Village Squire, 1974-12, Page 22•• •
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Clinton special wins praise
for Ondaatje
After the initial success of Theatre Passe Muraille's The Farm
Show, which took incidents from the lives of farm people in the
Clinton area and turned them into a powerful stageshow, Michael
Ondaatje decided to make a film on the play.
The film was shown recently on the Ontario Educational
Television channel in Toronto and brought high praise from
critics. The Farm Show was organized and first performed in
Clinton in 1972 and subsequently played to rave reviews in
Toronto, toured Western Ontario, toured the eastern United
States, and was filmed for presentation on C.B.C. later this
season.
Ondaatje, himself a poet and playwrite (Collected Works of
Billy the Kid) recorded parts of the play in auction barn
performances and in rural settings but he also blended this with
interviews with the local people who were involved in the play.
Toronto Star drama critic Urjo Kureda says the film is
"wonderfully sensitive to mood and image."
"This most beautiful film shares two of the prime qualities of
The Farm Show/' Kareda says. "It loves people and it is
incapable of condescension. As a record of a particular
experience, and as a document about a form of our theatre which
may prove historic, Ondaatje's The Clinton Special is
exceptional."
Channel 19 on which the show appeared is, unfortunately,
unavailable to most viewers in this area. Too bad one of the local
stations couldn't pick up the film so we could all see it.
FESTIVAL TAKES TO THE ROAD
You might call it a road show without leaving home.
The Stratford Festival, which already operates the Festival
Theatre, the Avon Theatre and the Third Stage, will be offering
yet another form of entertainment next season: a mobile stage in
the form of a Conestoga Wagon.
The wagon, a prop for the Festival's production of "A Comedy
of Errors" at the Avon theatre, will visit schools, playgrounds,
hospitals and other sites to entertain audiences that would not
normally be getting to the theatre.
The wagon will open out into a stage, with lights, platforms,
props and sound facilities for outdoor locations.
The material that will be performed has not been chosen yet
but at least part of it will probably be based on excerpts from
Shakespearean productions. The presentations will depend on
the age of the audience.
The idea behind the mobile stage is to bring performances to
those who would not normally attend theatre productions. The
foundation is looking for money from local industries to sponsor
the project so that performances can be presented free of charge
to the audiences. Groups who want the mobile stage and actors to
appear for their audience should contact the Festival publicity
department at 271-4040.
The wagon is being designed by Jeffrey Sisco, the set and
costumes designer for Comedy of Errors for the 1975 season. Mr.
Sisco was assistant designer for Life in Paris in 1974.
STRATFORD TEAMS SHAKESPEARE WITH
BRE CHT AND SHAW FOR 1975 SEASON AT FESTIVAL
THEATRE
The works of Brecht and Shaw join two plays by Shakespeare
on stage at Stratford's Festival Theatre next summer.
The 1975 Season will open with George Bernard Shaw's Saint
20, Vrf t 4GE SQUIRE/NOVEMBER— 1974
BUXTON
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BUXTON
F. E. HIBBERT & SON
THE SQUARE GODERICH
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