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The Citizen-Blyth Festival 2002, 2002-06-05, Page 14toast of continent Find the very best in books\ Peaturin THE DONNELLY ALBUM The fascinating Donnelly family legend will be explored again this summer at the Blyth Festival. Learn more about the story. $19.95 One of the many great books on display at The Citizen Blyth 523-4792 eiv Grand View Restaurant Owned & operated by Randy & Eleanor Babcock along with daughters Kim & Kerry, since February 15, 1986. Well known for good coffee and delicious homemade pies and cheesecakes made by Eleanor and her parents in the restaurant kitchen. Daily specials include a choice of large or small portions, (You'll want to save room for dessert). Fast, friendly service. Eat in or take out. Open 7 days a week. Mon. - Sat. 5 a.m. - 8 p.m. & Sun. 7 a.m. - 8 p.m. 523-4471 Corner of London Rd. and Blyth Rd., 39977 Blyth Rd., Blyth • Computers • Printers • Scanners • Software • Digital Cameras • Cell Phones • Stationery • Office Supplies • Cards & Gift Wrap invites you to our 2002 Racing Season! EVERY SUNDAY AFTERNOON ROM JUNE 9 TO SEPTEMBER 29! Post Time: 1:30 pm. Our purses for the season will be over $1,000,000! • Pari-mutuel Wagering • Concessions • Charity Barbecues • Supervised Swimming Pool • Picnic & Playground Facilities Rke Office...482-5270 join us for simulcast horse racing in the - CLINTON RACEWAY TELETHEATRES - Live racing from North America's major tracks. Pan-mowed wagering. TELETHEAT.RE WAGERING AT THESE LOCATIONS: ROYAL CANADIAN LEGION RACETRACK SLOTS BUILDING 56 Kingston St., Goderich 147 Beech St., Clinton eyond The Basics No matter what you're looking for, you'll find it all right here ___—_4111111!fr- Giftware — including glassware, dishes, collector plates & figurines, Cherished Teddies giftables, Boyds Bears, Serenity Garden Accessories, picture frames and candles Natural Springs Bottled Water & Coolers We fill CO2 bottles for paint ball guns too! cal Sears Outle OLDFIELD PRO PRO HARDWARE & RADIOSHACK Brussels 887-6851 Fax 887-9426 Check out our complete line of home appliances by Including washers, dryers, dishwashers, microwaves, fridges & stoves Home Entertainment Systems, TVs, Stereos by Panasonic, StarChoice & ExpressVu Satellite Dishes PAGE 14. BLYTH FESTIVAL SALUTE, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2002. After almost leaving theatre now Healey's By Bonnie Gropp Citizen staff By 1995 Michael Healey was considering law school. The Ryerson-educated actor was feeling somewhat discouraged' and had begun to rethink his future. Then an opportunity came to work at Blyth Festival that summer and the rest as they say is history. Besides a successful season on stage, it was that year that the idea for his highly acclaimed play The Drawer Boy was born. On stage Healey was a busy actor appearing in Jake's Place, Ballad for a Rumrunner's Daughter and He Won't Come in From the Barn. However, Healey was also nurturing another talent at the time, that of playwright. "I had already started to think of myself as an actor who might write." In fact, that summer he penned a regular column in the local newspaper about life in rural Huron for a city boy. While he had been writing for a couple of years before the 1995 season, the seed planted for The Drawer Boy had barely begun to germinate. Healey says, "I had had an idea, a vague idea, about a story of two bachelor farmers, but didn't know what I wanted to do with them." Being in Blyth changed all of that. Artistic Director Janet Amos and Miles Potter, who was directing Healey in Jake's Place, had both appeared in The Farm Show, a collective by Paul Thompson in the early 1970s, which gained respect from audiences and critics alike. "Also, if you went to the Rubber Boot, as everyone did, there were people who had seen it, others who knew about it, others who had been involved. I heard a lot about The Farm Show during that time in Blyth." From that information, Healey came up with the story of .a young actor named Miles who visits two bachelor farmers to research his role in The Farm Show. He approached .Amos for commissioning money and in the summer of 1996, The Drawer Boy was workshopped in Blyth with three actors and Potter. By then Healey had written the first draft, which he admits was "pretty rough". "They read, we talked, I'd go write more and often bring back the changes before the end of the day." Meanwhile, he says, the actors would take scenes and work through any problems. "By the end of two weeks I had a good sense of what worked. There were some huge changes but at the end the play looked pretty much like it did in its premiere:' That first showing, interestingly, despite the initial commitment to the project did not happen in Blyth. Asked why, Healey offers a couple of theories. "In a lot of ways The Drawer Boy doesn't accurately reflect The Farm Show. I think in a perhaps Janet was hoping for it to be more a documentary of that. This is pure speculation, but I think it was not exactly what she was looking for." Then, shortly after Amos left the position of artistic director and Anne Chislett came on board. "As often happens when a play is commissioned under one regime it gets lost in the shuffle. Each artistic director likes to put their own stamp on things." Instead the play got its opening at Theatre Passe Muraille. Layne Coleman who was in Blyth in 1996 to workshop another play, was present for a reading of The Drawer Boy. "He liked it an awful lot and went he became interim artistic director at Theatre Passe Muraille, he took the script." Since then The Drawer Boy has been a critical success winning numerous awards, and an audience pleaser as well, being performed in theatres across the country and internationally. Healey is humble about its popularity, however, saying, "It's pure luck, the whole thing is pure luck." Saying that the four months he spent in Blyth in 1995 provided him with the time and opportunity to let The Drawer Boy come into focus, he adds, "The whole thing feels like the right time, dumb luck, a combination of both." Healey says he continues to "be surprised on a daily basis" by the play's phenomenal success. "My objective was to write a play for the Blyth Festival audiences. Then when it went to Passe Muraille I thought it would do well for its nostalgia. But I was surprised when theatres across the country picked it up and even more surprised when it was picked up by theatres around the world." With The Drawer Boy earning its own place in theatrical lore, Healey continues to create. He is writer in residence at the Tarragon Theatre and has a show opening in January. This fall, however, he will return to acting. "I'm attempting to balance the two more. Writing can be lonely. It's way more fun to be in rehearsal." One thing he isn't planning anymore — law school. The Drawer Boy runs Aug. 7 - Aug.28 Michael Healey no worry about job now.