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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1977-06-30, Page 21ur ti s 4 • 4 O 40. The Huron Country Playhouse in Grand Bend has a unique setting for a theatre. Pictured here is the "Great Barn" , which houses the operatiods workshops, actors' dressing ty director for the Huron Country Playhouse is Dorothy O'Connor. She has been with the Playhouse since It began in 1972 but beln� publicity director is her first 1014 -With this theatre. She says's`t arias al aw yb`been=hi#erected In all aspects of ire. (staff photo) erich • rooms, lobbies, boutique, gallery and Box Stall Bar. Attached to this barn is another barn which houses the theatre. (staff photo) NAL—STAR 130 YEAR --29 THURSDAY, JUNE 30,1977 `SECOND SECTION • ' eat place to spend a summer .evening Q OANNE WALTERS Bend has long been a spot with summer . It is a tiny town can boast of beaches, g grounds, boutiques try Playhouse setting per and various summer amusements designed especially for vacationers. Since 1972 professional summer theatre has been added to Grand Bend's growing list of attractions. It was that year that the Huron Country Playhouse was born. James Murphy and his Toronto Gate Productions company had just completed a successful season at the Colon'ade in Toronto and they were looking for a summer home. What better choice was there than Grand Bend? Here the company could purchase a tiny, easily accessible rural site with a big old barn and a white frame farm house. Grand Bend, though small itself, did have that large tourist crowd and it was a good central location with both London and Stratford being close by. In less than five years an infant operation would grow into a professional summer theatre company and a five' acred farm site and its buildings would be almost Magically converted into a proper summer theatre complex. The Huron Country Playhouse was to become more than just a big old barn stuck in the middle of a small plot of land NATURAL SETTING Today the Playhouse is a fine example of in- dividualism with its many unique qualities. Part of the Playhouse's uniqueness lies in its impressive natural setting. , The lawns surrounding the barns and •farm house are dotted with rain barrels, wagon wheels, benehes and an antique black buggy. Red and white petunias are sprinkled here and there. Butterflies flit back and forth across the lawns and Oats Itlly 5. Ors building along with notable assistance from Bill Heinshohn, a director of the Gate Com- pany, after forming a provisional Board of Directors, opened their first six-week season in a small rented tent and attracted over 5,009, visitors. In 1973 and 1974 the com- pany had to replace their small tent with a lar,ger one. Performing plays in a tent proved to be somewhat dif- ficult when it rained but the tent days also bring back some fond memories. Publicity director Dorothy O'Connor 'laughs about the .time a dog and cat both jumped on the stage during a performance in the tent. But regardless ()feats and dogs or whether it was raining cats and dogs, the show always went on asthe old show business adage says it must. After the' first season in 1972, a Board of Trustees had been formed with Benson Tuckey of Exeter as chair- man. In January of 1972 the - Playhouse had received a Local Initiatives Program (LIP) grant from the Federal Government to begin the conversion of the farm site into a theatre complex. It had been decided that the theatre wouldbe moved from the tent to the barn. This decision had to be changed however because moving the theatre into the barn would require changing the character of the barn's massive beams and wood framing and because, according to the engineers, a separate structure would be Cheaper. THE BARN Th&barn was to become the Playhouse's workshop in- stead. The plays are rehearsed there; •PrePs, 'and coitudies created there; rooms and'shower rooms Box Stall Bar, an art gallery and gift boutique. A ladies' auxiliary .guild headed by Beth Jean runs the boutique. The guild has also handled several fund raising projects in the past such as fashion shows, a Christmas bazaar, dances and putting a cook book out on the market. In the art gallery, weavers and photographers as well as painters show their work. Antique exhibits have been held as well. After the third record breaking season, it was again decided the company had outgrown their 100 foot rented tent. A grant from the Ministry of Colleges and Universities allowed a feasibility study to be carried out by Lett -Smith, an ar- chitectural firm in Toronto. In January 1975 the firm's concept for a permanent summer theatre building was accepted• by the Playhouse Board. Bill Cochrane, Q.G., was the board's chairman at the time. That winter builders started from scratch to convert the five acre farm site into the Playhouse as itis knbwn to theatre goers today. While waiting for the needed funds, an LIP crew of workers began dismantling four, unused barns in order to use' -"the wood as building material. Jerry Van Bussel, a builder from Lucan is credited with buitding a massive new theatre where the ``tent once stood in less than three months. This year another 100 seats have been added and the, theatre buliding now accommodates an'waudience of 5011. Publicity director O'Connor calls,it "a tribute to the region," ,Condor, a petite blonde w nan, ays sgh+ h s always L,. ' .:u rr(s s ls,t,e,,�d:%Ytyya,, {{ice� �asp of.0 • Choat Ij+P ter hat emb �t f� `tltet lai official position with the Playhouse's operations. She is a native of Ireland but has lived in Grand Bend for almost six years now and proudly admits to being a Canadian citizen since March of this year. She has known artistic director James Murphy since he was in Ireland writing a history of the Gate Theatre. Murphy was also a drama teacher at Guelph University for three years. O'Connor gives him credit for his work at the Playhouse. She says it is a 24 hour a day job which reaches a feverish pitch for eight weeks in the summer. STAR TO DIRECT This season, a Canadian actress ,Frances Hyland is coming to the Playhouse to direct one of the productions. Hyland was born in Regina. She won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, England ,and went from there into a major role in the West End, the British equivalent of Broadway. In 1954 she starred opposite,,James Mason in Measue For Measure at the Stratford Festival, then in its second season. She has been a star ever since. Her latest project ect is a starring role in a.:CBC television drama called Cat's Play to be shown this fall. Her Grand Bend assign- ment directing Any Wed- nesday, she says, is an op- portunity to have some fun. She terms the show as a big challenge because of its unaccustomed comic content and its brief rehearsal time. She doesn't know what prompted James Murphy to offer her the task of directing Any Wednesday. ' She has never seen the Grand Bend theatre. "Perhaps some of my babies' (her former students) Turn to page 2A . 'the PlayhoUtse Iait 111, 4 rt