The Citizen, 2012-09-06, Page 19THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2012. PAGE 19.
Young Company embraces history with ‘Farm 2012’
Forty years after it made its Huron
County debut, The Farm Show was
honoured by the Blyth Festival once
again with The Farm 2012.
Piloted by Severn Thompson,
daughter of Paul Thompson, the
director of The Farm Show, The
Farm 2012 was on stage at the Blyth
Festival’s Phillips Studio on Aug.
30, 31 and Sept. 1 and never before
has a play’s program been such a
companion piece.
The Farm 2012 sent a group of
teenagers into the farms and
agricultural businesses of Huron
County to learn about what it means
to be a farmer in one of the country’s
leading agricultural areas.
The Farm Show began when Paul
Thompson and a group of actors
from Toronto’s Theatre Passe
Muraille moved to Clinton for three
months in the summer of 1972.
The show would go on to change
the face of Canadian theatre and
remain relevant 40 years later. It
would also help to pave the way for
theatre and arts in Huron County,
clearing the path for the Blyth
Festival to be created just a few
years later.
The perfect storm for The Farm
2012 began when Artistic Director
Eric Coates realized that 2012 would
be the 40th anniversary of The Farm
Show. Just days later he received a
call from Severn Thompson, an
established Canadian actor, asking if
there was a role at the Blyth Festival
for her this season.
The show’s timing was
unfortunate, as the final
performances of the Festival’s
season occupied the Memorial Hall
stage, eliminating the possibility of a
Young Company move to the big
stage, similar to last year’s first-ever
Young Company remount of Britta
Johnson’s Alligator Tears. Coates
says the three Phillips Studio
performances were sold out.
As stated earlier, the production’s
program would prove vital to anyone
who knows those involved in Huron
County agriculture. The “thank you”
list of participating farms and
agricultural businesses reads as a
scene list to those in the know,
resulting in audience members
asking one another which characters
they recognized from the stage.
The play’s first scene (after its
humorous false musical start – it’s
not a musical, though there are some
musical components) is immediately
recognizable as a Brussels Livestock
sale.
An auction environment is set up
and Nicholas Beardsley does his
best cattle impression while the
bidding begins. Surprisingly,
Beardsley’s mannerisms in the pen
are spot-on and the scene is
immediately recognizable.
From there vignettes of farming in
Huron County are presented. The
actors immediately find the balance
between how hard a life farming can
be, and the reward farmers find in
their way of life.
“A farm is a great place to raise the
kids,” one character says.
Many different aspects of farming
are covered and topics that would
have not even existed in 1972
are tackled by the cast, such as
organic farming and bio-security
concerns.
Jeff McGavin makes an
appearance in the play (Emma
Enders) and every member of the
cast takes its turn becoming a farm
animal or a piece of farm machinery,
depending on the scene.
Older farmers are profiled, as
characters who remember the good
old days and have had trouble
adapting to the new face of farming,
but there are plenty of fresh young
faces as well. Former Citizen/Rural
Voice summer student Ursina
Studhalter, an “Aggie” at the
University of Guelph, was even
profiled as student aspiring to make
it in the world of agriculture one day.
Andrew and Becky Courtney (and
it seemed like some visitors as well)
of A Still, Small Farm, a CSA near
Brussels were given their time in the
spotlight, as were local organic
farmers Tony and Fran McQuail.
And while The Farm 2012 wasn’t
a musical, there were some musical
numbers, including an interesting
adaptation of the Gotye song
“Someone That I Used To Know”
but about rutabagas.
Beardsley returns as a boar meant
to pinpoint the sows that are in heat
at one point of the play. He walks out
in a leather jacket and a Michael
Jackson fedora with Justin
Timberlake’s “Bringing Sexy Back”
blaring through the Phillips
Studio.
Near the conclusion of the play, a
visitor from the city (a citidiot,
played by Taylor Watson) brings
with her a lengthy rap scene that is
performed by the cast to perfection.
The play concludes, however, on a
softer note, and concludes its full
cycle, returning to The Farm Show.
Alone on stage, the Young
Company version of long-time
Central Huron Councillor Alison
Lobb (played by Hannah Lobb) sits
at a table and flips through an old
photo album, finding pictures from
some of the original stagings of The
Farm Show in 1972, in which Lobb’s
character was also portrayed.
The scene is touching, jarring and
unsettling.
She discusses the concept of
letting the small towns die and how
important the way of life in Huron
County is to the people of Huron
County. She acknowledges that it
might not be the most financially-
feasible way of living, but it’s a way
of living that means a lot to a lot of
people.
And with the soft-spoken voice of
“Lobb” the lights go down on the
play, provoking thought in the
audience about not only how the
world of farming, but how the world
of Huron County has changed over
the last 40 years.
The only thing that could have
made The Farm 2012 better would
have been additional shows. The
Farm 2012 was a fitting tribute to a
show that means so much to so many
in Huron County.
Jennifer
&
Joseph
Connie Kuc and Tom Black along withConnie Kuc and Tom Black along with
Christina and the late John GarrickChristina and the late John Garrick
are delighted to announce the forthcomingare delighted to announce the forthcoming
marriage of their childrenmarriage of their children
Jennifer and JosephJennifer and Joseph
onon Saturday, September 15, 2012.Saturday, September 15, 2012.
Please join us for an open reception at thePlease join us for an open reception at the
Black family farm at 8 o’clockBlack family farm at 8 o’clock
JenniferJennifer
&&
JosephJosephBuck & Doe
Jason Crawford & Erin Bolger
Friday, September 7
9 pm to 1 am
BMG Community
Centre, Brussels
Age of majority
Lunch provided
Tickets $5.00 advance, $8.00 at the door ~ Andrea 519-887-8133
Sorry no bus.
for
100th
Birthday
Celebration
You are invited to help celebrate
Leola Harrison’s
100th Birthday
on September 15
1:30 pm to 4:00 pm
at Caressant Care
Retirement Home,
710 Reserve Ave. S.,
Listowel
Please, no gifts
Entertainment Leisure&
Yesterday, today and tomorrow
Members of the 2012 Blyth Festival Young Company and cast members from the 1972
production of The Farm Show all converged in Blyth on Saturday night for the Young
Company’s final performance of The Farm 2012, a reimagining of The Farm Show 40 years
later. Back row, from left: Gordon Law, The Farm 2012 director Severn Thompson, Bob
Pearson, Jillian Bjelan, Amy Thompson, Ty Mellor, Hannah Lobb, Jordyn Trebish and Miles
Potter. Front row, from left: The Farm Show director Paul Thompson, Taylor Watson, Rachel
Bundy, Virginia Iredale, Ben Hearn, Nicholas Beardsley, Nathanya Barnett, Marlayna Kolkman,
Emma Enders, The Farm 2012 stage manager Curtis teBrinke, Arwen MacDonnell, Fina
MacDonnell, Ray Bird, Janet Amos, Ted Johns and Alison Lobb. (Vicky Bremner photo)
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen