The Goderich Signal-Star, 1976-12-02, Page 11•
GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, THURSDAY, DECEMBER :2, 197&
L8tt8tto the Editor Playhouse director explains concern over criticis
Dear Editor,
On October 26 of. this year,
* drama critic Doug .Bale of the
London Free Press reviewed
the first performance of the
Huron Country • Playhouse..._.,.
Young Players production of
THE HIDE-AND-SEEK
ODYSSEY QF 1ViADELINE
GIMBLE. • •
More than simply .an
unkind review of the
production, Mr. Bale's article
w�,as.. a scathing attack on the
"'layhouse and its five-year
histdry.
The Playhouse Board of
Trustees responded with ;an
appeal to. The Ontario Press
Council. Many of the area's
.newspapers ' carried . the
Board's letter, as well as . w
editorials 'supporting the
Playhouse. The Free Press -
'Letter to the Editor' section
carried one or two -letters
from outraged readers -.l
almost every day.
Dozens of messages of
support have been received
by the • Playhouse from
teachers, students,members
and supporters, and from
people who have simply
enjoyed Playhouse
productions in pastseasonS.
On November 12,
Playhouse Board Chairman
William Cochrane, Q.C.; and
two of the Playhouse Trustees
met with Mr. William Heine,
Free Press Editor,. for,'a
thorough review of he
situation.. Public reaction
continued to mount.
Recently, Doug Bale invited
Managing Director James
Murphy for a .meeting .which
Playhouse, • officials hoped
would clear the air.
When Mr. 'Bale's ' second
article appeared November
20, Mr. Murphy felt it was a
gross misrepresentation and
distortion of Playhouse ar-
tistic policy, and in many
ways, more damaging than
the original article. Mr.
Murphy has responded in the
following manner.
The really disturbing thing
about bbug Bale's vicious
attack upon the Playhouse in
tI Free Press, on October 27,
1976 (the nature of which I
believe is unprecedented in
Canadian history) is that it
has little, i anything, to do
with. dra tic criticism. But
it has a' lotto do with using
your popion in the press to ,•
advance other's causes _while
condemning ours.
Doug Bale's article•was not
so •much to keep the general.
public from our doors
(particularly as our theatre is
.closed) as it was an attempt;
to upsetour relations with
'granting agencies. Besides,
as Mr. Bale .infers., what do
the public know? :Theyonly
thought they liked our shows
for five years.
It .was completely out of
line to insult our audiences by
inferring that they do not
know their. own • tastes.
Criticism I believe is for the
enlightenment of those who'
contemplate going to theatre.
Its purpose isnot to tell '
people who have alreadygone
to the theatre how, they are
supposed to have liked it.
The trouble with all this is
that .when ' someone says
you're all bad, you tend to
r of to it by saying you're all
good. I don't want to do this
because neither is accurate.
We have made mistakes,
will no doubt make many
more, some of our shows have
missed the mark, others have
reached . extremely high.
standards. Of this I am sure,
each year we haveimproved
our . artistic • Standards and
that improvement is • ex-
pressed through the Ontario
Arts Council support of our
programs. r
I don'tthink art's subsidy
doltars have' ever been
stretched further than ours.
Our programs include five
full summer seasons for
Grand Bend, two full seasons
for Kincardine, one full
ssfison share between Owen
Sound and aford and one
full season Owen Sound,'
Medford, ergus and
Hanover, as well as'" three
annual school tours.
As I told Doug Bale, I don't
think it is generally realized
the amount • 'df
professionalism this activity
requires. It is all very well to
sit in an ivory tower and
demand excellence. The truth
is we've never had the dollars.
to put on stage that hich will
satisfy Mr. Bale's `pssion for
polish!' Probably we won't
ever have the dollars to do
that. Besides, we are a simple
and unpretentious theatre.
. There, exists an erroneous
idea that to be a good critic
one has to -be "tough" - the.
tougher he is, the better he
does his job, the more he is
like a really big city critic.
' But take it fromone who
has been reviewed by New
York's critics . this silly
notion can create, in an area
such as ours, no more than a
misguided .missile. The truth -
is the critic is only as good as
his background,
qualifications, and insight -
allow him to be. In fact, this
so. -called "toughness". is
frequently a kind of cover-up
for want of proper
qualifications, •
But some people in the role
of critic are there without
qualifications. Some get
assigned there from sports,
from the copy, -desk, or in•'
some cases from the obituary
column, etc. But since most
essentially unqualified people
approach the job with care
and caution, they often prove
constructive.
Some, • however grab the
reins of power and charge
like a bull througha china
shop: Sometimes, if both the
newspaper and'the•person it
assigns to be "critic", share a
Holmes ville ' News
By Blanche Deeves
Mrs. Barbara Betties, a 4-H
leader in the area is attending
the Royal Winter Fair., They
are staying at the Lord
Simcoe Hotel. At breakfast,
310 4-H'leaders from all
Ontario were present. There
are 16,500 4-H members in
Ontario 'and 600 leaders and
assistant leaders: `.
Guest speakers at the 4-H
meeting in. Toronto was
Margaret Woof and the Hon. •
William Newman, minister of
Agriculture and Food for
Ontario.
Mr. and. Mrs. " William
• Norman visited on Sunday
with their daughter Shirley in
Kitchener and Mr. and Mrs.
Herb King of New.Hamburg.
I did hear a bus :load of
Holstein Breeders also at-
tended the Royal Winter,Fair
on Wednesday.
.Thursday •,'evening at'-.
Holmesville school, the
Goderich Township WI held
their first card party with
Teachers
settle
nine. tables • playing euchre
and one table of crokinole.
Winners at' cards were:
men's high, Mr. B. Elliott;
ladies' high, Mrs.i ' M.
McGuire; men's low, Mr. D.
'Bland; men's lone hand, Mr.
J. Blake; ladies' lone hand,
Mrs. D. Harris.
Lunchwas served by the
ladies and a social time was
had by all. • '
Dennis and Donna Harris
had as their guests on Sunday
Mr. and Mrs. Don Harris, Mr.
and Mrs. Ivan Hoggert, Mr,
and 'Mrs, Ron Feagan, Mr.
and Mrs. Steve Carter and
Kelly, Mr., • and Mrs. Jim
Durnin and Mr. and Mrs.
Brian Durnin of London. All
were present to celebrate
Jennifer's second birthday.
Elementary school,
teachers, employed by the
Huron County Board of
Education, voted on Monday
to accept the ter`•m-s of a new
agreement hammered out
last week. The Board voted to
approve the agreement at a
special meeting on November
22.
Meeting • at the ..Clinton
Public School the teachers
voted by.. a 201 to eight margin
in favor of the proposal which
was drawn up . after lengthy
negotiations with the Board of
Education.
Contract details -are not to
be released until,. the
teachers' representatives •'
have met with the board. It is
expected that .a joint
statement will be made at,
that time.
According to a Government
Fact Finder's report released
in early November the
teachers had earlier turned
• down an offer of an average
eight per cent increase plus a
1.7 per cent cost of living
bonus. The teachers were
also unhappy over allowances
- Per principals of schools for 1
the trainable retarded and
other vice' principals as well
as some fringe benefits.
The teachers and Board
representatives: had been
negotiating since spring but
adjourned negotiations over
the summer.
FOR
DEPUTY REEVE.
O
PALMER, EII.EEIV I
YOUR SUPPORT IS RESPECTFULLY SOLICITED ON DBc.6
ANK YOU
kind of old fashioned
missionary zeal, watch out! If
the critic is .essentially un-
comfortable in the arts -. and
therefore suspicious - match
out! If the critic sees himself
as. -"big brother" watching,
watch out!
However, since some
critics will be allowed to see
their role this way, we should
insist they know what they're
watching._
Some basic homework on
the background of the play.,
the author, and artists per-
forming would' be a positive
step. Another positive. step
would be if the reviewer
would see the entire show
before writing his review:
Since one of the basic tenants
of criticism' is to "judge the
whole and not*the parts", that
basic tenant doesn't have a
chance with an early
deadline. , It critical honesty
less important than meeting a
deadline?
. Remarks such as
"Oh well,
he's just'a drama critic", and
"If he says it's bad, we go to
•see it" indicate that •the
general public and some
newspapers as well, are
apathetic a ' hell . about
standards of l.oitrnalism.
The five year struggles of
the Playhouseare now
compounded by a. reckless
and irresponsible review. The
review is not so much about
the • Playhouse really, . and
certainly not about the recent
children's production (which,
seemed only a convenient
ploy), but rather of the
Playhouse philosophy.
To be sure •a friendly
rivalry has alwayxs existed
between . theatre •companies ,
(and their ways of looking at(
things) and this is natural and
even healthy. What is not
healthy., is the advocation of
any one at. the . e,Zpense of
Bob Gibbonsleans far across the table to ask Johnny Bower for his autograph at the
Arena Roof Fund Celebrity. Dinner held eridaynight in Gt oderich, Bower joined a lineup of
sports celebritiesat the dinner that netted a little over $8,000• for the arena fund. '(staff -
photo)
p;a
•_
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another.
The Huron Country
Playhouse is, in microcosm a
victim of the same obsession
that makes people. attack the
established, the orthodox, the
popular , and the successful.
This is, I suppose, the way to
be in, the way to be with it: to.
refat the establisht nt to'
which most of us in varying
degrees and by our own
choice are ultimately bound.
A revolutionary is one
thing, a • weekend
revolutionary is quite
another. The latter carries no
real responsibility.
Criticism that •advocates
P GE :1i•
writing off .. one theatre
coriipany in the hopes of
building "a bright new
tomorrow in the ruins" is
reckless and irresponsible: It
is .why critics 'should confine
their reviews to the
production of plays.
Reviews that -advise people
whether or not to spend their
time and money to see a
'certain production are fine.
The advocation of •over-
throwing one . company ' in
favour of another should. be
ruled to be beyond the
jurisdiction of a critic of the
9fs
James Murphy
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