Blyth Festival, is a theatrical festival, located in the village of

Blyth, Ontario Not to be confused with the Town of Blyth, England. Blyth is a village in North Huron, Huron County, Ontario, Canada. Blyth is north of London and west of Waterloo at the intersection of Huron County Road 4 (London Road) and Huron Cou ...

, Canada, which specializes in the production and promotion of Canadian plays. In addition, the Festival acts as a resource for local groups and makes its facilities available for community use. The Festival and the Centre contribute significantly to the economy of the village and to the tourism industry in Huron County.

History

The organization was started by James Roy, playwright

Anne Chislett Anne Chislett (born December 22, 1942) is a Canadian playwright. Biography Born and raised in St. John's, Dominion of Newfoundland, Chislett studied at Memorial University of Newfoundland and the University of British Columbia. She taught high ...

and local newspaper editor Keith Roulston in 1975.Gordon Vogt.
Critical stages: Canadian theatre in crisis
'. Oberon Press; April 1998. p. 156. Its primary mandate was to produce and develop local Canadian plays.
The History of North American Theater: From Pre-Columbian Times to the Present
'. Continuum; 1998. . p. 460. In 1975, few scripts that fit the festival's mandate were being written, so the festival's founders began to create new works and adapt the work of other Canadian playwrights. The first season included a play with an established reputation,

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictiona ...

's ''

The Mousetrap ''The Mousetrap'' is a murder mystery play by Agatha Christie. ''The Mousetrap'' opened in London's West End in 1952 and ran continuously until 16 March 2020, when the stage performances had to be temporarily discontinued during the COVID-1 ...

'', but the popularity of the Canadian-written offering, Harry J. Boyle's ''Mostly in Clover'', encouraged the founders to focus on plays with local content. The Blyth Memorial Community Hall had an upstairs auditorium which had been little used for decades; this was refurbished to provide a venue for the festival.
Canada
'. APA Publications; 1 January 1993. . p. 145. At that time, the Festival was the only summer theatre producing original Canadian plays. The Blyth Festival's archives are stored at the University of Guelph. One of the festival's most financially successful plays was Beverley Cooper's ''Innocence Lost: A Play About Stephen Truscott'', staged in 2008."Canadian playwrights have benefited greatly from Blyth Festival"
''London Free Press'', Joe Belanger, July 4, 2014 By 2014, the festival had premiered 120 original plays, including

Alice Munro Alice Ann Munro (; ; born 10 July 1931) is a Canadian short story writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013. Munro's work has been described as revolutionizing the architecture of short stories, especially in its tendency to move f ...

How I Met My Husband "How I Met My Husband" is a short story written by Alice Munro, first published in 1974 as a part of her collection ''Something I've Been Meaning to Tell You''. Plot summary The story is about a young girl, Edie, who is hired help for Dr. Peebles ...

, and the Governor General Award-winning

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, by

. In 2017, Blyth Festival's original production, ''Pigeon King'', was chosen to be restaged in Ottawa as part of the National Arts Centre's 2018-2019 season."Grand Theatre, Blyth Festival plays chosen by National Art Centre"
''London Free Press'', Joe Belanger, March 4, 2018

Blyth Centre for the Arts

After the founding of Blyth Festival, Memorial Hall grew into a year-round centre of cultural activity for Huron County and southwestern Ontario. In addition to the Festival, the Centre includes an Art Gallery that showcases three professional exhibits, one non-juried community show and co-ordinates a student exhibit each season. A choir, the Blyth Festival singers, and the Blyth Festival Orchestra perform regularly. The theatre provides a venue for musical, theatrical and other special events during the off-season."Peter Smith: Huron County meets Kings County"
''The Register/Advertiser'', Apr 28, 2017 In addition, the Festival acts as a resource for local groups and makes its facilities available for community use. The Festival and the Centre contribute significantly to the economy of the village and to the tourism industry in Huron County.

Artistic directors

References

External links

Blyth Festival
{{authority control Theatre companies in Ontario Theatre festivals in Ontario