Village Squire, 1978-06, Page 14Elegant Victoria Playhouse will house a nc summer theatre company this year, a continuation of the
successful Theatre Go Round company which operated all Minter.
Another
Go
Round
After ups and downs Victoria
Playhouse, Petrolia is set
to go again
with Theatre Go Round
PG.12. VILLAGE SQUIRE/JUNE 1978.
Since a local committee in Petrolia organized in the earl}
1970's to preserve the elegant old Victoria Playhouse, things
have been mostly up for the building. butt up and down for the
activities therein.
Right now, things seem to be on the way up in both
endeavours. Work continues on the long road to turning Victoria
Playhouse into the kind of arts centre the board running it feels it
should be. Already it's undergone a magnificient re-emergerce
as the centre of cultural life for the town, indeed the whole area.
Activities at the Playhouse draw patrons from Sarnia and Port
Hurpn in one direction to London in the other. The old hall has
been restored, the backstage facilities have been improved, the
building has been airconditioned and an art gallery has been set
up in the old firehall.
Things have been up and down, however, for the artistic
companies housed in the building. The first two summers the
theatre was in use it hosted the famous Theatre Passe Muraille
company with such shows as The Farm Show, and a
specially -produced local show, Oil. Financially things did not go
well, however, for the third season a series of touring shows
were brought in which proved much more popular.
Boosted by the support for these, last year the Playhouse
embarked on its most ambitious season yet, building its own
company for three Canadian productions. For whatever reason
audiences did not materialize leaving the Playhouse with a large
debt to carry.
But when things looked blackest last fall, a turnaround
started. A Canada Works grant was received to run a winter
school program and Patricia Mahoney was hired as artistic
director for the new company called Theatre Go Round.
The company toured elementary and secondary schools in the