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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1985-04-03, Page 52• t 7l o r {Mevi ac ERYDAY SERVICE PRICES - Sizing up first 5lze 12 Each additional® size up Sizing Down v. - regardless of how many sizes 6.. All our service work done at Anstett Manufacturing Limited, by our own certified Goldsmiths. Estimates and consultations at no charge. RING CLAWS 40lawi 24 RetipRed. . Each.ognitionai e claw p. GOLD CHAIN . Solder WATCH BATTERY INSTAUATIONS 4. ANSTETT JEWELLERS :1 Main Corner CLINTON 482-3901 ERNIE & PETER ARE ON STRIKE! •AGAINST HIGH FURNITURE PRICES! •AGAINST PHONEY INFLATED DISCOUNTS! •AGAINST HIDDEN INTEREST CHARGES! He's in favour of good old-fashioned "cash" to put this country back on track! Solid Wood COLONIAL DINETTE SUITES $299?° HIGH BACK. ROCKERS X 14900 Solid Wood CURIO CABINETS $29900 LARGE, DELUXE ROCKERS $14900 -SECTIONAL SUITES $29900 Made in Stratford SWIVEL ROCKERS $14900 SWIVEL ROCKERS $14900 PRINCESS BED WITH CANOPY X22900 PERTH FURNITURE 2 TGodeRr ch e Spring was swinging into action Thursday at Victoria school. The letting. out their energy as they were getting ready for the long kids were jumping, climbing and bumping around the play ground weekend.(Photos by Todd Mowatt) Blyth Festival opens a new decade with renewed enthusiasm BLYTH. - A new decade, a new season, a new artistic director - the llth season of the Blyth Festival promises continued en- thusiasm and refreshed aims. In the -successful tradition of the critically acclaimed theatre, new artistic director Katherine Kaszas says that her aim is to continue the Blyth legacy. It was a legacy that began a decade ago by James Roy, and was expanded by Janet Amos. The mandate, to produce Canadian plays and to promote the Blyth Festival across the nation, will continue to be Katherine Kaszas' goals. She likens the phenomenal success of the Festival "to the little acorn that grew," and still the'growth continues. She compares the future of the Blyth Festival to an oak tree; growing and branching out in many direc- tions, not straight up. Working to become better, not just bigger. ,Making to F Ifs: a bigger theatre would not add toI`sutcess. The theatre's reputation is not based on physical size and audience numbers. The Blyth Festival is a feeling, an attitude based on the community and the people who live there. Katherine ex- plained, "The warm hospitality com- municates itsef, through the office, on the SEE CAMPBELL'S FOR.:. SUPER SI 1 1 1 NOWONLY 1620 N.1.. $1249 1 2024. f395 1 2�Dx 3Okay 1295 1 1 IN STOCK! WITH THIS CO6PON • Available in lustre luxe finish only • From slides $3.50 extra • Servicetimeone week per size Offer Expires April 30-, 1985 1111811111111811811.81818,01118 • Not available from Disc negatives • No special cropping available • Offer ends Tuesday, April 30th, 1985 11111111111011.11118.11111 OVAL/7Y PHOTOFINISHING CAMPBELL'S IS PHOTOGRAPHY & MORE! Redeem at: CAMPBELL'S 168 THE SQUARE, GODERICH • o ma < me°°°0:" ° o•ei: use• MPBELL'S iloyal Bank Block, The Square, Ooderich 524®7532 stage and back to the audience." It's a feeling that makes Blyth a favorite theatre for actors, directors, technicians, playwrights, producers. As Blyth's new artistic director, Katherine must determine how the Festival can grow and branch, out, without losing its • special charm and personal hospitality. Taking actual Blyth productions across Canada is - next to impossible because of physical and financial limitations. The strength in Blyth's continued success lies in the script. Katherine believes that the development of quality, originalscripts will keep the Festival name on the nation's theatrical map. "People associate Blyth with new work. They're looking for new scripts. It's through the script that we export the Blyth ex- peTience: It's the plays themselves that are going to make good theatre," she said. Katherine is exuberant about the direc- tion that she hopes to take the Blyth Festival. This past January the Festival hosted playwrights' workshops to develop new plays. From the workshops came Polderland and Moose Country, two plays that will premiere on the Blyth stage this summer. Holding the workshops in January allow- ed playwrights extra time to work on their scripts before the summer season. It also gives the summer theatre a year round scope. `I would like to gently expand /his to make it an annual event... it's not only good for the playwrights, but also for the com- munity," Katherine said. This kind of expansion also protects and promotes Blyth. Playwrights are given the opportunity to visit and live in the communi- ty and to experience Bljith's hospitality. It allows the festival to improve and expand, but on its own terms. "You can keep the smallness about it; the small town hospitality," Katherine explain- ed. "The Festival has to continue to grow in certain ways, but it has to keep its heart." The key to the continued success and growth for the Blyth Festival is better scripts. Already the theatre is headed in that direction. All of the plays that were staged in the Blyth in 1984 are being produc- ed in theatres across the country. Over the years, many other plays that have premiered at the Festival have gone on to receive national and international praise. Katherine says there is no shortage of scripts, In* there are -a- limited -number -of plays that suit the Blyth image. • "We get a lot of scripts. Some of them are a different style, that wouldn't fit into the .. _ Il Script reading can become a tedious chore, as Katherine explained, "Sometimes you only get one good play in 10 or 20. ood spark from -. a play." . What kind of script is the Blyth Festival looking for? Drama. comedy, adventure stage, modern and traditional themes are portrayed. And yet in the wide variety of , material that the Festival produces, there subtly appears a central theme, a thread of consistency that has made Blyth distinguishable among others. For Blyth's artistic director it's a per- sonal feeling, "I want plays with heart, that will teach the audience something about their own lives." This trait appears in the 1985 Festival line- up. Polderland, the story of war torn Holland, the Dutch people and the Canadian soldiers, tells about people living under Nazi rule, about life and death existence. It's a story of suffering and determination, sur- vival and appreciation of better times. In the same vein, Primrose School District 109, "deals with things we take for granted," Katherine says. The story of a Ukrainian school teacher during the depres- sion years "is an interesting examination of another time, and how important education was to new Canadians." Canada's diverse and rich culture is also' examined in Beaux Gestes and Beautiful Deeds, a musical about two grandmothers - one' English, the other French, the similarities and differences in their lives. Katherine believes that the play address- es an important Canadian topic, the English -French connection. "It's about our country, our two cultures, our two solitudes. The theme is important. In Huron County there's not much French, but it's part of our heritage." Two modern comedies, Moose Country and the 1984 hit Garrison's Garage round out- �! the Festival's llth season showbill. Katherine is wildly excited about the up- coming season. She loves her job, loves the theatre, loves Blyth. She's working at "full tilt," with ambitious energy. "You think the job's too big; ton huge, but you jump in and it starts to work," she en- thused. Katherine's been too enthusiastic and too busy to think of much else other than work. However between a stint in Winnipeg last November and preparing the Festival's line up in January, she did find time to be mar- ried on December 15. A honeymoon is still in the works. Katherine and husband Paul hope for some time to themselves in the next few months, but Katherine doesn't appear too worried or over pressured. Her work may be demanding but it's also exciting, "I'm -having -a great - time here. --1 love -it!' She even likes the, snow. She realizes that her "beginner's energy may settle, but ,her en- thusiasm and devotion to Blyth will remain in ted "iVhtat-you-give--- - -- is what you get back. The minute that stops, it will be time to move along." • • For the time being, Itowever, Katherine lies ►►u intentions of leaving Blyth. She hds e job to do," to continue the Blyth legacy." "James Roy left his stamp on his time (at the Blyth Festival) Janet Amos le#t her and musicals are performed on the Blyth stamp and I'll leave my stamp." Opera singer and farm wife Renee Stalenhoef will perform at Blyth Renee Stalenhoef Van Haarlem and friends will perform a concert of mixed songs by Schubert, Rossini, Poulenc and ei'en Leopard Bernstein: -This evert will take place on Sunday, April 21, 1985 in the Blyth Memorial Hall, at 2 p.m. Renee will be accompanied by pianist Marian Miller and flautist Fiona Wilkinson. Tickets are on sale BEST RATE Special 60 to 89 Days 10' ABC ANNUITIES LTD, 53 'WEST 5T. GODERrCK524-2 13 GO - 100. 2 in the Box Office for $9.00, or call 523-9300 or 523-9225 to reserve. Renee Stalenhoef knew she wanted to be •an opera singer from the time she was four years old. "It was just my nature", she says. However, after 800 performances in 12 years in France, Germany and Holland, she called it quits: "I just did not want to perform every night any more". But she still manages to do a few performances here and there. In fact, last year Renee performed in a preview concert of the Canadian Opera Company's production of Anne Boleyn, and she understudied for Dame Joan Sutherland. Renee has also performed with the London Symphonic Choir. Renee is very happy being a farm wife in southwestern Ontario, and feels that she now has the best of both worlds - farm wife and opera singer.