The Citizen-Blyth Festival 2002, 2002-06-05, Page 69-111-1 -5 Allele 4,,More
(519) 357-4390
55 Josephine St.
Wingham, Ont. NOG 2'N 0
go.*
Ettewarte"
• Create Your Own Gift Basket
• Specialty Food, Mill Creek Chocolates
• Blue Mountain Greeting Cards, Crabtree & Evelyn
• Prints, candles, home decor items, lamps, tables
• All Occasion Giftware
• And much, much more
Q) 1 /43'
Wingham Shopping Plaza,
Wingham 357-4390 •
WE ARE PROUD TO SUPPORT THE BLYTH FESTIVAL
Before You Bu , Give 11/1cCutcheon's a Tr I
2001CHEV IMPALA - V6, auto, air, loaded, white, 23,000 kms $22,950 2000 CHEV SILVERADO - 4. auto, air, tilt, chrome wheels
2000 PONTIAC SUNFIRE SE 04qpi., auto, air, CD, keyless entry deep green met, matching_ top 000 kms., bal of fac. wan'. $19,950
deep green met., 86,000 kms, 91M $11,950 1999 CHEV S10 EXT. SPOR SIDE S- Fully loaded, V6, auto, incl. CD,
2000 OLDS INTRIGUE GX - Fully loaded, 4 dr. economical V6, cassette, p.w, .pdf., light pewter met., only 84,000 kms $18,950
deep forest green met., only 57,000 km, bal.of fac. warranty $19,950 1999 CHEV SILVERADO EXT. CAB LS - Fully loaded, 1 owner,
2000 PONTIAC GRAND PRIX GTP - Fully loaded incl. leather & sunroof, 12 pack 3 dr., spotless white, 110,000 km, Vortec 4.8 V8. Reduced to $21,950
CD & cass., heads-up display, spotless black, like new condition $21,950 1999 CHEV SILVERADO - Vortec V8, auto, air, tilt,
1999 CHEV MALIBU - 4 dr., economical 4 cyl, auto, air, tilt, cass, AM/FM stereo, 1 owner, pewter, only 77,000 kms
1 owner, only 60,000 km, sand metallic. $12,950 1999 CHEV SILVERADO LS - Fully loaded, 1 owner, 2 tone
1999 PONTIAC GRAND PRIX GT - Fully loaded, 4 dr., incl. Heads-up, leather deep green and gold, 75,000 kms.
$20,950 1999 GMC SIERRA SL - Vortec V6, auto, AM/FM stereo,
bright red, 1 owner, boxliner
$15,450 1999 DODGE CARAVAN - Fully loaded, 4 dr., platinum edition,
only 94,000 km, keyless entry, lots of warrant.
$14,950 1998 CHEV CHEYENNE - Economical V6, auto, 1 owner,
excellent condition, only 60,000 km, medium blue metallic.
1998 FORD WINDSTAR - 3 doors, 4 captain chairs, 7 passenger,
fully loaded, sand drift_paint, 210 choose from $15,950
1998 CHEV VENTURE EXT. - Fully loaded, 4 dr., including 2 factory
child seats, 1 owner, sand drift met, 129,000 km. Reduced to $15,950
1997 GMC SONOMA SL - Economical 4 cyl., 5 spd., long box,
alum. wheels, excellent condition! White. $10,950
8,950 1997 CHEV CHEYENNE - Vortec V8, air, cruise, tilt, PDL,
one owner blue, boxliner, only 73,000 km. $14,950
6,950 1997 CHEV SILVERADO EXT CAB - Fully loaded, 1 owner, 2 tone green/gold,
5.0L, Vortec, V8, topper, only 92,000 km, like new condition. $19,950
9,950 1997 CHEV VENTURE LS -1 owner, 7 passenger, extended,
fully loaded, 1 child seat 4 doors, only 122,000 km, white $12,950
7,450 1997 CHEV CHEYENN EXTRA CAB- Vortec 305 V8, air, cruise,
tilt, cass., 2 tone blue/sand, 117,000 kms Reduced to $15,950
5,950 1996 GMC SL - Reg cab, economical Vortec V6, auto, air,boxliner,
running boards_, light blue metallic, spotless, 121,000 kms $12,950
7,450 1996 FORD AEROSTAR XLT EXT ALL WHEEL DRIVE,fully loaded,
V6, deep blue_, like new condition, 95,000 kms $ 9,950
5,950 1996 CHEV PICK UP-1 owner, deep green metallic, excellent condition,
132,000 km, V_ _6, auto, air, cassette, aluminum wheels, boxliner $12,950
9,450 1995 GMC SAFARI SLE - ALL WHEEL DRIVE, fully loaded luxury
including rear air, 143,000 km, blue metallic Reduced to $10,950
8,950 1995 GMC SLE 1 TON- 350 V8, auto, air, fully loaded
incl. fiberglass. step boards,light blue met. Reduced to $12,950
5,950 1994 GMC SIERRA SL 4X4 -5.0 L V8, auto, air, blue, like new cond. $11,900
1994 DODGE GRAND CARAVAN $E EXT.- Economical, 3.3 V6,
4,950 fully loaded spotless, white, lots of life left in this one. Reduced to $ 6,950
1994 CHEF CHEYENNE 3/4 TON- 350 V8, auto, air,
$ 5,450 white/blue interior, ready for towing, very good cond. Reduced to $10,950
1992 FORD EXPLORER XLT 4X4- 4 dr., fully loaded, leather & sunroof,
$ 6,950 sport bucket seats, blue/silver, excellent condition. Reduced to $ 9,950
1991 GMC SIERRA SL 4 X 4 - Small V8, auto, AM/FM,
deep burgundy, in excellent condition $ 7,950
See us for New or Used. We sell for less! See us for New or Used. We sell for less!
cr)
C)
owc
to
(.)
in
17;
cc°
CD
w
O
U)
a)
0)
Cu°
rn
C)
C)
CL
.50
C
$3;
O
44.7
CC) 0
and sunroof, spotless silver, 52,000 km, bal. of fac. wary.
1999 PONTIAC GRAND AM SE - Fully loaded, 4 dr., V6,
gold metallic, only 78,000 km, spoiler
1999 PONTIAC GRAND AM SE - Fully loaded, V6, 4 dr.,
mauve metallic paint, 104,000 km, incl spoiler
1999 PONTIAC GRAND AM SE - V6, air, 4 dr, auto, power locks,
cassette, black, fog lamps, 114,000 kms $13,950
1998 SATURN SL1 - One owner, 4 dr., auto, air, 4 cylinder, pearl grey,
only 96,000 km, excellent condition, AM/FM cassette $ 9,950
1998 CHEV LUMINA LS - Fully loaded, 4 dr., economical V6,
spotless white, 78,000 kms., AM/FM cassette $13,950
1997 DODGE STRATUS -4 dr.auto,air, fully loaded,
economical 4cyl., med. green metallic Reduced to $
1997 CHRYSLER LHS - Fully loaded luxury, Only 76,000 km,
deep amethyst paint like new cond., leather, economical 3.5 V6 $1
1996 CHEV BERETTA Z26 - Fully loaded, sporty 2 dr., V6 auto,
alum. wheels, spoiler, only 120,000 kms
1995 CHEV LUMINA -V6, auto., air, loaded,
silver, 181,000km, very good condition
1994 CHEV CAVALIER - 4 dr., 4 cyl., auto, air, 1 careful owner,
light blue met., only 62,000 kms.
1994 FORD TAURUS GL Fully loaded, 4 dr.,3.8 L V6,
deep green metallic, 150,000 km, 2yr warranty on motor
1994 MERCURY TOPAZ GS SPORT- 2 dr., auto, air,alum. wheels,
economical 4cyl., white, excellent condition.
1994 OLDS 88 ROYALE- Fully loaded, economical 3.8 V6,
keyless entry, Teal, excellent condition, power seat, 154,000km. $
1993 BUICK PARK AVE - Fully loaded, luxury economical 3.8L V6,
spotless deep blue metallic, excellent condition. $
1993 CHEV LUMINA - Fully loaded, V6, burgundy, air, cass.,
excellent condition, great fuel economy. Reduced to $
1993 FORD ESCORT LX WAGON- Economical 4 cyl. auto, air, cass.
in very good condition, white, higher km, certified & warranty $
1992 CHEV CORSICA LT - 4 dr., economical V6,
auto, air, 192,000 km.
1992 OLDS 98 - Fully loaded,economical V6, luxury, black/silver,
like new condition.
All certified cars & trucks include a minimum
of 7 months /11,000 km. warranty including roadside assistance.
No Drip OH Coating from $69.5° 1988 CHEV S VERADO EXT. - Long box, auto, air. p.w., p.d.I., cass.,
Collision & Body Shop Service. We also do Windshield Replacements 2 tone brown/sand. Excellent condition. $ 5,950
$18,950
$19,950
$17,950
$16,950
$15,950
CZ)
Oldsmobile J.L. McCUTCHEON
Downtown BRUSSELS 887-6856 or 1-888-351-9193
MEM'
CHEVROLET
0
CD
CD
0
0
tD
3i1
CD
5
tD
co
co
O O
tD
CD
O
5.17
O
cD
-12
tD
Cl)
tD
to
co
PAGE 6. BLYTH FESTIVAL SALUTE, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2002.
Collective creation begins with actors in a bare room
By Keith Roulston
Citizen staff
The Blyth Festival has become
known as a writers' theatre but some
of its most popular productions have
been created without the instigation
of a playwright at all. Instead the
plays are created through the
research and improvisation of the
actors, led by the director. The most
outstanding examples in recent years
have been The Outdoor Donnellys
and Death of the Hired Man.
The success of those latter
productions (both sold out in their
preiniere season and were brought
back by popular demand) is'clue in no
small part to the presence at the
Festival of Canada's most
experienced hand at the collective
process.
Listowel-native Paul Thompson
first came to national and
international prominence after he
brought a handful of actors to a
Clinton-area farm in 1972 and set
them to talking to their neighbours to
research material for a show about
farming.
The collective process begins by
taking a group of actors and putting
them to work in a bare room and
surrounding them with research
material or basic elements of the
theme you want to approach,
Thompson says. "You have actors
who are willing or able or skilled at
evoking things - pulling it out of the
sky and starting to improvise on
these themes. There are no ground
rules to start with." Actors are
Paul Thompson on the
stagecoach from Donnellys.
allowed to try anything that interests
them about the theme in question and
see where it takes them.
That hardy group of actors who
lived in an old farmhouse near
Clinton in 1972 included some
names that went on to be among the
most illustrious names in Canadian
theatre: Janet Amos, Anne Anglin,
David Fox, and Miles Potter among
them.
In recent years working at the
Festival, his most frequent home
these days, Thompson has modified
the collective process. "With Death
of the Hired Man, somehow people
began to realize that there was a
series of processes involved: that you
could (collectively work) for a
couple of weeks, then let it sit and
come back and spend another couple
of weeks shaping and then finally
finding the overall shape, then
rehearsing."
The change was made possible by
the recognition of the changing
process by the Festival management
in setting up a financial framework
that allowed the prolonged
development process. This system of
phases has allowed Thompson to pull
in some of this original actors who
developed skills at the collective
process. David Fox, so busy with
other projects in both theatre and
television, was able to be involved in
the first phase workshops of Death of
the Hired Man and a day here and
there in the early development of The
Outdoor Donnellys. Other veterans
like John Jarvis and Ted Johns have
also taken part in the development
process.
What's interesting, Thompson
says, is that a new generation of
actors like Sean Dixon, Eric Coates
and Kelly McIntosh, (all in The
Outdoor Donnellys) have been able
to learn from the techniques of the
masters and not have to start at the
beginning to learn the process of
collective creation.
Also changing the process has-
been the presence of writer Jonathan
Garfinkel and "his handy little
laptop" computer who is able to filter
the improvisations of the actors into
"theatre-worthy" material. "Then the
actors are able. to take a quick look at
that, hang onto some of the material
and build onto it - throw all the stuff
away that's not working."
"In a way what the audience has
been seeing for a while here (at
Blyth) is a kind of hybrid of the
original process."
This new process allows
Thompson and his actors to explore
different sorts of style, such as the
"nightmare sequence" in Death of
the Hired Man or the different styles
in different vignettes in The Outdoor
Donnellys. The process and the
diverse settings of the vignettes
allows a lyrical piece like McIntosh's
monologue about Bridget Donnelly's
dream, to be included when there
would be no room for it in the regular
arc of a collective, he says.
Also altering the process has been
the integration of music into The
Outdoor Donnellys, and previously
in Death of the Hired Man where a
soundscape was created, Thompson
says. "This particular group of actors
was able to carry the dramatic and
the lyric in music almost
simultaneously."
Even Anne Lederman, a brilliant
fiddler and composer, fits in both
dramatically and musically, he says,
not seeming like a musician standing
around waiting for the next musical
number. "It's practically impossible
to divide when you're in a musical
context and when you're in a
dramatic one." Yet it's not musical
theatre, he says. "It's still theatre
with music."
Outdoor show increases
audience's vulnerability
Continued from page 5
"During the early Donnelly story, the very energy that was
necessary to clear the land, became the kind of energy that was
aimed at feuds. We still have that potential energy out in this
place and there is a potential vulnerability." For that reason,
Thompson thinks people identify with the possibility of their
houses being surrounded by violent forces.
Thompson says he wanted to tackle the story again because
he liked the idea of involving the entire village of Blyth in the
telling of the story. That creates a different way of looking at the
story. The feuds over stagecoach lines and other business
disputes can be an example of the development of the small
urban towns and villages from out of the farmland, he says. It
was the growth of these urban centres that allowed the Donnelly
sons to find jobs off the farm and brought them into comflict
with other business people.
Taking the show outdoors where the finale is played in front
of a grandstand was the only way of making use of real live
horses in telling the story of the stage coach feud, he says, and
really taking use of fire as far as it could be taken in telling the
fiery end of the Donnelly tragedy.
The show was aided by the expansion of the Blyth
fairgrounds carried out by the Huron Pioneer Thresher and
Hobby Association, he says, and the setting with trees in the
background of the open-air stage creates an atmosphere which
helps evoke that feeling of vulnerbility in the audience, he says.
The story begins in twilight and the forces of fear and anger
grow as the light fades so that by the violent end of the story,
audience members .are in the dark among the forces of nature.
"By the end . . . even though you are among 350-400 people,
there's the capacity for being alone and isolated." He adds with
a chuckle that when a storm blows up as it did several times in
last year's run, the sense of menace grows.
One of the tasks in remounting the show this year has been to
create a "rain version" of the show that will be different enough
that people will feel it was something not to ber missed, not a
poor version of what would have been seen outdoors if the
weather had co-operated.
The different locations of the vignettes allow different styles
of work to be included within the greater work of The Outdoor
Donnellys, Thompson says. The blacksmith shop scene uses a
very naturalistic style while Bridget Donnelly's dream is very
lyrical. The "Abduction of Maggie" vignette is more stylized,
set up almost like a movie set with snow falling down.
He likes the trial scene, developed by Janet Amos and
performed by community members, for "implicating" the
audience in the trial proceedings because of the intimacy of the
setting.