The Huron Expositor, 1978-07-06, Page 28Fully Licensed by L.L.B.O.
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4.
BLYTH SUMMER FESTIVAL ISSUE, JULY 5, 1578-
Play helps Huron celebrate 150
do the right 'things, he often did
the,m for entirely the wrong
reasons, For example, when he
offered to stand as a candidate for
parliament, it wasn't,. really to
tight the many, wrongs faced by.
• the seders Of the }Timm Tract--,
4111,41' ^vim
[by Alice GIbb]
It's purely happy coincidence
that the Blyth Summer Festival is
presenting a play about Dr.
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•
Colonel Anthony van EginOncl,
' was instrumental' in opening up
the ' Huron Tract 'under the
auspices. of the • sometimes
praised„. sometimes despised,
Canada Company. •
Peter Colley, the playwright
from London,. Ontario, who was
commissioned to write The 'Aron
Tiger for the Blyth Summer
Festival, said he was immediately
captured by the charaCter of
Dunlop, who had so • many facets
to his personality. The man could
be rpwdy and behave like the
roughest backswoodsman, and
Yeth4-was-alseartnediCirtiOda:'
a well-spoken:„member of the
landed gentry, and a. regular'
contributor to Blackwoods
Magazine, one of Scotland's most
distinguished literary publica-
tions,.
,Mr, Colley, himself descended
from a family of English music
hall artistS, i''S-tlfe'tauthor of The
The War Show and The Connelys,
both-Theatre I Ondon-hits, -and
last summer presented another of
his works, titled ,The Vaude-
villians, at the Gallery Theatre in •
London. • '
He is also currently working on'
a , play commissioned by the
University of Western Ontario to
celebrate their Centennial,.
The playwright, -who often
doubles as an actor, said he was
performing in The Little Prince at
the Blyth theatre last summer,
when James Roy, the artistic .
director, 'took him aside and ,
asked if he would be interested in
_writing an original play based on
some historical event from this
. area.
E., .When Colley agreed, then Roy
said, "Weil, have you thought
about Tiger Dunlop?”.
When he started his, research,
• Colley found there was more
! information than he needed about
• • the eccentric doctor who helped
found the town of Goderich, a
Scotsman „. with both ,fiery
• teinperament and a razor sharp
wit to •match.
Experimental
• When he produced the, first
draft of the play. Colley experi-*-
mented with the fragmented
approach be had used in other
plays and covered all of Dunlop's
life.
Then, 'on re-considering` the
script, he decidt,d the major
crises in Dunlop's life occurred in'
the 1837-1841 period when the,
doctor finally left the, Canada
Company in a rage, narrowly
escaped matrimony and ran' for
election as a member of the
legislative Assembly.
Colley ' took the libertr of
cramming all these events into
"an old fashioned three act play"
which takes place in a short span
of time at Gairbraid, the Dunlop
estate outside Goderich.
The play's, themes center
around the , 1837 farmers'
rebellion, Dunlop's ielationship'
with his'housekeeper Lou and the
emotional effects on the doctor of
the death of his. brother,. Robert.
"The play is basically a comedy
with a little bit of drama mixed -
in," said the playwright.
Surprisingly, Colley already
knew something of the history 'of
the. Canada Company since it is
often mentioned in English
histories as the example . of a
successful colonial company.
Although the company, and its
agent, the strong-willed Thoinas
Mercer Jones, feature as' the
main 'antagonists in The Huron
Tiger, Colley said Dunlop can't
really be regarded as the hero,
-since • his motives often aren't
What they seem. •
In researching' Dunlop's
character, the playwright I
discovered the doctor possessed,
what the Greeks consider a fatal
flaw. While Dunlop appeafed to
• While 'Colley will attend .the
'Flay's rehearsals, to rewrite
sections of the script and givethe
xtors some additional back-,
ground material on the characters
they're portraying, James 'Roy
"will be • directing the play.' • '
• Colley said the dilemma he .
faced in attempting to base a play
cn Dunlop's life was whether to
do a straight historical •
based. entirely on the 'facts, and .
risk producing 'a' dull plaY or
whether to, , produce a -dramatic \.
wot k;'using sonic artistic, licenst_
AlithaftlitiWe-faeTs -so-the•Play.-
Wold work welt on stage.
Colley chose the latter, and
although the costumes and props •
will be as historically accurate as •
possible, 'the action of the play
will saridwi a number of years.
of Dunlop'slife together for more 4
dramatic effect.
Colley said Roy has proved a
"good man" to work with, and a
few weeks ago the two of them sat
dawn and talked_for. hours,ab.ont_.
the different levels.they wanted to
:achieve in The Huron
_ Marathon
As a result of the , marathon
ciscusaion, Colley said he re-
wrote half the first act and ended'
up witha- "vastly • improved
•'
Tiger ,Dunlop won't be an easy
man; to pOrtray on stage-the •
eccentric character-was a lively
talker, had a slight problem with.
drink, inhaled handfuls of •snuff,
mercilessly teased his housekeepr
lou and then tricked 'his , poor
brother into marrying the Woman,'
Auoted endlessly from classical
literatime and managed to
(Continu,ed on 'Page 9)
Peter Colley
rather, Dunlop was attracted by
the 500 pounds yearly salary and
the chance •to party with his
cohorts in Toronto.
Rehearsing
Although' the actors started
rehearsing the play on Monday,
Colley 'said he will be changing
the play as iehearsais progress
and more nuances develop in the
diaracters. Although he admits it
isn't always popular with the
actors, Colley, tends to add lines
to his script right up to the night
before the play' is performed.
The Huron Tiger opens the
Blyth Summer Festival season on
July. 7.
William "'Tiger" Dunlop onthe
150th anniversary of the Huron
mad. , '
Dunlop, with John Gait and