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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1983-12-07, Page 3res t Keith Roulston By She BLYTH - Keith name in these parts Over the past decade his name has been connected with the Clinton News -Record and The Blyth Standard, where he worked ley McPhee Roulston is a familiar Bre ys as editor. He's known as a playwright and in recent years as administrator at the Blyth Centre For The Arts. It's time for another career change for this Blyth area man. On Oct. 31 Keith finished his four year position at the Blyth theatre. He's now turning his talents to writing. Keith has already faced the trials and tribulations of play writing. Three of his works have been staged before audiences at the Blyth Summer Festival, The Shortest Distance Between Two points in 1977, His Own Boss in 1978 and McGillicudy's Lost Weekend in 1979. Keith studied journalism in university and still writes a weekly column Behind the Scenes for the ClintonNews-Record and The Huron Expositor and a monthly report for The Rural Voice. Yet he has found that authoring plays is the most fullfilling type of writing. "You get instant reaction from the, audience. It's not like newspaper writing where you sometimes wonder if there's anyone out there," he explained. Play writing can also be a frustrating occupation, particularly when the script is prepared for the stage. "Playwrights," Keith explained, "visualize their play one way, but directors and actors can all interpret it another. It really becomes a give and take situation." Still Keith believes he may have a suc- cessful future in theatre. He's already had the experience to show him what behind the scenes is really like. As administrator for four years at Blyth it was Keith's responsibility to look after the building and technical maintenance, equipment purchases and management duties at the Centre. It was Keith's job, he explained, "To do everything to make life as easy as possible for the art people." Keith's involvement in the Centre dates back into the early 1970s. In 1975 as president of the board of directors he lob- bied for modern renovations to the old Memorial Hall and dreamed of bringing a summer theatre company to Blyth. In the winter of that year, Keith men- tioned his dream to Paul Thompson, artistic director of Toronto's Theatre Passe Muraille. Thompson suggested that James Roy, a young area director, take on the project, and the Blyth Summer Festival was born. It began with two productions. This year the Festival staged five plays over a nine week season to more than 30,000 people. Many, like Keith saw this potential for the Theatre and by 1977 the board approved a feasibility study to determine the cost of the renovation work. By 1979 the construction crews were at work. Keith jumped into the position as ad- ministrator with both feet. One of his first duties was to work for 17 straight days with banks and government agencies to arrange financing for the renovation work. Over the past five years he has been in- volved in renovation and improvement work that has amounted to over $300,000. The hall now boasts air conditioning, better lighting, new dressing rooms and a backstage area. nda Doner is new manager Brenda Doner is no newcomer to Blyth. She's very familiar with the workings of the Blyth Festival and feels comfortable with r her new position as general manager of the theatre. For four seasons Brenda has worked a publicist for the summer theatre and last month she joined the nationally acclaimed theatre fulltime. She has replaced Keith Roulston as general manager and ad- ministrator of the Blyth Festival. For Brenda, the transition has been an easy one. As she explained, "Knowing people and having them know you is the difference. " Brenda discovered Blyth over five years ago, At that time she was studying theatre at York University in Toronto and spotted and advertisment for summer work at the Blyth theatre. Raised in a small northern Ontario town, Brenda jokes that her rural background helped her secure her first job in theatre. '+ "I say I got the job because I knew what a party line was," she laughed. Brenda quickly learned that the Blyth theatre is an unique, top quality operation. She noted, "1 love Blyth dearly. It's all that a theatre can be. I came mostly for the audience and to work with the board of directors. There's also a loyalty to Blyth. People keep corning back each season to work." This past season alone over 30,000 people came to see theatre performances at Blyth. The theatre has been praised by other professionals, by the CBC and McLean's magazine. For the Blyth Festival this is a major accomplishment and as Brenda explained, "It's no longer a fight to get the Toronto papers here ( to review the plays. )" Brenda's theatre career has taken her across Canada. Before accepting the fulltime position at Blyth she worked as general manager for a theatre in Edmonton. In her travels and her work Brenda has found that all over the country, people have heard of the Blyth Festival. With this in Brenda Doner mind, Brenda has already set one major goal. She enthused, "They don't know where Blyth is, so now we're going to tell them." "I want people to know about us and our impact will be wider," she added. Brenda dreams of taking Blyth to stages across Canada on a national tour. For the present time economics prevent this from becoming a reality, but the future may be different. Blyth plays already enjoy successful tours throughout southwestern Ontario each fall. Tours help Blyth reach out to greater audiences and in Waterloo a special Blyth Festival Week has been set aside for the plays. This year The Tomorrow Box went on tour after a successful summer run in Blyth. Next year the 1982 hit, Country Hearts will take to the road. The Blyth Festival aims to develop new plays and offer new performances with that special rural, homespun touch that has led to the present success of the theatre. Brenda calls it the root of the Blyth theatre. Right now artistic director Janet Amos is studying scripts for next season. This fall when Janet appeared on the CBC -Radio talk show Morningside, she sent out an appeal for scripts and received over 100 plays. By the end of February she will have chosen the scripts that will come to life on the stage of the old Memorial Hall in 1984. By April of next year the actual staging work will begin. "Come March," Brenda explained, "if everything's not together, it's downhill from there." The winter months may not appear like busy ones at the Blyth Festival box office, but for the general managWit is a time for planning, preparation-- and- paperwork.- Brenda is concentrating on finances right now, trying to find money for next seasp I, as well as selling Christmas vouchers. Theatre funds come from a variety of sources, from the Canada Council, the Ontario Arts Council, the box office profits, Country Supper and Food Spot earnings, cushion rentals and T-shirt sales, to name several. The Blyth Festival also invites the general public to become a member for a minimum donation of $10 and next season members will be receiving a new added bonus, seat preference. While summer hours at the Blyth Festival may be long and hectic, Brenda has no objection to the peace and quiet of the box office at this time of year. "I have the luxury of having the winter months to get things in order," she noted. Still the former Blyth Summer Festival public relations worker is very comfortable in her new surroundings and confident in her new job. As she simply said, "I walked into a lovely situation here." CLINTON NEWS -RECORD, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1983—PAGE 3 ye to The renovations also made the opening of the balcony possible, increasing the capacity of the hall to 491. "This is like heaven compared to when we first started," Keith remembered. "We really didn't envisage in 1975 what would .happen down the road." Keith is especially satisfied with the cooperation and goodwill that has been established between the theatre and the local community. This was particularly evident after a 1981 fund raising canvass in Blyth. In one week canvassers raised more than $8,000. "It showed the change and we didn't even know it was taking place," Keith said. The Blyth Festival and Centre For The Arts has developed a national following because of its comfortable, friendly, rural appeal and top quality Canadian plays. While Keith knows that this recognition is important, he also believes that it is a temptation that must be carefully handled. "You have to stay true to the people," he said, noting that at Blyth productions are designed for the local audiences, not the Toronto theatre scene. The key to success, he noted, "is drawing the tourists to us." Keith believes there's a wealth of material in this area alone that could be worked into plays, but it needs imagination and leaders yi to develop it. He explained, "Small towns are micro- cosmic of the whole world, you can find many subjects here. Sometimes it's even easier to find individuals in a small town." Durin his four -years as administrator at Blyth, Keith has combined both the management and theatrical aspects of the Festival in his work. Janet Amos came to Blyth as artistic director, replacing James Roy, at the same time Keith started. Keith has called their work, "a partnership that's like a marriage. We've had good days and bad days." They worked well together by both defining individual areas of work. Both also knew that keeping to budget meant the entre fortune or failure of the theatre. The past four years have not been quiet ones for Keith, but with his retirement as administrator he won't be enjoying a relaxed life in the country. He's already well into new ventures and says that he's even been to busy to spend much time with the new administrator Brenda Donner. There's no doubt that Keith will still remain a very active supporter of the Blyth Centre For The Arts and its various programs from the summer festival, the winter series to the children's workshops. He believes the theatre will continue to improve and grow. "What it needs now is someone with new visions and fresh ideas," he noted. 13 Rattenbury St. East Heritage designation for St.Paul's • from page 2 you cause the brick to slowly deteriorate as it is exposed to the elements." Interior work is eligible only if the building interior has been specified in the reason for designation. The Heritage Conservation District Funds are available to a Heritage Conservation • District, an area designated under Part V of the Ontario Heritage Act in recognition of its particular architectural or historical character. A detailed plan is prepared for each district to define the area's qualities, to make recommendations for their enhance- ment and provide policy directions and guidelines. BRIC funds are available to help carry out the proposals set forth in the District Plan. A municipally -administered fund, created by joint provincial and municipal contributions, may be used to aid the repair or restoration of the exteriors of Huron atlas project causes council concern Huron County council is proceeding cautiously in its plans to prepare an historical atlas as its bi-centennial project. Considerable discussion by councillors at the Dec. 1 meeting of county council resulted in guidelines for the proposed atlas being referred back to the library board for further information. The library board's initial guidelines call- ed for the project -to be sponsored by county council in co-operation with the library board and that a committee made up of chief librarian Bill Partridge and two coun- cillors to recommend the appointment of an editor to oversee the publication's progress. But it wasn't these guidelines that bothered many councillors. It was the March 15 deadline for copy and the $35 fee for listing in the patron's directory that bothered enough councillors to have the whole matter referred back. Exeter deputy -reeve bossy Fuller said the size of the atlas has to be controlled and she isn't in favor of the patron's directory because of the $35 fee that is proposed to be paid for listing in such a directory. "That's not what an atlas is to me," com- mented Fuller in regards to the patron's directory. She was also cdncerned that although there was a patron's directory accom- modated in the 1879 county atlas, a 1984 atlas containing a patron's directory would become too large. Mr. Partridge said today's population in the county is similar to the 1879 population figures. He added that the patron's direc- tory would be done in smaller type and that a similar atlas done last year in Perth Coun- ty had a four-page patron's directory made up of 400 names. Stanley Township Reeve Paul Steckle said he wants to see a "number one atlas" as the final product and didn't think there is any rush to complete such a project. Mr. Partridge told council that to be eligi- ble for bi-centennial grants the project has to be completed in 1984. The chief librarian also noted that the atlas will not contain in- formation on the past rather there will be present information, information about Huron County in 1984 that will be historical in the future. Library board chairman Bill Elston said he appreciated the discussion by county council which would provide the board with further direction to bring back revised guidelines. He admitted that as such a pro- ject had never been undertaken by the coun- ty before the library wasn't exactly sure how to proceed. "We thought that we'd like to get the atlas to press by July and August but we can put the March deadline back to June, but we won't have the atlas until December," said Mr. Elston. heritage buildings within the district. Nor- mally, at least half of this fund is available for grants to private properties. Mr. Moorehouse stressed the importance of following up the restoration of a building. He said that patrons must continually check for leaks that could cause water damage to beams "probably one of the most harmful elements." Weather NOVEMBER 29 5 3 6 1 30 0 6 7 2 DECEMBER 1 1 4 15 6 2 0 6 15 8 3 0 9 18 14 4 2 6 15 2 5 2 1 15 3 Snow 14cm Snow 0 SHOP AND COMPARE ON YOUR NEXT FURNITURE PURCHASE Compare price, selec- tion and service. You'll find the best for less, in Clinton at Ball & Mutch Ltd. Home FurnIshingS 71 ALBERT ST. CLINTON 4$2.9605 Open six days a week 9- 6, Friday till 9 p.m. ENTER OUR CHRISTMAS DRAW! Will0 CASH PRIZES OF $50. - $25. - $10. 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