The Citizen, 2004-06-16, Page 13Canytatutatiatta as
30 (feat& of aucceaa!
DanIca & staff invite you to
choose from our large
selection of fine giftware!
-:-Home Decor
-:-Candles -:-Frames
-:-Chocolates
-:-Trunks
-:-And much more!
Choose from the area's largest
selection of greeting cards.
Nifty Korners
33 Main St. Seaforth 527-1680
RadioShack
Your Lottery Headquarters!
We're Open
Monday - Friday 9-8,
Saturday 9-8, Sunday 11-5
CONGRATULATIONS BLYTH FESTIVAL
on your 30th season
le e o ilte, 700.a(do,o 11i VAnda
WeeedfAted. *Me
Discover the magic of
Oyth Astival this
summer!
Enjoy a nature walk along the Blyth
Brook Community Greenway Trail
or stroll along the Maitland River,
on the community trail in Wingham
Visit North Huron & Area's Historical Museum
and the CKNX Barn Dance Museum
Josephine Street, Wingham
Coming Events:
( Ontario Open Country Music
Singing Competition
June 24-27, 2004
Wingham; Ontario
For info call Jack Gillespie
519-357-1310
Auburn 150th
Celebration
July 30-August 1, 2004
For info call 519-526-7217
Mon.-Fri. 9 ,91-n - 4:30 pm
www.aubiftn1 50th.ca
Wingham
Homecoming
2004
June 30,-
July 4, 2004 Huron Pioneer Thresher & Hobby
win9harn2004 Association Annual Reunion Association Annual
Kennel Club
Obedience Trials
July 6-July 8, 2004
Blyth Recreation Park
September 10-12, 2004
Blyth, Ontario
For info call Marian Hallahan
519-523-9330
Thanks for the memories Blyth estival!
BLYTH FESTIVAL SALUTE, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16, 2004. PAGE 13.
Carley turns fascination into radio series
DAVE CARLEY
Radio play makes stage debut
at Blyth Festival
By Sarah Mann
Citizen staff`
Dave Carley's play Test Drive is
unlike most.
Originally aired as a series on
CBC radio, the play is making its
stage debut at the Blyth Festival this
summer.
The story follows American
Motors dealer Earl Hughes.
beginning in the 1950s and ending in
the present. but it makes lots of "pit
stops" along the way. Carley says
Hughes thinks he is ordinary but he's
not.
"He's extraordinary and, in that
way. he's like all of us." .
Carley has always had a
fascination with the car business.
"partly because I love cars and also
because so much of what has
Blyth Festival supporters will be
given the opportunity to have their
response to a live radio play heard
across Canada when CBC Radio
One broadcasts The Train as part of'
the Festival's 30th anniversary
celebration, Sunday, July 25.
Directed by Eric Coates, the
Festival's artistic director, The Train
will have a live performance on the
Festival stage.
Written by Shena Wilson. the
Festival's playwright-in-residence,
The Train has been adapted from her
original one-act stage play. Along
with the actors, a sound technician
happened in the industry over the
years has paralleled the changes in
North American society."
A reading -of Test Drive in Blyth
last summer garnered a good
response and it will open on August
I I.
Carley is "very happy that [Test
Drive] is having a 'later life'. The
problem with having a play on radio
is that it plays for an hour and then it
is gone forever. With stage. there are
extra performances."
"And it's going to be fun to add the
visuals." he adds.
Carleyhasn't always written plays.
Born in Peterborough in 1955.
Carley graduated from the University
of Toronto with a General B.A..
having studied history, geography,
political science and English. No
drama. Ending his years there with a
"surprisingly" high LSAT score,
Carley went to law school at Queen's
University.
He graduated from there in 1979
and started articling back in his
hometown. There was much about
the practice of law that he found
enjoyable but he didn't enjoy being
in the courtroom. In between articles
and the Bar Admission course,
Carley had a few months off and a
friend asked him to work as a
reporter at the Kawartha Sun. a
regional weekly. He had written for a
newspaper before though. In the
biography on his website it says as a
child Carley published a newspaper
called The Carley Gazette.
Carley says writing for a
newspaper made him realize, "there
are no boring people in this world -
will help bring to life a story of
romantic tensions in the first-class
compartment of a VIA Rail car
travelling to Toronto from Montreal.
Among the passengers are Denis
and Alice who have been married for
years and seem to have a happy
marriage but who, through a late
reservation. are not able to sit
together. Also aboard is Meg, a
beautiful young massage therapist.
distraught by the absence of her
boyfriend who seems to have
conveniently missed the train.
Meanwhile Robert keeps the
refreshments and the romance alive.
only boring reporting."
"I learned how to seek out the
fascinating stuff that lurks under
people's 'normal' facades," Carley
said. "On a practical level, working
at a newspaper forever cures you of
writer's block. I've never had it since•
because, if I missed my deadlines at
the paper there would have been no
newspaper, and no job."
According to Carley's website
biography, his motivation to write his
first play was the prize — it exactly
matched his Visa debt. The Otonabee
Theatre Co-op was sponsoring a
playwrightng competition and
Carley wrote the first act of a play in
a weekend. In the fall of 1982, the
O.T.C. produced the play at a local
black box facility and Carley was on
to something new.
Although Carley enjoyed living in
Peterborough, he decided it was not
an ideal location to launch a career
writing plays and moved to Toronto
in 1983.
Carley worked at the Playwrights'
Union of Canada as the editor. He
was responsible for their play
publishing program and catalogues
and was the founding editor of
CanPlay. an essential source of
information for the Canadian
Playwrighting Community.
He went on to CBC radio in 1990
and was responsible for the daily
dramas on Morningside - before
moving to Stereodranza, Sunday
Showcase. MOnday Night Playhouse
and Monday PlayBill. Carley still
works part-time at CBC as an editor,
taking pleasure in encouraging new
writers to venture into that medium.
The Train will be broadcast on
CBC Showcase. It will be performed
live at 9:30 p.m. on the Festival
stage. For tickets, contact the
Festival box office.
Carley loves v,orking with other
writers and he value!, the mentorship
aspect of writing. .
"I find it so interesting to see what
is going on in their heads, the stories
they want to tell and how they want
to tell them. if I can.help them birth
their stories, I feel a great sense of
satisfaction. I was encouraged by a
number of writers when I was
starting out, first and foremost being
Margaret Laurence, and I have never
forgotten what a boost that kind of
positive feedback game me," Carley
said.
"I'm obviously not nearly of the
stature of Ms. Laurence, but if I can
give another. writer a boost, even a
fleeting one, then I consider the torch
to be passed along."
Carley is no stranger to the Blyth
Festival. Big Box, his satire on mega-
retailers, was directed by James Roy
in 1999.
Carley believes the reason the
Blyth Festival has been successful is
because it tells stories that resonate
with the citizens of the area.
• "You don't get the feeling that the
festival is giving you artistic
medicine. 'Oh, this play will be good
for you. Pay for your ticket, sit down,
shut up and listen' That doesn't
happen at Blyth, ever. People are
encouraged to take part in the
festival." says Carley.
"One example is the summer series
of readings they have of plays in
development. Anyone can come and
give their opinion afterwards, and
believe me, the audience is listened
to."
Radio play highlight of
30th anniversary celebration
iteat Wi6fieo, to the
2e4tfi ge4tioat
an *au.* 30th Seacidan *
199 Josephine
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