Grinder's Grumblings

I didn't know for the longest time what I was going to write about today. I have told all I need to about the upcoming shows here at Grinder, things are pretty quiet at the Fergus Grand these days, and my whole "Naked Theatre" concept is still off being worked on in the far recesses of my mind. Thus stumped, I decided to let this post sit for a couple days (since blogger has now introduced the scheduled post I can write these articles in advance so as to avoid missing a posting on any given day). Sure enough, today's topic has found me - me. I don't like talking much about myself on this blog. Yes, I know a blog is supposed to be a personal reflection, but we have so many great things going on at Grinder, I'd much rather talk about those, and the people who are working hard to make those things happen. I also like to inform and educate about what others have to say about theatre, hence my links to other blogs. I'd even rather talk about The Naked Thea...

Just a reminder that the second show in our Belwood Summer Theatre season opens tomorrow night at the Belwood Hall. Get your tickets now for this very funny show. You'll laugh, you'll snicker, and if you're a sucker for a happy ending you'll certainly have a good time. I don't often like to brag about shows that I'm actually in, but in this case I'll make an exception, and not just because it's my job to talk up the shows here on the blog! I really do want everyone to come out and see this one. It's been quite a stretch for me - this isn't the type of character that I normally play (and a bloody towel isn't the type of costume I normally wear). I think that we're really starting to hit our stride at the Belwood Hall - this will be show number 4 for Grinder out there, and as we continue to find more and more ways to make the most of the space I think the good thing that we've got going is just going to keep getting better and bet...

I can't say it better - actors need to get their butts off the stage and into the marketing office and the scene shop and go begging for props, then maybe they would understand that theatre doesn't exist solely for their creative indulgence. I still think we're way ahead of the curve at Grinder, but it looks like others are waking up to the new reality as well. This has lots of bearing on The Naked Theatre. Theatre Ideas: Read You Some Tony Adams

I woke up this morning to the sound of the phone ringing (never a good thing). My directors and most of the people who know me know that I'm not a morning person in the slightest, so before 9am is not the time to tell me something, especially something important, so when I do get a call from a director that early I know before I answer the phone that it can't be good news that I'm about to get. Sure enough, it was another low-blow for Grinder. Yet another male actor quitting a show after initially making the commitment (and in this case coming out to rehearsals for a couple of weeks!). It's been, quite frankly, an epidemic this summer, of men dropping out of roles after they have committed to them and rehearsals have begun, and men simply saying "no" to being in productions. I've tried blaming myself for this in every way possible (just ask the world's greatest girlfriend). I have racked my brain to come up with every conceivable way in which my com...

It's opening night of First Kisses ladies and gentlemen! I just wanted to drop you a quick note to tell you that this is perhaps the "best-kept" secret of this summer's season - it's such a delightful play, and I just stumbled upon it by accident. Stacey and her cast and crew have been working very hard to bring this play to life. Please come out and see this delightful romantic comedy, I know you'll have a good time. Tickets? Call the box office at 519-780-7593, or click on the "buy tickets" icon here on the blog. I'm bringing my date to the show - are you?

I've been doing some more thinking on The Naked Theatre concept, and today I'd like to explore a few of the conventions we hold dear in this business. Some are creative, some are quite business-oriented, but all are just "what we do," the standard operating procedures for life in the theatre. The question I ask first is "why." Why are we doing these things these ways? Is it the best way, the only way, or is the way others have chosen and we have followed? The question I ask second, to quote Peggy Lee - "Is that all there is?" Read-throughs: Why do we read-through the script at the first rehearsal? Is it to give everyone a chance to find out what the play is about? Is it a chance for the director and others to hear the script read aloud? Is it merely insufferable curiosity on the part of the actors to find out what happens in the play they are doing? Could the actors read-through their scripts before the first rehearsal, on their own time? ...

The final show at the Belwood Summer Theatre is one of the largest, most complex we've ever done in a summer season (barring of course last year's mega-production of Noises Off). It's Brighton Beach Memoirs, by the great American playwright Neil Simon. Almost everyone knows who Neil Simon is, for he is one of the most commercially successful playwrights in history (the most successful, of course, is William Shakespeare). He is perhaps best known as the author of The Odd Couple, which was both a hit on stage and screen, but he has also penned many other plays, such as Lost in Yonkers, Rumors, Barefoot in the Park and I Ought to be in Pictures (produced last summer at the Ennotville Summer Theatre). So popular are his works that the licensing agents who hold the non-professional rights to his plays see fit to charge an extra $50 per performance for each of his plays (on top of the $75 per performance they have already boosted their base rate to from $35 just a year ago - b...

Last Saturday saw the final performance of The Belle of Amherst, perhaps the most unique production we've ever put on in the Ennotville Library. For three weeks Sara Dunbar dazzled as Emily Dickinson, creating an aura of believability and charm that fit perfectly with the intimate staging and the library setting which, with only minimal adjustments, was able to very accurately reflect Emily's family home in 1883 - after all, by 1883 the Ennotville Library had already been standing for almost 40 years! I would like to say a huge thanks to Rachel, Pam and Sara for bringing this show to life. The passion, dedication and perseverance of these three ladies was perhaps the most fitting tribute to Dickinson and her work. They have proven that there's no project too deep for us at Grinder, no play we can't get into, work through, and understand well enough to bring it to life onstage.

It's been a while since I introduced another show to you, so today I would like to tell you about Same Time, Next Year, the final show in our Ennotville Summer Theatre season. Same Time, Next Year is a romantic comedy based around an extra-marital affair that two people carry on, one weekend a year, for nearly their entire married lives. They do so in the same California hotel room, and it's about the only thing that doesn't change over the course of their liaison. Against the backdrop of cold war, civil rights, the women's movement, and a potpurri of other forces which shaped the twentieth century they carry on their illicit affair. They are completely open and honest with each other about their spouses and the challenges the face from year to year, and while they don't always get along they always manage to find each other in the end, and despite being framed in the guilt of being cheaters in their respective marriages both George and Doris retain a loveable ch...

Just a reminder that Saturday will be your last chance to see this amazing one-woman tour de force about the life and works of Emily Dickinson. I've already said all that I can about this show, it's just so awe-inspiring that words can't describe it. In the hands of Sara Dunbar as Emily and Rachel Behling as her director this show has gone places no Grinder show has ever gone before.

Just wanted to say a quick thanks to the cast and crew of Relatively Speaking, along with all the people who came out to kick off our second season at the Belwood Hall. A big thanks to director RD Branton for seeing this project through, and to the entire cast and crew for all the hard work. For those of you who didn't make it out, you missed a wonderful show.... .... but don't worry, you can redeem yourself by coming out to the next Belwood Show, AR Gurney's The Middle Ages, July 31st to August 2nd. It's just as hilarious a show, the Saturday matinee is back, and you'll get to see a very rare sight - Grinder himself, onstage, in a variety of compromising costumes. Don't ever tell me I haven't suffered for my art.

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about the creative process and how it is evolving, both in my own mind and in the world at large. Certainly today's artisans, be they working in theatre, visual arts or really any medium, are being faced with a world that is metamorphosizing right before their eyes, with monumental changes being brought about (some would say being forced about) through climate change, energy consumption, political dis-enchantment and a host of other factors. In simple terms it means that the world as we know it is changing. In the past it seemed that the artisans were among the most prepped to absorb change - in fact they were many times the vanguards of it. This time I'm not so sure. We're faced with a world where everything is subject to challenge. Do we need this? Is there another way to do that? Do you really need to drive 100 km to see your third production of "No Sex Please, We're British"? Sadly, I think that this time ...

Relatively Speaking closes in two days! Do not miss this fun-filled British extravaganza of slippers, sin and other related mayhem. No matinee on Saturday, so you've got to get out to Belwood tonight or tommorrow night. Don't miss this rare opportunity to see some of Grinder's best onstage together in this amazing production, directed by RD Branton, the auteur behind last summer's sleeper hit, Norm Foster's "The Melville Boys."

We made the list of "Definitive Canadian Theatre Blogs!" Okay, I don't know that it's much of an honour, or was gathered using a particularly exhaustive methodology, but now who knows who's reading all about what we're doing at Grinder Productions. I think we're onto something special here, and I'm glad that we can now share it with a wider audience.

Just a few pics from the rehearsals of First Kisses. Featuring Rachel Lehman as Mary and Trevor Fedyck as John, directed by Stacey Ingham. This charming romantic comedy is perfect for couples of all ages, and opens July 24th at the Library.

I haven't had much to say about our participation in the "Sensational Elora" festival just yet - the summer has been far too hectic. But plans are underway nonetheless for our involvement in this event. Please see their website for the (nearly completed) list of events and organizations that are participating in the festival this October. I'm pleased to say we'll be at the Elora Centre for the Arts October 3rd and 4th with a production of "Art," a play about, well, art, or more specifically, just how much would you be willing to pay for a white painting? It's funny, it's insightful, and of course, it's still subject to change, but it's safe to say that we'll be there this October. Now if anyone is free this July 10th, they are having an Open House at the Elora Centre for the Arts at 7pm, where they will go over the list of events, talk about marketing, and answer some questions. Since we have an opening ourselves that evening in Be...

An interesting find here, sounds like it would be a good fit with Grinder and where I want to ultimately take the company. Ever since Samuel French decided to double it's royalties costs and the cost of everything else has shot through the roof I've been doing a lot of thinking about how we can create sustainable theatre projects without the crippling rental and royalties costs. Since there's no such thing as a "guaranteed hit" at the box office any way to level the playing field before a show gets to an audiences is something that interests me a lot. This could be such a work. If anyone's got a dusty copy of this sitting around somewhere I'd love to take a look at it. Theatre Ideas: Resource #5: Grassroots Theater

Just one more week before this one opens folks! I know that a lot of you are fans of British Farce, you won't want to miss this. RD and the cast and crew have been working hard to bring this very, very funny play to life. Just three performances only, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, July 10th - 12th at 8pm, and the Belwood Hall isn't that big. For those of you who were there last year you know that the place can fill up fast - get your tickets soon to avoid disappointment! You know you know how...

It's finally here everyone - opening night! A huge congrats to Rachel, Sara and Pam and the whole "Belle" team for bringing this show to life. I can assure you it is a joy to watch and I hope everyone comes out to see it sometime before it closes on July 19th.

Just wanted to make a brief note today to say thanks to Joanne, Zoe, Ashley and my Jules for a wonderful run of Farmer's Daughters. I can't think of a better way to get back into the swing of productions than working with these wonderful ladies. Thanks for putting up with all my idiosyncracies, and for never wavering in your commitment. Let's do it again sometime.

It's Canada Day! Time to blather on about the deplorable state of Canadian Theatre once again, and how it's all going to the dogs, with playwrights who will do anything but let their works be produced to arrogant, power-hungry artistic directors ruling over their theatres like tinpot dictators to apathetic audiences giddily running to escapist commercial fluff while the ground-breaking, internationally acclaimed works in their own backyards are left to languish... Well, I could blather on like that, but I won't. Not today at least. We have so much to be proud of in this country's national dramatic canon and community. If you're reading this blog that makes you a part of it too. Let's make sure that we all work together to make theatre in Canada even better.