HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2018-03-01, Page 31THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 2018. PAGE 31.
Entertainment & Leisure
`Wing Night at The Boot' writing process begins
Boots on the ground
Blyth Festival Artistic Director Gil Garratt, left, and his merry group of writers have begun
interviews and research into their collective project entitled Wing Night at The Boot. The group
spent last week in Blyth and say they're well on their way to a great show. Clockwise from left:
Garratt, Graham Cuthbertson, Tony Munch, Marion Day, Nathan Howe, director Severn
Thompson and Georgina Beaty. (Submitted photo)
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
The Blyth Festival and Artistic
Director Gil Garratt welcomed a
handful of theatre professionals to
the village last week charged with
the task of uncovering stories from
the history of the fabled Blyth Inn.
The writers, some of whom will be
known to Festival audiences and
others who are new to the village,
spent the last week in Blyth
interviewing local historians
(official and unofficial), poring over
archived material and actually doing
some boots -on -the -ground research
in the bar and restaurant. This
process is all in preparation for this
season's collective creation entitled
Wing Night at The Boot.
Similar to last season's runaway
success, The Pigeon King, Wing
Night at The Boot will aim to bring
together a group of theatre
professionals to learn about the
subject and craft the story
collectively from what they've
learned along the way.
However, unlike last year's Pigeon
King research, Garratt said that
members of the community have
been positively forthcoming and
willing to share their stories,
whereas those who had knowledge
of Pigeon King Arlan Galbraith were
a little more reluctant to come
forward last season for a variety of
reasons.
Because the bar has been around
in one form or another for as long as
the village has, Garratt said the
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writers will have to tackle a number
of eras over the course of the play.
They have heard about some thus
far, but still hope to hear more about
others during future visits.
Making their way to Blyth for last
week's fact-finding mission were:
show director Severn Thompson,
who was also behind The Pigeon
King and Beyond The Farm
Show before it; Tony Munch, a
Festival regular who starred in
last season's The Berlin Blues;
Marion Day, another Festival
regular who starred in The Birds
and the Bees and Innocence Lost:
a Play About Steven Truscott,
among others and Nathan Howe,
who played a musician in last
season's Mr. New Year's Eve: a
Night with Guy Lombardo and
newcomers Graham Cuthbertson
and Georgina Beaty.
So far, the group has interviewed a
number of residents who have been
involved with the Blyth Inn for a
number of years in a variety of ways.
Whether they were on one side of
the bar or the other, residents have
been co-operative, said Garratt, and
the writers have been eager to hear.
The group went to Thursday's
wing night and spent some time
talking to the patrons, which
included a local broomball team and
many of the bar's regulars.
Like many local legends,
apparently the writers have stumbled
upon opposing viewpoints on some
topics. For example, there have been
some who have said the Inn, decades
ago, was a place where families
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were welcomed and patrons would
be safe, while others remember it as
being a rough place to hang out,
recounting several bar -wide brawls
at what was then called the "Bucket
of Blood".
Both Thompson and Day said that
hearing some stories about locals
who can now often be found at The
Boot and then meeting these people
face to face has been akin to meeting
a rock star after the writers have
heard so much about them.
Thompson says there is such a
reverence for people who work their
way to the front of local lore, for one
reason or another, that the writers
can hardly wait to meet them.
Day said she remembered the
same thing happening during the
research phase of the collective
creation, Beyond The Farm Show.
Munch and Thompson, both Beyond
The Farm Show alumni, agreed,
saying there is such a respect for
locals and their story and that has
come into play once again now with
this show.
Garratt said the group has learned
a lot about local families throughout
the process, which will definitely
play a part in the finished product
this summer.
While the group has already been
privy to a wealth of knowledge, they
also say they feel like they've only
just scratched the surface and that
there's plenty more work to be done.
Thus far, they have had interviews
with locals that have, almost without
fail, led to others. The group spoke
to one resident and, when more
information was needed on a
specific topic, that resident called a
friend and before the writers knew it,
they were meeting with five people
for over two -and -a -half hours.
The writers say they have heard
plenty of stories about the late 1960s
and early 1970s at the Blyth Inn, but
still hope to fill in some blanks along
the way, like the late 1990s and early
2000s when the bar was home to
regular karaoke nights and decades
ago when Huron was a dry county.
Now the writers will be heading
back home to digest the week that
was and formulate some ideas
before returning later in the spring.
Day said the group will be in
touch, sending ideas back and forth,
but that they're already looking
forward to returning to learn more
about the bar, the community and the
show they'll be putting on stage later
this year.
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