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The Brussels Post, 1978-07-05, Page 25STEVEN THORNE Ireirom. to BLYTH and the BLYTH SUMMER FESTIVAL For good dining, come to THE TRIPLE K RESTAURANT East of Blyth on ' Phone County Rd. 25 523-9623 ► I ► ► ► ► ► ► ► The TT ld Tllill BOX 99 BLYTN, ONTARIO 1 Mile South of Blyth We wish to add our congratula- tions to the Blyth Summer Festival on ,the open ing. of a bigger and better season this year.. Good Luck! Factory Outlet Prices Leather Coats, Sheepskin Rugs Pure Virgin Wool. Blankets, Leather Gloves, Sportswear and Accessories. lel NC Pi OITA1110 1 Mile South of 8Iyth. Out in the Country on TOP of the hill PHONE 523-4595 'Summer HOW'S: Open. Daily Ott Sundays:11),mi 9' porno, t. THE BLYTH SUMMER FESTIVAL ISSUE., JULY 5, 1.978 —13 Steve Thorne is Blyth veteran Steven Thorne will not be a new face to Myth residents who. attended the Summer Festival the first year it was in operation, He was here when the theatre began in 1975. The first summer he was. here he directed WISP-, trap and, helped to adapt the -novel of Harry Boyle's, The Blood is Strong and he also helped artistic director James, Roy co-direct the Blood is Strong, That summer he also did sotne acting in How I Met My-Husband. Last summer, Steven took time off from the Festival to get involved in writing a play called Huron True Blues which is. about a militia regiment that has to face some very severe winter condi- tions. "Hopefully get that done sonic time and produced here," Steven said. Steven first got involved in drama in, Barrie where he grew up and then went to. York University where he was enrolled in • the drama program. That's where Steven met James Roy and Bjarne .Christensen and a. number of the other people who have been with the Blyth Summer Festival in the past. Throughout his fOur years of university, he found work in - summer theatres. He has worked at the Griffin Theatre in Barrie, Quebec City, Orillia Playhouse,. and the Studio Lab. Theatre in Toronto. 'At the .Summer Festival this year, Steven plays the part of John Galt, Jr, -Son of John .Galt in The play, The 'Huron Tiger. He describes the part as that of 4 young angry rebel trying to fight the injustices of his time... This is the first summer in which he has been acting. now for • a couple of years and he says it's hard. readjusting to a new rhythm- andanew lifestyle- from what he's been liVing in the past with his writing. Asked about his , acting technique. Steven says, "1 think l tend to. do a little, bit by bit. 1 think I need to work more from the inside out than I do, but I do find that my internal • life is triggered by external movement," • He went on to explain. that the resonance of a voice, a particular gesture, a, particular way of walking, even sometimes a particular property like a pipe brings to life interesting things about the character, He says he wasn't trained in any school of thought. , He was trained on a much more eclectic scale, At 24 years of age, he's just a young actor and as lie says, "I'm just beginning to discover how I ‘vork„ just learning the best technique for me as a person, He said he's not very interested in films at the moment but likes the stage, 'He said that he supposed as with most actors he had a love-hate thing with the theatre. "I very much enjoy it at this 'time. I don't think. I could do it steadily all the time. I enjoy being here for tWo months," he said. He says he not only needed to come back, to the theatre this summer, but that he wanted to. "If you stay away from it too long, your gears get rusty." He says when you get bored with the role yon're playing you have to inject new life, new ideas into your work so you jump those, hurdles of boredom. "You have to listen, to live and to share the life and energy on the stage with those around you. Every night there's something you can improve; he said. lit°44c ' "54 4e4 iF HURON '78 ci September 26 - 30, 1978 , HURON COUNTY JOHN HUGHES John C, -Hughes is the lighting designer and master electrician for the .Blyth Summer Festival this year and as such is respon- sible for doing all the lighting .for the shows, any temporary electrical work, all the stage lights and all -the wiring. For half of the shows, he's going to be running the lighting board and for the other halt' he'll help out as a production assistant. He works in conjunction with the director' and they decide beforehand .what the lights are going to be doing at a given point in the play. At the point of being inter- viewed there were approximately. 35 lighting cues in the -Huron Tiger and in His Own Boss there probably- will be something like five or six lighting cues. John has been working in theatre, amateur and professional for 20 years now. He did his first amateur show when he was I5 and worked with local amateur groups in Calgary. He did his first professional season at the Neptune Theatre in Halifax in. 1969. Since then he has been in stage managing,, lighting or sometimes technical director 'in places all over the country. He also did two years with Theatre Calgary; spent a. couple of years at Montreal, worked at the SaidyeBrontmann Centre and also the Centaur Theatre. • 'While -he did a fair amount of acting when he was an amateur he has never acted professionally. He said his amateur acting experience'.: is very., helpful in helping him. Understand the actors -point of view. "We really see the actor as being the core of our work",. he said of his own poSition as a lighting;: designer., 'rm really—doing whatever I can to improve whatever the actor is doing ; first of all so they can be seen," he said, This his first summer in Blyth and he says he really came because of Bjarne Christensen with whom he worked at the Tarragon Theatre in Toronto. "I came because I love the country. I" love to be out of the city," he said.. He and sonic of the other Festival company have just bought 10 starter pallets that they are keeping out at the Nesbitt place and they're also going to grow some of their own food. He said Blame had asked him if he was interested in working at the festival. John had heard of the festival and as he says, "I was very much interested in working in a summer theatre that was geared to the people in the area, rather than most smuttier theatres which arc geared to tourists. which I think is a very artificial kind of theatre." '('here arc several things he might do after the theatre season is over, one of which could be a position as technical director _for the Jamaica School of Drama which means that he would he teaching technical direction. He just recently finished stage managing a play called Ashes at the Phoenix Theatre in Toronto. He said basically he got training through amateur theatre, through reading and through working with people who know more than he does, and learning from them. He never studied theatre academically. He came to the theatre in Toronto because it's the hub of English speaking theatre and even people who work in regional theatres tend to congregate in Toronto because Equity has its offices there, he said. "Of course there's a lot more Work in Toronto," he added. John is also interested in painting and believes that this helps him with his work as a lighting technician. He works with oils, acrylics and water: colours. He hasn't had a showing yet but has sold a few of his paintings. He is hoping to get out and do some drawing while in Huron County because, "Huron County has a very • beautiful countryside and most of my work is landscape oriented." "I don't think that painting and lighting arc necessarily that far apart. It's a different media. I think especially painting water colours is a natural for a person who works with transparent light," he said. Lighting is painter John Hughes' job