Village Squire, 1973-04, Page 9able to attract good actors, directors,
designers and dramatists with fresh
ideas. And of course, there is the
ability to tell people about themsel-
ves.
It is almost a mission with Thomp-
son to pursue this latter course. He
is one of the leaders in the new aware
group of theatre people, film-makers
and writers who are discovering that
Canada, so long thought to be dull
and boring, is alive and full of ideas
just waiting to be shaped into excit-
ing works of art. In many ways,
these men are doing in the performing
arts what the Group of Seven is nearly
half a century ago in painting.
But in the Farm Show, he has not
only managed to find interesting
material from within Canada, he has
helped tell the farm story to the city
people. There is something thrilling
about seeing something really good,
and realizing it is Canadian. It is
even more thrilling to see something
excellent, and realize it is about
people you know, about problems
you deal with daily. This is the case
of the Farm Show.
Thompson is concerned with the
dying way of life on the farm and
one scene particularly deals with this
in the play is one of the most simple
and yet gripping sketches you're like-
ly to see in theatre. It shows the
constant effect of children drifting
away to the city on a farm family
until finally there is no family left.
Having grown up in the country,
Thompson knows the story. He
wonders how young people can be
expected to stay on the farm when
they are brainwashed through_
school, through television and books
that the city is the place where the
action is.
All the emphasis of modern society,
he says, is on beating it to the city
as fast as possible. Farmers are made
to look like ignorant hicks in movies
and television. How can a child be
expected to be proud of being a far-
mer under such conditions, he won-
ders?
The Farm Show should help farmers
and their families begin to take a
little pride in their way of life. Not
that it glorifies farming - on the
contrary it points up the hard, back -
Director
Paul
Thompson
breaking work of the farm, and other
handicaps. But by treating farming
with honesty (for a change) and mak-
ing physical labour not seem a dirty
word, the Farm Show adds a new
dimension to the understanding of
farm life by the rural community it-
self. Farmers are delighted with the
show because when it is over they can
hold up their heads in pride because
the show is about them, and is vital,
interesting and professionally done.
This point even got across to most
city -bred critics who feel they are
in the backwoods if they get any
farther north than Lawrence Avenue.
Still, not everyone involved got a
better insight of farming. Alan Jones,
for instance, was one of the original
members of the cast when it played
in the barn, but soon after he left.
He just couldn't take the physical
work. And a critic for Performing
Arts magazine luted the show, but
for the wrong reasons. He suggested
the play would have been better with
more "sophisticated lighting" and
costumes, exactly what Thompson
was trying to get away from. Then
he went on to describe the play:
"We shared the rural inertia of the
local recluse, the monotonous exist-
ence of winter social life; with the
group employing some excellent
theatricality and originality in their
picture of the desolate snow-covered
countryside, its inhabitants lolling
over to each other's places, uttering
pleasantries and a continuous stream
of nondescript dialogue about any-
thing and anyone."
Hardly the picture of rural life
Thompson had in mind in presenting
the show. One gets the feeling the
reviewer had just watched a play
about penguins in Antarctica.
Still, despite some mild reserva-
tions, the play was a success even by
the standards of those not yet con-
verted to the idea that anything
Canadian can be good, unless the
Americans or British like it. The
play has been invited to tour New
England, an offer which is likely to
be accepted and to tour New York, a
lucritive offer which was turned down
in favour of the Ontario tour now on.
By many standards, that's just plain
un -Canadian.
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