
Board of Trade and had to find a place for
• the annual fair queen competition that the
thought of cleaning up the theatre came..
about.
He said it was . Helen Growing, then
president of the Board of . Trade, who
organized a -group bf volunteers to begin
restoring the old hall.
With clean up crews working hard, the.
old .hall_ was -far -from In .1974 .
restoration was halted when, sit was found
that faults in the roof structure added
pressure to the walls making the building
unsafe: An approximate 560,000 had to be
spent on repairs that year.
Keith said' it wasn't until he met Paul
Thompson, founder of 'Theatre Passe -
Muraille, working in Clinton with the. Farm
Show, that the possibility of turning the old
hall into a theatre came into focus.
It was Paul who later introduced James
Roy (artistic director for five seasons) to
the,,idea of summer theatre in Blyth, to the
old hall and in March , 1975 to Keith to talk
about theatre.
"We got things off the ground the first
year with only 570,000 in grants," said -
Keith, explaining they only hired non -
equity actors.
When` Mostf i -n, Clover, a collective
Y `.
production based on Harry Boyle's book of •
the same name, out -did Mouse Trap, a
play based on Agatha .Christie's famous
book, in ticket sales by two to one, Keith
said they knew theft' was . a . market for
Canadian plays. W .
5
-Born north of bucknow, just 20 minutes
from, Blyth, Keith." attended journalism
school in -Toronto at Ryerson. In' the .
summer of 1967, Keith" gained reporting '.
experience working for the Huron Ezpos-
itbr in Seaforth and after. graduatin inr
1969i; he began working .in, public a elations
with a Toronto company. -
`I wasn't a cityperson," said Keith
explaining why he soon left the city to work
as editor at the Clinton News -Record..
It was while he worked in Clinton that
-.Keith and his wife A bought the ..Blyth -.
Standard and later because of his interest.
in magazines, started Village. Squire and a
few years later the•Rtiral Voice.
Reflecting on McGillicuddy's Lost
Weekend, Keith said comedy is not only
difficult to write; but difficult to perform. r
"What happens in comedy is thar you go,'
-. and over
over a it*, often in rehearsals, that
it is not funny after. awhile."
Citing last year's performance, he sold
the .cut was convinced teat McGillicudd is
Lost Weekend was not goingto be' nY
fiX..nyr ,.
Keith added they were amazed when they
a0uall y did the play, and:audience
y p y, a'ut�.
laughed.
'aidfor the future of Blyth theatre, Keith
said he'd like to see the audiences continue
to. grow. .
""l,d like to, see the conipany do mote
P �'
touring, to become `wider known," he
added:;
'For himself,: " Keith. wants e saidht
Q
continue writing and, hopes to begin'work
ona book. • w ,
o
I d just;like to get tq the point where
can earn a living." he said.
"I'm 'a starter -a creator type of person,
' nota uana8efi,'',he said explaining why he
Keith Routaton
London Free Press Photo
n• Latewser :soldpaper hbothepublithesh> ed. magazines. and the`
Asa creator, Keith has concentrated a
great deal ofhis efforts on writing. To date,
,„,„„he bas:, -had three plays produced in Blyth.,
The Shortest Distance Between Two
Points Was. ''the first of Keith's playa;
:• per1977formseasoned int.. Blyth, during the end` of the
..
In 1978, His:Own Boss, a, story about the
frustrations of being self=,employed was the
second to be -produced at, the festival.
His third! play, Remember When, was
Written: for the Wingham . Centennial `and'
• his last play, .McGillicuddy's. Lost;
Weekend, adapted from hiarVillage Squire
column` McGillicuddy's Diary about the
adventures of a small town police ,chief,
was produced last season in Blyth.
Keith decribes himself as a' "prolific
writer," he added his biggest problem is
thinking_.things through.
McGillicuddy's Lost Weekend, he said'
was one of the easiest ,and most difficult''
plays to write. .
"It was easy to mite because I knew the
characters, but it was difficult at times
because 1 couldn't change the charactejs,
people knew them from the column, they
_were set,"
"The other shows," said Keith, "1 was
trying ° to say something, but McGilli-
cuddy's Lost Weekend, was. just, a satire."
"It's a funny process sort ` of like
lightening striking. In most eases it's
something you want to say and you say it
on stage .in your play."
For a playwright, Keith said one of the
most upsetting experiences is to see your
play in rehearsal.
"Suddenly you've ' got all of these
•critics,'', he said. " 'veryone in the arts
runs on ego. Actors are laying it on the line
the most, so they are very leerie about
what they have to say op stage."
"As long as you, have a good give and
take situation with the director and cast,
things are usually ok." •
r
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