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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1978-05-11, Page 23Summerhouse One project takin BY JOANNE WALTERS Summer theatre is really- going to come alive in Goderich and area this summer with the help of seven in- dustrious, enthusiastic students and a Young Canada Works grant worth $8,104. There's a lot more to theatre than meets the audience's eyes. Philip McMillan, dramatic arts and English teacher at G.D.C.I. and sponsor for the Young Canada Works grant, says the main fault of many theatre arts programs is that they just concentrate on the performers while there are so many other aspects of theatre to study such as design, script writing, directing, lighting, management and make-up to name just a few. The Young Canada Works grant which comes through the Job Creation Branch of Canada Manpower will allow seven students to be hired full-time for eight weeks to work on the theatre project beginning the first week in July and ending the second last week -in August. THREE DIRECTIONS The project, entitled Summerhouse One, will take on three, differefit directions simultaneously. The first direction will involve touring and serves a double purpose in that it will cater to both children and senior citizens. The group will pull out different scenes from various children's plays and put them all together in one show with an overall theme. The touring is still not com- pletely finalized, says McMillan, but Grade 13 student and program co- G.D.C.I. dramatic arts and English teacher, Philip McMillan, points to the theatre career board which he has, set up in his portable classroom at the high school. The trouble with many theatre• arts courses, he says, is that they con- centrate only on performing when there are many other aspects of theatre as well. Mr. McMillan is the sponsor of a Young Canada Works grant which -will enable seven students to study all aspects of theatre this summer with a project called Summerhouse One. The project will involve touring, workshops and per- forming. (Photo by Joanne Walters) ordinatir, Leslie Hogan, has gone through the school systems, written to various playgrounds, parks, camps and day care centres telling them of the children's touring show which the group will have to offer. A hay wagon has been purchased for the touring which will take on a minstrel pageant style as it is pulled around the cdinty and sometimes outside the county as a portable stage. The hay wagon has yet to be repaired by the students who will build a frame for it. Curtains will also be made for this float - like stage and detachable letters which can be hung on the curtain will spell out the names of the different shows. Props for the shows will be carried on the wagon and it will be pulled by a- car or van. The shows will be almost repertoire style, says McMillan, with different scenes put together each time. The students will act as a company and there will be no star system. Each student will get a turn at acting, directing, designing, etc. in order to learn all aspects of theatre. The touring shows, as mentioned, will also encompass senior citizens homes too-: The students will put together dif- ferent typesof shows they hope the seniors will enjoy. Many of th se shows will be *partially participatdry, says McMillan. 'The many senior citizens homes which have been written to concerning the touring show have shown positive responses, he says. The second direction that project Summerhouse One will take on is in the form of workshops. These workshops will be held once a week at G.D.C.I. The students involved in the project will teach these workshops and each one will have a different theme such as puppetry, dance, script writing and •make-up. Some of the workshops will be designed for children and others will be designed the shape for teenagers. The workshops will be advertised and will be offered free on a first come first serve basis. The third direction of Summerhouse One will involve, he performance of a full length play at the end of the sum- mer. Throughout the summer, the students will be selecting, dsigning, casting and rehearsing for this play taking in all aspects of production. The play will be open to the public and will be performed in the west gymnasium of G.D.C.I. for t 6 or three nights depending on audience response, says McM illan. Mr. McMillan had been trying to get the students to apply for the Young Canada Works grant on their own. Many students have wonderful ideas, he says, but they are scared off by the red tape of applying for grants. So this year, he sponsored the grant himself at the urging of Leslie Hogan. Having worked on other such grant projects, he knew how to adapt the program to make it fit to the Young Canada Works requirements. He is hoping that the town will get more such grants, perhaps in art and music, in the future. He feels that such grants and programs are needed here. He said he sympathizes with students who have dull summers working at something they don't necessarily enjoy. MORE THAN MONEY The Young Canada Works grant will allow each of the seven students in- volved to be paid $108 a week and they'll really earn this money, says MtMillan. It's not top rate pay but the students will Turn to page 12A • GLT offers workshops Goderich Little Theatre is hosting three theatre workshops during this month and next month which should prove most beneficial to anyone in- terested in taking part. All three workshops involve experts or ,resource people as instructors. The services of these resource people was made possible through Theatre Ontario's Community Theatre Training Program funded by the Ontario Arts Council. The first session will be a lighting workshop with David Blaney as the resource person. This workshop will be held in MacKay Hall on Sunday, May 21 from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Makeup, including wigs and beards, will be .the_ subject of the second in- teresting workshop with Clayton Shields of the Stratford Festival as the resource person. This workshop will be held in e MacKay Hall on Sunday, May 28 tom 9:30 a.m. to5p.m. A directors' workshop will be held on Saturday and Sunday, June 10 and 11 beginning at 9:30 a.m. in MacKay Hall. David Fanstone will be the resource person at this workshop for those in- terested in theatre directing, GLT past president, Jennifer Black, has worked for about a year organizing the workshop program. It is open to the public and offers an excellent op- portunity to learn more about all aspects of the theatre. In order to participate inthe workshops, forward $2, stating your name and which workshop you wish to attend to Box 531, Goderich Little Theatre, Goderich. For any further information regarding the workshops, call Jennifer Black at 524-8154. ich NAL P LESLIE HOGAN, ROGRAM CO-ORDINATOR 1.31 YEAR -19 THURSDAY, MAY lij; 1978 SECOND SECTION Earn X1,600 for cancer Forty-four riders participated in the Goderich Great Ride for Cancer, Sunday and raised over $1,600 for cancer research. The ride was spon- sored by the Huron County Unit of the Canadian Cancer Society and campaign co-chairmen, Ross McDaniel and Jim Remington were aided by the Goderich Kinsmen and Kinette Clubs. The riders assembled at Suncoast Mall and took off in single file on a 15 km. trek through tottrn. Even the youngsters were able to take part in the ride and Erin Purser, (centre) rode with her mother Gail Purser and at the end of the long ride, Alecia Hamilton, 2, enjoys a cookie with her mother, Cathy Hamilton. (photos by Dave Sykes)