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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News Record, 1981-03-26, Page 23St. Sa BY JOANNE BUCHANAN St. Sam and the Nukes, Ted Johns' hilarious play. about nuclear power which premiered at the Blyth Summer Festival last year, has been reboral. And even if you saw it the first time around, you must see it again. You will find ft much changed. 0 After a winter of re -writing •by Johns and with the strong conviction • that the play deserves a longer life, Blyth Festival has decided to take St. Sam on a four week tour of southern Ontario. This tour will begin on March 30 at 8 p.m. in the Blyth Memorial Hall. The followhrg night, the play will be performed at Hamilton Place and then It .will open in the Kincardine District Secondary School for three nights, April 1,2 and 3. After this, the play will travel to CLINTON NEWS RECORD, THURSDAY. MARCH X,1901 --PAGE 23 and the Nukes takes t0 the road in southern t ern Ontario tour Meaford, Mount Forest, Paisley, Fergus, Stratlord, Petrone, Oakville, Port Hope, Kingston, Kemptville and Arnprior. This represents an am- bitious schedule but one which Johns is enthusiastic about. "I believe this show has to get out and be seen. It's a good show and it deserves an audience. It will put Kin- cardine on the map. A lot of people hear the word 'nuclear' and think 'boring' but the main purpose of this play is entertainment. It only incidentally interests people in the debate about nuclear power," he explains. The updated version of the play leaves only three original scenes untouched and the dialogue is shar- pened. "Some things got lost in the re -writing but I think the play 'is more evenly developed now and has a sense of community," says Johns. The play centres on the lives of the people who work at Bruce Nuclear Power Development, the largest nuclear power station in the world, their fears and joys, their fights and triumphs. There are five characters in the play. Howard, the plant manager, . is played by William Dunlopwho also played the same role last year. Howard's special assistant, Paul is played by Ron O'Krancy. Howard's wife Joan is played by Diana Belshaw who played the same role last year. Howard's niece Holly is played by Anne Marie MacDonald. And Sam, a new kind of capitalist with a scheme to save the economy of Kincardine, the Bruce and Ontario, is played by Thomas Hauff. In the new version of St Sam, the character of Sam is more fully developed and he ap- pears in a lot more scenes while Holly is removed as early as the end of the first scene. The whole play takes place within a 24 hour time span. Johns, who was born in Seaforth and attended high school in Mitchell, admits that he had no idea what nuclear power was all about when he first decided to write St. Sam. Even those people who work at the plant, are only aware of a small corner of it, he says. In his play, Johns presents both sides of the ruclear debate but does not attempt to make up the audiences' mind on the question. What does become clear in the play is that people run the Bruce and, after all, they are It's for anyone who loves to sing BY TERRI POLILLO Every Monday evening about 80 adults, young and old and from all walks of life, other at _ the, _. B t e BII`th Memorial Hall. Travelling from as far away as Straf- ford, Wingham and Goderich, they join, to prac- tise,an-art enjoyed_ by_ them all — singing. They are the Festival plans bigger year 110 Artistic Director Janet Amos has announced five plays and an expanded nine week season as part of the 1981 Blyth Summer Festival opening July 3. Quiet in the Land, Anne Chislett's story of a young Amish man madly in love with the girl of his dreams, at odds with his father and questioning his elders, will open the season. Miss Chislett, who adapted A Summer Burning for the 1977 Festival, recreates the wed- dings, ceremonies and songs of the Amish people as background to this warm story. The mystery surrounding the disappearance of millionaire theatre owner Ambrose Small is explored in Love or Money. Carol Bolt, author of Red Emma, -One Night Stand and Buffalo Jump, delves into the in- triguing story of how Small sold his Grand Theatre chain, and disappeared forever. Was he murdered? If so why, and by whom? Did l he arrange his own disap- pearance and escape with one of his favorite showgirls? Some of the answers will be provided when the play opens July 7. Anne Chislett's, The Tomorrow Box, a hilarious look at one Huron County farm wife who decides she's had enough of her husband making the decisions and strikes out on her own is the third play of the season. The Tomorrow Box had sold out houses during an extended run at Centaur Theatre in Montreal roaring with the laughter of recognition. It opens July 28. Fire on Ice (The Legend of Howie Morenz) which opens August 4 is a tribute to the hockey player from Mitchell. and Stratford who became the idol of millions playing for the Montreal. Canadiens. The comedy of Keith Roulston (His Own Boxx, •McGillicuddy's Lost Weekend) teamed with the music of John Roby (The Life that Jack Built) make it COMPLETE LINE OF POOLS • Vinyl Liners • Fiberglass • Concrete WHIRLPOOL SPA & SAUNA on display JACUZZI SPA EQUIPMENT on display a lively retelling of the famous Morenz story. He Won't Come in from the Barn, one of the most popular shows in the Festival's history returns August 25 and plays for the last two weeks of the Festival. Ted Johns (The School Show, St. Sam and the Nukes) has rewritten the play from its 1977 production by Theatre Passe Murallle and he'll star in it along with two cows, several pigs and a rooster. It's the hilarious story of a farmer who withdraws from the pro- blems of modern life to live in his barn, despite the- , pleading of his wife and family who want him to come back to the house. Subscription vouchers for the season are now on sale at the box office at $18 for adults, $16 for seniors and $10 for children for four vouchers which can be ex- changed for tickets. In- dividual tickets will go on sale May 22. Blyth Festival Singers. The group formed last year out of a desire to sing in a good community choir and ,_ 4v eepresents:aaother-area of growth for the Blyth Centre for the Arts (BCFA) ex- plains Lynda Lentz, presi- dent of the organization and a member of the BCFA board of directors. She outlines three main drawing cards of the group: it serves as an outlet for anyone who loves to sing; it offers a broad repertoire with something for everyone; and it boasts of a professional director, Laurie Rowbotham, music director of the Listowel high school. Rowbotham, a graduate of the University of Western Ontario in music and choral direction, decided to under- take the challenge of molding a choir to first-class stature last April. And the director of the Listowel high school choir, which is rated as one of the secondary school choirs in Canada, ex- plains, "It's a heck of a lot of fun". He says that unlike the teenagers he's used to, the Blyth group consists of adults he can relate to on social and psychological levels and still guide and help them develop their musical skills. t "Besides, I love music and I love to teach it." While combining humor • with discipline, he strives to train the members, ranging from professionals to "bathtub singers", to be chorally literate—use' their voices musically and expand their goals. As the choir reviews and practises its wide variety of songs, including classical, folk and pop, Rowbotham takes time to teach members how to read music, develop tone, identify style and sing musically. It is a difficult task, but he has approached it with pa- tience and a sense of humor, coupled with a high standard of professionalism. The ap- proach seems to have paid off as the group obeys the director's commands, tackles 'songs with en- thusiasm and according to Rowbothaiii, has learned to read faster and is more aware of balance and tone. He says music chosen has a wide base of appeal so there are at least three pieces familiar to each singer. In this way, there are songs members can relate to and others that represent a challenge, "to expand their whole choral horizons". Mrs. Lentz adds that prin- ciples governing the choice of music were partially bas- ed on broadening the ex- perience for both the choir and its audience. "The first year has encom- passed everything from Renaissance madrigals and chansons, through the classics of Mozart and Beethoven 'to Negro spiritirelg` Fasi dimer folk songs, Maritime folk songs, Healey Willan and some modern pop, such as material from Anne Murray and the theme from 'Super - Since its formation, the choir has presented two con- certs and is planning another for May. Mrs. lents explains that the Blyth Festival Singers made their first public ap- pearance in the BCFA's an- nual community GLristmas concert, during which they performed for a full house. The recent first full con- cert by the choir alone. was again sold out and very well received. She said the au- dience feedback indicated that the choir . had really developed since December. Where will theBlyth singers go from hr? The president answers, "It's wide open", with plans for a two -performance Christmas concert of the choir by itself for 1981, together with other_ performances throughout the year. However, she says the Blyth Festival Singers are still looking for a few more men to balance the group. Anyone 'interested should contact Lynda Lentz at 523- 9589. only human. Johns has received good reviews about his play. Maclean Magaslne says, "St. Sam teaches the audience more about nuclear reactors than they will learn in a lifetime, yet it manages to thoroughly entertain at the same time." Johns says good reviews have come from everywhere except Atomic Energy of Canada "They (Atomic Energy) say the play should be buried. They feel it is wrong for the general public to know too 'much about nuclear power. They think it is too complicated for them. On the other hand, Ontario Hydro has been completely co-operative and sup- portive," he says. Jolts explains that St. -Sam is notone;o€ thegreateot plays he has ever written in terms of audience appeal. People only came back to see St. Sam two or three times last year whereas many returned to see The School Show six or seven times. The reason for this, he feels, is that many people already have their minds made up about nuclear power question. The School Show toured southern Ontario lad year and will probably tour again sometime in the near future while another of Johns' plays, He Won't Come in from the Barn, will be staged at the Blyth Summer Festival again this season. Touring is expensive but Johns feels St. Sam is worth it. Now that the re -writing is finished, he sees his job as going to the tour towns before the actors and 'beating the dry' to en- flames the play's°arrival Johns, who has been an actor and playwright for 10 years now, also likes to 'beat the drum' for the Blyth Sumner F at:had. "Very few theatres create their own playa We (Blyth) all the Catheatre that does loins originals," he sa the spadework of James Ray,, the first artistic director at Blyth, is paying off now. Last year 22,000 people saw plays in Blyth within a relatively short season. "The people who live in this area make terrific audiences. As for the future, Johns sees no shortage of local material to write about and he will devote his time to helping his actress -wife, Janet Amos, now in her second season as artistic director at Blythe, In - romotin -g. slava 13 g �$' new type of theatre which Blyth represents. 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