HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1984-08-08, Page 21PAGE 64
OOERICH SIGNAL-61,,AR•, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST a, 1684
Festival to celebrate
10th anniversary in style
Ten years ago, the small farming. village
of Blyth was alive with activity as a group of
people worked hard to promote the idea of
converting a delapidated building into a
theatre.
This summer, apart from helping to
organize the usual quality acts for the
festival, publicity director, Phillipa Borgal,
is busy scheduling a list of. events designed
to celebrate 10 years of Successful operation
of the Blyth theatre.
The weekend of Aug. 11 and 12 has been set
aside for the theatre's 10th anniversary
celebrations.
Phillipa was hired early in January to
begin the arduous task of mailing invitations
(some 250) to those people who were with
the theatre from the beginning and to those
who have been involved with it ever since.
"We are very proud to have James Roy,
the original director coming," she said.
Among those who will be arriving from
now until the anniversary weekend are
Dean Hawes, Mary Ann Coles and Jim
Shaeffer, all Blyth actors. Also promised to
attend are Thomas Hauff and Diana
Belshaw, both actors who named their
daughter, Eleanor Blyth after the theatre.
The special anniversary weekend will
begin with a Country Fair from 10 a.m. to 5
p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 11. This • event is
designed to offer second-hand clothes, books
and furnishings. There will also be some
homegrown produce and home -baked goods.
A cake baking contest will be offered as well
as crafts, hotdogs and popcorn. Festival
members said there will be a registration
stall for reunion weekenders and they ask
that if you plan to stay the weekend, please
check in for tickets, information and
scuttle but.
There will be a regular showing of A
Spider in the House, written by Brian
Tremblay and directed by Kim McCaw. The
showing will be from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and
tickets are $8 for adults and $3 for
youngsters.
The Young People's Workshop will be
presenting Cue for Treason at the Lions
Park and there will be no charge for
admittance. This is. scheduled for 4.30 p.m.
the same day. Later a dinner will be served
at the Food Spot, located lin the theatre's
basement. Tickets are $6 for adults and $3
for youngsters. The meal will be served
from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. —.
then goers can then catch the
production of Blue City written by Layne
Coleman and directed by Janet Amos. The
curtain rises at 8.30 p.m. and tickets are $8
for adults and $3 for youngsters. After the
play there will be a party for all those who
would like to attend.
"Everyone who wants to come can, but
the main interest was to get all those who
have ever been with the festival, together,"
explained Phillipa Borgal.
Ms. Borgal said they decided to charge $6
for advanced tickets rather than having a
cash bar. The price includes beer, wine, food
and music. According to Phillipa, the party
will either have music supplied from a Blyth
performer or some other local talent.
On Sunday, August 12, at approximately 6
p.m., Festival members will be warming up
at the plate for an "informal" game of
baseball. Everyone is ipvited to watch this
complimentary event. 'The game will tie
played at the Blyth Public School ball
diamond. Following the game, visitors can
enjoy refreshments 'and a presentation of
Inside Out by Pam Boyd and Mary Ann
Coles. The presentation is an "open"
playwrights workshop where professionals
will go over some of the typical material
that comes to the Blyth Festival.
Cue for Treason will be shown again in the
Lions Park at the end of the day.
ENTERTAINMENT
James Roy has come back to rejoice in Blyth Festival's success. The theatre's first Artistic
Director believes Blyth has a key place in the world of Canadian theatre., (Wendy Somer-
ville photo)
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A LITTLE CLOSER TO HIS DRE
Terry Fox had a dream. Ile wanted cancer stopped_
Stamped out. Taken out of a nightmare vocabulary too
many of us are too familiar with. So Terry ran—he
struggled, pushed himself to the limit—hecause he wanted
the hurting to stop. Period. Since hisIdeath, over half a
million people have taken up his cause. Most have run,
many have walked—and some have participated under the
same restrictions Tern' himself was faced with.
What they all had in common with Terry was courage.
Courage to confront the nightmare. Courage to get out and
do something al<ut it. This year marks the fourth year that
we can raise money for cancer research in Ter�y's
memory. The fourth year we can actually do something to
help wipe out this di case. Won't you participate? Run,
walk, ride, man a desk, organize a run, sponsor a
participant, cheer the cause. Do a little, do a lot -hut do
something. The hurting has to stop. Together we can give
cancer research the strength it needs so badly. Together
we can give cancer research all the strength Terry willed it
to have. On September 23rd, come out and join us.
Participate, and help make Terry's dream a reality in our
lifetime
TO ORGANIZE A RUN:
Ask your local dub, PTA, school, or neighlxwetood
association for help. Write or (.all The Teal; Fox R1un Offie :
for an application form. Apply before Septelllher 10th. and
we'll s(snd von The Ter Fox Run Kit with everything you
need to organize a Terry Fox Run in vonr area.
TO PARTICIPATE IN A RUN
Write or (,all The Tern,' Fox Run Office. They have a list
of all nun sites in your province
•
•
The Terry Fo Run
1639 Yongctreet
Toronto, Ontario
M4T 2W6
Telephone: (416) 488-1450
The Terry Fox Run
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 23.
Original Blyth director
remembers Festival
Ten years ago, James Roy was hanging
around Theatre Passe Muraille in Toronto
when he first heard about a theatre opening
up in Blyth: Today, the seasoned Artistic
Director can look back with'fpnd memories
of a theatre that has struggled to become
one of Canada's best.
Blyth Festival is celebrating 10 years of
success and actors, playwrights and others
who have been involved with the theatre
since, are descending on the small farming
community to rejoice. James Roy, a native
of Clinton and the theatre's first Artistic
Director, is one of those key,members.
Like a father who is proud of a successful
child, James is • happy with the Blyth
theatreBut he remembers his feelings in
the beginning.
"I was at Passe Muraille when Paul
Thompson said there was a building in Blyth
that was going to have a theatre in it,"
James remembers. "1 got in touch with
Keith Roulston, (the person in charge of the
theatre project) editor of the local paper,
and then •I had a look around the building. I
can remember thinking it was a nice place
and a nice area."
"I was young and enthusiastic," he said.
"And I was naive enough not to realize what
I was getting into."
Mr. Roy said he asked Keith Roulston if he
could be the Artistic Director and Keith said
yes. James said looking back he was
extremely young, "just one year out of
university". He said he had a lot of work to
do including getting grants and becoming
incorporated because the theatre was a
private one.
"Keith and I drew up a list (of people),for
the Board of Directors," he recalled. "We
came up with 19 people within the
community and when we asked them they
all said yes."
James said the board met in March of 1974
and by the beginning of July they had their
first two shows; Mouse Trap and Mostly in
Clover. He said between March and July he
was busy hiring actors, picking two shows to
run and trying to raise money. Privately,
the young theatre raised $2,000.
When the Artistic Director decided on the
two plays he said he went with Mouse Trap
because "it was safe". He said he could be
sure people would be -familiar with the.
production and would therefore come out to
see it. As it turned out, Mostly in Clover was
the big success and outsold Mousetrap two
to one.
"The town clerk decided to re -dedicate the
hall on the opening night (of Mostly in
Clover), " remembered James. "He sold
most of the available tickets to people who
had to be there. Like the local Legion.
There was a half hour ceremony before the
performance was scheduled and everyone
had to sit in the heat because there was no
air conditioning back then," he continued.
"By the time the actors were set to perform
they were just dripping.
"Within two minutes there was a laugh
from the audience, and then there was
another and it just increased from there."
James said they did eight performances of
each play and by the third or fourth showing
of Mostly in Clover they were performing
for a full house.
"It was after that, when we decided our
mandate was to produce Canadian
material," James noted.
He said despite the success of Mostly in
Clover, there was still a tough climb ahead.
"When we started, Pwas a novice, I knew
nothing of management," said James. "But
its like a lot of things, I had to learn by do-
ing."
The director said that the theatre had two
deficits in its first five years. "The were
small but we were still shocked n we
found out."
He said the deficits came from growth.
After the first year, Blyth theatre had
quadrupled its budget from $9,000 to $36,000.
"To grow you have to take that jump," he
explained.
Still, James said he never felt the theatre
was on the verge of collapsing, but he does
remember the opposition within the village.
"Its funny. I was just talking to an old
friend of mine who played a major role in
the beginning of the theatre. He is now a
printer and is also a leader in the
community," he said. "We were saying how
strange it is that no one seems to remember
the battle between council, the Board
members and the community."
He said the community were his biggest
worry when he first came to Blyth. "If
community relations are soured, then a
theatre is not able to function. I always
needed local support.
"I know of theatres that have tried to
make it alone without that community
support and they found they just, couldn't
handle it," he noted.
After. leaving Blyth, James became a
freelance director in Toronto before going
on to the heatre in Victoria, British
Columbia) Be,�'
"Right1liow Miles Potter ,(the former
Artistic Director who replaced him in Blyth)
is in Victoria," he said. "Its kind of ironic
that he replaced me in Blyth and then
replaced me at the Belfry Theatre."
In March of this year, James went to
Winnipeg to become the artistic director of
the Manitoba Theatre Centre. He said that
the Winnipeg theatre is quite larger than
Blyth.
"We have a $3 million budget, two stages
and are presently working on 10
productions," he explained. "We do things
differently. We don't have a mandate on
Canadian material, but wherever I've
been I've always realized that keeping in
touch with the community is important."
Right now James said it is time for him to
re-evaluate his own goals. "I'm 33 years old,
I want to do good theatre and I want to do
theatre that is Canadian."
• He said today there is a battle going on in
the theatre world. The director said many
people do not realize that Canadian material
is important.
James is happy that Janet Amos, Blyth's
present artistic director, has kept the
theatre's mandate. The theatre's continuity
has also been attractive to employees.
"I know a lot of people at Blyth and that is
because they always come back," he said.
"Blyth has had a lot of repeats."
He explained that though he visits Blyth
every summer, he no longer feels part of it,
"but I feel that I have connections with it
and I will always feel that way."
Mr. Roy said everyone in the theatre
world is aware of Blyth and many are
expecting the theatre to be in a larger
community. He said the theatre's popularity
has earned it a place in the world of theatre.
"People who work at Blyth appear to be
taking over Canadian theatre," laughed
James. "Janet -will Ix. going on to a large
theatre in Frederiction (New Brunswick),
Miles took over for me in Victoria and I'm in
Winnipeg.
"In 20 years, Blyth Festival will have a
special place in the history of Canadian
theatre."
Board member gives her all
One of Blyth Festival's original board
members, Helen Gowing has played a major
role in the success in what the theatre is
today.
In 1972, Mrs. Gowing first became
involved with the theatre as the president of
the Board of Trade for the town. The
president of the Agricultural Society,
Murray Scott, approached Mrs. Gowing to
inquire about whether she would help
produce a special lineup of programs for the
village's fall fair. Mrs. Gowing said she
decided to hold the shows at the Memorial
Hall but after viewing the upstairs, it was
decided that a clean-up was necessary.
•'i remember it was sad when we were
forced to tear down some beautiful oil
painted wall hangings." she recallied. "The
backdrops were tattered but it was sad
because a local girl had painted them."
Mrs. Gowing said a number of people,
'including Keith Roulston, then the editor of
the Blyth Standard, got together to form a
"bucket brigade."
The group decided that among the events
scheduled would be a queen of the fair
contest. On the eve of the contest, the fire
department inspected the hall and decided
the building was not safe and needed proper
fire escapes.
"They allowed, us to hold the beauty
contest but the next day the hall had to be
closed," she said
Mr's. (:owing then approached council for
their permission to supply fonds for the new
fire escapes. She said the ihoney was
supplied but a councillor noticed that a
portion of the ceiling was sagging. Helen
and Keith decided to tackle the task of
raising the money needed to fix the roof and
restore the hall.
Helen said there were a few people who
objected to the money being Spent for the
restoration project.
"A few wanted the building torn down and
money spent for a new one," said Mrs.
Gowing.
The retired shop owner had special
memories of the old building and she
explained herattachment to the quaint
structure.
"In the 1930 s, i used to come to Blyth for
my holidays and I can remember thinking
the hall was a magical place, noted Helen.
"i couldn't see anyone wanting to tear it
down."
Helen explained how the building was
initially designed as a memorial to those
who served in World War I and how people
joined hands to raise the money needed for
ti rir rrr+mT4tr.
Helen (:owing
"In those days the people really had to
struggle to get the money for the hall," she
said. "There were no government grants so
many went without to pay for the hall."
Today the former business woman says
"it would have been a desecration to let the
building crumble."
Once the building was restored Mrs.
Gowing had ideas of using the hall for
community events and small shows.
"But it was Keith's dream of having a
theatre as (big) it is today," she recalled.
"Down the road the thought was
overwhelming. Not even Keith expected this
kind of growth.''
In 1974, Mrs. Gowing placed herself in a
very advantageous position. She became a
councillor with Blyth council.
"This was great because I was able to
watch what was going on," she noted.
"There was a lot of support from town
council and we became involved in the grant
program whereby we could raise half of the
money and thel government would give the
other half."
Helen said that when the theatre began to
offer quality shows the opposition in the
town began to diminish.
As one of the board members who has
worked hard to bring the theatre to what it is
today, Mrs. Gowing said one of the hardest'
things to do is keep board members who
have enough energy. She now assists the
theatre by making the cushions that can be
rented for 50' cents. The cushions make your
theatre viewing more comfortable and are,
according to Helen, "quite a little fund
raising venture."
In 1978, Helen sold her shop and retired to
her modern bungalow in town.
"Now I feel I can relax," she said. "The
success of the theatre is a thing I think will
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