The Citizen-Blyth Festival 2002, 2002-06-05, Page 2Canadian Theatre
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LIE by Douglas Bowie
Jul 3 - August 9
Leggy Dames &
Id Hard Cash in...
Reading scripts is a constant part of Anne Chislett's job.
The Outdoor Donnellys
by Paul Thompson,
Janet Amos & Co.
June 7.
PAGE 2 BLYTH FESTIVAL SALUTE, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2002.
Creating a Festival season about finding balance
Bamboozled: He Won't Come
In From The Barn, Part II
by Ted Johns
July 31 - August 31
By Bonnie Gropp
Citizen staff
Putting together a Blyth Festival
season, is a bit like an orchestra,
where each instrument and each
musician may be remarkable on its
own, but the real magic is in balance
they create together.
Selecting a season, says Artistic
Director Anne Chislett is about more
than picking good plays. "There is a
rhythm to the season," she says.
Which means that one standout
performer can bring a whole new
look to things. For instance,. says
Chislett, the tremendous success of
last season's The Outdoor
Donnellys, meant it had to be
brought back for 2002. "Demand
made that essential, but I completely
threw out the season that I had
planned."
Chislett may well be one of the
best people to recognize what is
needed to bring that balance to a
playbill. As a former English and
drama teacher, as well as being an
accomplished playwright, Chislett
values quality, bringing a writer's
intuitiveness to the job of artistic
director, which guarantees the work
at Blyth is more than standard fare.
But she also has a history with the
theatre which helps her to know its
audiences better, helps her to deliver
to them works that they will and can
appreciate. It was almost three
decades ago, that Chislett along with
her then husband, James Roy, and
Keith Roulston started the small
summer theatre in Blyth.
Chislett penned her first play in
1977, adapting Harry Boyle's novel
A Summer Burning so there would
be a locally-based show for the
Festival's third . season. Since then
her work has achieved not just
national acclaim, but international as
well, the best known being The
Tomorrow Box.
After Janet Amos left as artistic
director in the late 1990s, Chislett
became the first playwright to take
on the job. Now in her fifth season
she has diligently strived to not just
mount quality Canadian works, but
to increase play development.
"My ambition when I took over
was to have enough shows in play
development that I would have all
kinds of choices," says Chislett. "I'm
not quite there yet, but it's
happening."
With The Outdoor Donnellys,
while the play was not exactly
workshopped at Blyth, it, being one
of Paul Thompson's collectives,
spent most of its first season in the
development stages. Chislett in
speaking of Thompson's unique
theatricality says it has "created a
home here consistent with this kind
of production."
To keep the flow, the next play
after the collective will be the actual
opener for the mainstage. For this
Chislett chose a story which she
believes will "please the majority of
people, including the casual theatre
goers."
"Goodbye Piccadilly has warmth
and humour, broad general appeal
and . a role for one of our favourite
people," says Chislett, speaking of
former AD and Blyth favourite
Amos.
For that 'first' play, Chislett says,
there needs to be a strong storyline.
"It needs to have real heart. I have
noticed that our audiences like to be
moved."
The play by Douglas Bowie was
one of those rare ones, says Chislett,
"that you get, you read and just say
yes. Only one or two fall into that
category. It has everything, including
a role for Janet."
Opening a week later is what
Chislett calls the Canadian classic.
"This is something we have always
done, plays that are not created here,
but we have finally given it a turn."
The Canadian classic started with
Anne and continued through to last
year's Cruel Tears. Saying that the
government talks about creating a
Canadian canon of theatrical work,
Chislett says many productions are
not being revived. "They are genuine
classics, worthy of a remount," she
says.
This year's offering is Filthy Rich
by George F. Walker. "It's for the
segment of the audience who likes
something different," says Chislett,
explaining that while people who
prefer plays that offer something
new and exciting, aren't the largest
part of the audience, Filthy Rich has
comedy which should appeal to the
more mainstream as well.
The show, Chislett describes as
being very sophisticated and
extremely funny, and refers to
Walker as one of her favourite
playwrights. Though his work has
never before been on the Blyth stage,
Chislett has seen it performed on
stages in Victoria and Winnipeg.
LindL Moore, who directed the latter
production is calling the shots for the
Blyth production.
The show turns the mystery genre
"on its ear', Chislett says, adding
that Walker brings a search for
innocence in a corrupt world.
"It's enormous fun. I don't think
I've ever laughed as much in my
whole life," she says.
To keep rhythm in a season, it's
important to anchor it with the
stalwart, the familiar. Popular
performer Ted Johns, along with his
wife Amos, are back to give voice to
the mandate of the region, says
Chiilett. Bamboozled: He Won't
Come in From the Barn, Part II,
offers a different take than it
predecessor, however.
"He Won't Come In From The
Barn, was a fabulous hit that comes
out of a 28-year history of doing
shows with a rural background. We
have since talked about doing shows
on how agriculture has changed and
Ted has done this with hilarious
results."C-' -
"The audience can look at the
comic' side of serious issues that
have relevance, but show that joyful
side. These types of shows mean so
much to our local audience but they
appeal as well to those from the city.
That communion is -what's special
about Blyth."
Continued on page 4
And Canada s o es
Play with..
oodbye, Piccadilly
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