The Citizen-Blyth Festival, 1999-06-23, Page 36BLYTH FESTIVAL SALUTE, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23, 1999. PAGE 17.
‘Garage’ will be a thrilling place this summer
By Bonnie Gropp
Citizen staff
With several seasons on the
Festival stage. Eric Coates is
becoming a familiar Blyth
favourite.
And having his name attached
this year to that of a well-known
Blyth success story is a comfy
position for the season.
Coates says, “I’m thrilled to be
directing Peter Colley's When the
Reaper Calls, to be in on the
ground floor. “We have a pretty
heavy-hitting cast, but I'm even
more excited because I know it's
going to be a hit. It’s the kind of
When the
Reaper Calls
By Peter Colley
theatres.”
Coates has always appreciated
the opportunity the theatre has
given him. He has acted, directed
and handled administrative duties,
this year, he says, as artistic
associate. Artistic Director Anne
Chislett simplifies the term, "He’s
my right hand.”
But though he’s spending more
time in the office and behind the
scenes, Blyth Festival audiences
will still be able to see Coates on
stage, this ear in Dave Carley’s Big
Box, directed by Festival founder
James Roy.
Set in the future, the story is
about smalltown main street
merchants fighting back against
the big box malls. “It translates
well for this area,” says Coates,
adding that the subject is one near
and dear to his heart. “I feel
strongly about keeping
communities alive by re-investing
through the core. I’m a very vocal
supporter of that and it’s
interesting that the opportunity to
be in this play came up at the same
time.”
Describing the play as quite
colourful, Coates says, “It is
highly-stylized. The audience may
have to take a leap of faith, but if
they do they will have a rollicking
good time.”
His character talks like a film
noire gumshoe detective. “The
challenge for me is to find an
emotional base for this guy who
goes around talking like Philip
Marlowe.”
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play people swarm to in the
summer and that takes a certain
burden away.”
Colley is the playwright who
penned the acclaimed /’// Be Back
Before Midnight, in the late 1970s,
a play that went on to gross over
$8 million worldwide. “It’s
comforting to have my name
attached to a script of his,” says
Coates.
Staging the thriller in The
Garage is another highlight for
Coates. “The -Garage has always
been my favourite building in
Canadian theatre,” he says of the
intimate studio space. “I like
Memorial Hall, I have worked in
theatres across the country, but I
love the way the Garage works. I
can’t think of a theatre space that
represents the production as well.”
Performing a work by one of the
Young Company performs
‘Mostly in Clover’ in Garage
If you want to see the play that
gave the Blyth Festival its first
success see Mostly in Clover
performed by the Young Company
at.the Garage beginning Aug. 2.
The play, adapted by James
Roy and the cast from the books
Harry J. Boyle wrote about
growing up in the St. Augustine
area during the Depression was a
huge success when it opened the
Festival’s most successful
playwrights will, Coates believes,
make others appreciate the venue.
“One thing exciting about Reaper
being in the Garage is that it would
establish it as a viable theatre
space. It’s very intimate, audiences
feel an ownership to the play and I
think it should really take off.”
A resident of Stratford, Coates’
soft spot for the Festival in general
is evident. “What makes Blyth so
special is it’s uniqueness. Here in
this small farming community you
Festival in 1975 and was brought
back again in 1976 and toured to
Victoria Playhouse, Petrolia.
The Young Company are
talented high school actors from
around the region who receive
professional instruction at the
Festival and perform on play each
summer. This year, for the first
time their work is available to a
wider audience.
have new Canadian theatrical work
that travels to theatres everywhere.
Half of the productions that came
out of this unlikely place have
enjoyed success in so many other
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