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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1975-07-24, Page 17r'o .ro .:t, eW p sn* ro W$ngh Times Siad M Y NA" 'a►+ eaI 4 4Vi $l e MOOR derufAis recd . %dye ',heartland (Based on 3.$ r 9,seo homes. Forest Confer 3340 le* of bedweliterak oder* in each of 'TheH 4 • 0 Published every we and The G iim The Listow,I Banner/ The Win harm I dvance.Tires t Forest Confederate b Wenger Bros. Limited. uron County Playhouse rama comes HE HATCH --Mother-in-law, played by Aileen 'Taylor Smith; tries a new hors repared by her daughter's neighbor, actor George Murray, left. Her daughter, actress Vinetta Stromberg, watches. DOWN TH played by t Once upon a time in the little.' were put into effect and one of village of Sqmewhere in the year these was that of a travelling of long ago, children and adult theatre. Taking it only a small listened with delight to thaasadsr step at a time, the Huron Country of a flute piping a tune f r , Playhouse took its plays to Kin - somewhere along a dusty, wind cardine last summer, as well as ing road. Upon hearing the sound, performing them in Grand Bend. children probably ran among = To their delight, they were well their friends yelling, "It's the, accepted. minstrel, It's the minstrel! He'u'=: Playhouse is taking a larger coming this way!" step this summer after receiving When the musician arrived in encouragement from Kincardine the village, people would gathe last year. As well as Kincardine around him, dancing and . skip' , and Grand Bend, plays will be featured in Meaford, Hanover, ping to the lively tunes. Brightly colored horse-drawn.. Fergus and Owen Pound. wagons travelling from village tO. "All this is an experiment to village met with the sante_ create a regional theatre com- enthusiasm, excitement and pany for Wellington and Grey - They were the travelling theatre, Bruce,". said Mr. Covert. After setting up their prop, they In order to achieve this goal, would entertain the village fold the Playhouse is employing two with the art of making then acting companies. While one laugh when they laughed, or cry company is performing in Grand when they cried. Bend, the other will be on the Suddenly theatre changed. No road. longer did groups travel .. from "Each play has its opening village to village. Large 'cities night in Grand Bend, plays for • t expensive buildings Where three nights and then goes on to• peop co to ' ee the plays: another town and the other plays Actors d actre ses became have their opening nights, and so professio to ing special on," said Mr.•Covert. "It's a con - training d • emanding- wages, tinuous rotation." for their work. To cover the How did the Playhouse decided expensive • '!dings and wages - on the locations for each play? there wa a et admission price, "James Murphy, our artistic often w • 1 a' . ve what the coni.' director, looked for logical places mon m : n cow afford. It soon be- with supporting organizations," came n ev t which only the said Mr. Covert. "There is a elite an ealthy attended and great potential audience in these those who were deeply interested areas but they are spread out." enough to pay for it—With the r NOT A MONEY -MAKING advent of movies and television ORGANIZATION • .people turned farther away froom Mr. Cover-t,nttessed the fact drama: a'.z« w,;_=. , s •' �, ..a t,tjie or a,uzat on works vdth In Grey -Bruce and .Wellington anll for the community. It is not a Counties the days of travelling money -making organization but minstrels and theatre groups . in fact the money from these have returned for the summer. showings is funnelled back into People in these counties no longer the community to support its art have to travel to the busy cities or and drama programs. pay outrageous prices.. The Mr. Covert explained that in theatre is coming to them by way some centres there are sponsor - of the Huron Country Playhouse. ing groups who pay Playhouse a THEATRE TENT minimal sum for performing. In the summer o11 1972, a The cost varies from $2,000 to theatre program was started on a $3,000. Some sponsoring groups farm near Grand ' Bend. The.have received $1,000 grants from group was called the Huro' the government. The remainder Country Playhouse and enter- of the totalis made through ticket tained the area people with well- • sales which are $3.00 each. Any known dramas, comedies and money made above and beyond musicals. The stage at that time that amount is given to the com- was situated.in a large tent on the triunity and can be used in any farm property. way the people decide. The people of the Grand Bend . In Kincardine, the sponsoring area welcomed this group's group is the Kincardine Theatre entertainment and gave them Guild; in Owen Sound, the Arts support, gradualy helping the Council; in Fergus, the Welling - theatre to expand. Today the, ton Arts Council and in Meaford, home of the Huron Country Play- the Town Hall Players. house is a large theatre molded Hanover is uncertain of the pro - into a barn on the same farm on ject's successfulness and is not which it originated: It is the first sponsoring the group but will let theatre of its kind ever to be built them use Hanover's facilities. strictly for summer use. They are going to see how well "It's quite phenomenal. There* Playhouse is accepted before isn't another one like it," said making a final decision. In this Christopher Covert, actor and case, Mr. Covert explained that road manager for the group. The ,,all proceeds from the ticket sales building presently seats 380 but is given to Playhouse. plans for expansion will take it up When questioned as to how the to 500. smaller towns are accepting the As the theatre. became more lie theatre, Mr. Covert admitted and more popular, new ideas that they were not certain yet and WEARY REPAIRMAN—Robert Michael Graham played the part of the telephone re- pairman in, Neil Simon's play "Barefoot in the Park". Mr. Graham had the audience laughing as he complained to a young newlywed that the stairs to her apartment were far too many to climb. The play was produced by the Huron Country Playhouse and directed by James Murphy. only time will tell. "So many towns are suspicious of a large organization coining into town. They think that they are out to rob the local people," he said. Making up Huron Country Playhouse is a permanent staff of 14 apprentices and between 40 and 50 people who work with the props, . costume and make-up. Although it has been suggested and discussed, the actors and actresses are not permanent staff. They are called in speci- ally. ACTORS TYPE -CAST Actors and actresses are type- cast whereby they are chosen and a play which suits their • particu- lar talent and personality is chosen for them. This eliminates the need for auditioning which is time consuming and the actors and actresses only have two weeks to practise their roles as it is. Some may only star in one play because it is the only one they are suited to while others may star in three. Mr. Covert pointed out that all the actors and actresses are fully qualified professionals who have played in famous dramas at well- known theatres across the coun- try. There is, an odd exception where a local person ischosen to i perform a walk-in part nstead of hiring a professional. The dramas, comedies- and musicals are chosen according to the audience's tastes in the various areas. "People who have lin at the lake ,alt day don't want to go to the theatre and watch a serious or complicated drama," said Mr. Covert, "All . these aspects are taken into consideration." The plays being performed for the next six weeks were outlined in a recent news release. "Theatregoers •in the tour area can look forward to the best of Broadway, Toronto and London. The season- will alternate be- tween comedies and musicals and • will see some of the most famous plays of the modern era. "Starting with Neil Simon's much -praised `Barefoot In The Park' the Playhouse will move on to the Toronto production 'Oh Coward', which took New York and London by storm. Next comes Tennessee Wiliams' masterpiece 'The Glass Men- agerie', followed by the rollicking satire on nostalgic Hollywood musicals of the 30's, 'Dames At Sea'. 'The Importance of Being Ernest', perhaps Britain's finest comedy, is next on the bill and is in turn succeeded by 'Jaques Brell Is Alive and Well and,Living in Paris', a musical included in this year's program by popular request. `Luv', Murray Schisgal's delicious spoof on the sexual mores of modern man, completes the plays and the season itself will be brought to a fitting climax by everybody's favorite musical 'Hello Dolly'." In Kincardine the plays will be HE -LPI --Actress Vinetta Stromberg stands helplessly while her husband, played by Rex Stallings, walks across the skylight of their top floor ef©ot in theYork pPark", n producedt. This sone of by the many humorous scenes in Neil Simon's play Ba Huron Country Playhouse. GOOD TURNOUT—There was a good crowd on hand for the opening night of the famous comedy "Barefoot in the Park", staged at the Grand Theatre in Fergus on July 4. This is one of eight productions to come to this town as well as travelling to Meaford, Owen Sound, Hanover and Kincardine. The productions are an attempt by the Huron Country Playhouse to bting the old style of theatre back into effect in Grey -Bruce and Wellington. held in the Town Hall on Sunday evenings, in Meaford Town Hall. on Wednesday evenings, tie Hanover Town Hall on Thursday evenings, the Fergus Grand Theatre on Friday and the Owen Sound OSCVI Auditorium on Saturday. The curtain goes up on all plays at 8:30 p.m. with the exception :of Fergus, which is at 8:00 p.m. Mr. Covert hopes, that the pro- ject will be a success and so far the opening nights in the various towns have been well attended. "-For a long time people have been going to the theatre. I want to see the theatre the, way it was before - go said. In the iters !release; kthyed, " iaathe Festival Summer Theatre: .' + ; .most‘.ambitAousand important cults al pit,0. rently taking_place it succeeds, ji beginning" of a theatre servang ith+ reflecting ',the- aspirates. widely spread population very least it Will h ,rte sional quality theatre to long deprived ".of t V source of exciting, pntertainmeft.. EXPLANATIONS—Actor George Murray portrays a young, newlywed. couple's bon vivant neighbor in the play "Bare- foot in the Park". He is explaining to actress Aileen Taylor Smith, the young girl's mother, what happened the evening before. Theplay, produced by the Huron Country Plays - house, held its opening night in the Fergus Grand Theatre on July 4. HEAD OF IT ALL—James Murphy, artistic director for the Huron Country Playhouse, who directed the theatre's first production, "Barefoot in the Park". It is one of eight pro- ductions being shown in Grand Bend, Kincardine, Meaford, Hanover, Fergus and Owen Sound this summer.