The Citizen-Blyth Festival 2002, 2002-06-05, Page 15BLYTH FESTIVAL SALUTE, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2002. PAGE 15.
Jerry Franken takes on different role in Drawer Boy
INVEST IN YOURSELF
BECAUSE YOU'RE
WORTH IT!
By Bonnie Gropp
Citizen staff
Talking with Jerry Franken,
sincere, accessible and genial are
words which come to mind.
It is perhaps these attributes, even
more than his admirable acting
abilities, which have endeared him
to Blyth Festival audiences.
Franken has been a stalwart of the
Festival, a charming everyman,
whose performances have warmth,
and whose gentle manner has gained
him a popularity and respect with
co-workers and community people.
He first came to Blyth when
Katherine Kaszas was artistic
director and returned every season
thereafter through the leadership of
Peter Smith, Janet Amos and the
arrival of current AD Anne Chislett.
"It has been an interesting
experience to see and watch over the
years the different approaches of the
artistic directors here."
He has been with the Festival
through good times and bad. "At the
time of my first season, Blyth was
enjoying quite a boom," says the
Stratford resident. "I believe they
were one of the only theatres in the
province to be in the black."
Franken then recalls lean years
and the Festival's return to more
solid financial footing. Getting even
stronger is its play development says
Franken. "This is why Blyth has
been able to attract talent to such a
small venue," says Franken, adding
that while cutbacks in government
funding have made it difficult to
bring people in from outside
Ontario, the strength of the talent has
remained constant.
Being part of all that has happened
in Blyth since the early 1990s has
been, says Franken, "exhilarating".
Despite his strong ties here,
however, an opportunity came two
years ago, when he was invited to be
part of the Stratford Festival
company. He stayed for two seasons.
This year it is much to the delight
of staffers and theatre-goers, that
he's once again on the Blyth stage.
And Franken too is "very glad to be
back."
Though he continued to be the
theatre's honorary artist during his
time at Stratford, Franken missed the
hands-on approach of the smaller
summer festival, where actors work
with writers to develop projects. "I
have had a long association with this
place, it's been like a second home to
me. While I enjoyed my time "at
Stratford it's a different experience.
Blyth has more heart."
Recognizing the strengths, the
essences of theatres is something
Franken should be getting quite
good at. As one of the original cast
of Michael Healey's hugely popular
The Drawer Boy, which returns to
Blyth this season, Franken has
appeared in some of the biggest
venues across Canada.
This story begins several years
ago, in Blyth, of course, where
Healey began writing the play and
where it was workshopped. The role
of Morgan he had created
specifically with Franken in mind.
However, though the actor sat in on
a reading of the play, his schedule
never actually permitted him to be
involved.
Then when Layne Coleman,
artistic director of Theatre Passe
Muraille in Toronto decided to do a
production of the play, his first
choice for Morgan was Franken. "He
asked and I said, 'Oh, yes.— said
Franken.
The play ran through the spring of
The Drawer Boy
has been quite a
ride for Franken
1999, then Franken returned for
another run of several weeks before
beginning his season at Stratford.
Later, The Drawer Boy's success
continued to mount with a Blyth
production, starring Coleman as
Morgan and John Blackwood as
Angus.
Tapped by the Mervish
Corporation, The Drawer Boy, with
Franken again in the role of Morgan
began the first leg of a tour through
Manitoba, northern Ontario and
back to Manitoba, before coming
back to Toronto. Having become a
phenomenal Canadian success story,
production was taken this past year
to Hamilton, the National Arts
Centre, Vancouver, and finished in
Edmonton.
Asked if the play's success came
as a surprise, Franken says not
really, but admits that such a
tremendous reaction was a bit
unexpected. "I've liked the play
since I first read it. It's exhilarating
to see what's happened. Going
across the country with it has been a
thrilling experience."
What Franken really enjoyed was
his long association with the play,
something which he describes as "a
unique experience in Canadian
theatre."
"I think what was really important
was to be with the play so long. You
have absolute trust with the people
you're working with. In Canadian
theatre you don't often get that
chance, to know a play so well. 'I
think that's part of the reason why
the production came to be wanted so
much."
So this season Franken finds
himself once again with the familiar.
However, with Coleman tapped to
reprise his role of Morgan at Blyth,
Franken is taking on the part of
Angus.
"I wanted to do Filthy Rich,
because I had never done a (George)
Walker play before, so the only other
play I could be in at the Festival was
Drawer Boy."
The challenges for Franken with
this are two-fold. "First there's the
role challenge, because the man has
brain damage, then gets a little back
as the story progresses. It's an
interesting journey."
The other challenge will he in the
fact that he is so familiar with the
play. "I have been involved with the
production so long. Now it will be
with different directors, different
actors, different ideas."
Franken believes however, that
this challenge is one which will
actually be made easier because of
playing a different role.
He will also be continuing a
familiar role in Blyth — that of
honorary artist. In this Franken
works as a sounding board for ideas.
"Basically I give my opinion.
Sometimes my advice is taken,
sometimes it's not."
Either way is fine with Franken.
"Blyth has been such a leader in
establishing and creating new work
that I'm honoured to be asked for my
opinion. It makes me feel part of this
Festival."
For a review of
The Drawer Boy after
its opening try the
website
www.northhuron.on.ea
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