Village Squire, 1977-03, Page 25THEATRE
Bits and pieces on the theatre scene
It's the time of year when summer
theatres are scrambling to raise the funds
to keep themselves going this summer and
Huron Country Playhouse in Grand Bend
has come up with an interesting
fundraising scheme.
The Playhouse sponsored a gala dinner
ball on March 5 complete with five course
dinner of such things as Russian -style Beef
Stroganoff, wild rices, French beans
Almondine and wines.
Then came entertainment with such
stars as George Murray, Patty Gail and
Peter McConnell.
Meanwhile over at the Blyth Summer
Festival fundraising got a boost this year
with the announcement that the Canada
Council had agreed to give a $5000 grant
for this summer's season, the first time the
Canada Council has supported the
Festival. The grant is something of a coup
because the Council has shown reluctance
to fund many summer theatre operations.
In the letter announcing the grant,
however, the policy of the Festival of
performing Canadian plays, and mostly
original plays at that, was .pointed to by
David Peacock, Head of the theatre
section. "Council noted the community
involvement in the company and the
excitment that has been generated by the
work not only within the region, but also
amongst theatre professionals who have
had a chance to see what you are doing,"
he told the theatre.
Despite the grant, the financing of the
Festival is still precarious and several of
this year's plans depend on forthcoming
grants and local fundraising. Still to come
is the Ontario Arts Council funding but just
important is Wintario funding on which an
exchange tour with the new theatre
company at Petrolia's Victoria Playhouse is
contingent. Plans are for an exchange of
two plays between the two theatres. Blyth
will produce four plays and tour two to
Petrolia while Petrolia will produce three
plays and tour two to Blyth, thus allowing
each to increase the number of attractions
yet keep budgets down.
But the cost involved is still such that
government funding is needed to pay the
costs since box-office cannot cover the
costs.
With funding still uncertain, the final
program for the coming season is still not
set, but it looks like the most risky season
yet for the Blyth Festival. Rather than play
it safe, artistic director James Roy is
presently planning three original produc-
tions, all of them based on western Ontario
themes. The only non -original production
is likely to be a remount of the
much -heralded The Blood is Strong from
last year. That show won high critical
acclaim from critics from across Canada
and won an enthusiastic audience. But like
Mostly in Clover from the season before,
audiences built slowly and only in the last
week did the show play to sold -out houses.
Many people unable to see the show in the
last mad rush urged it be remounted this
year. When Mostly in Clover was
remounted last year it sold out every
performance, including one extra perfor-
mance. The Blood is Strong will also likely
be one of the touring shows.
s•:
Theatre Passe Muraille is courting
controversy again. Three years ago a
production called I Love You Baby Blue, a
spoof on Toronto's love affair with soft -core
pornographic movies shown on a local
television channel, brought the theatre
national infamy when people objected to its
nudity and language and particularly the
fact it was performed in a downtown
Toronto Church which had been turned
over to theatre groups.
Now the group has come up with another
play, Baby Blue II. Again it almost took
place in a church but will be shown instead
at the main stage of the theatre on Ryerson
Ave. The reaction might be enlightening.
Down at Petrolia, the Victoria
Playhouse has announced it will have its
own company for the first time.
The Playhouse began by playing host to
Toronto's Theatre Passe Muraille for two
summers during one of which it
commissioned the play Oil, about the
discovery of oil in Lambton county.
Last year the theatre hosted several
theatre companies for one week each
including Passe Muraille and the Blyth
Summer Festival's production of Mostly n
Clover.
Blyth will play a part this year again
through the exchange tour (pending
funding) and Victoria Playhouse will also
schedule three plays as part of a $16,000
season. All plays will be Canadian and
include: Artichoke, by Joanna Glass,
Entropy's End, by Maridon Miller and
Man with a Load of Mischief by Ben
Tarver.
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