Last night I spent another 4 hours working on more fixes on the hated Act II set of ‘The Importance of being Earnest’. I was perhaps with the exception of Martin the only one to see the irony of this situation. Three adult men earnestly playing with fans of several sizes and speeds trying to get just the right amount of air to gently blow dainty bits of ribbon affixed to the back of this abstract garden trellis set. (They actually pay us good money to do this too!) We also carefully placed lights below the ribbon, this combination of lights and fans was supposed to breathe life and movement in to this austere set and help to create a softer more romantic feel to it all. Crap, is all I can say, we will however keep tinkering away until the set is right or at least compromised into acceptability, keeping in mind, the importance of being earnest, about it all.

The demo lights that I finished setting up yesterday are gone. It took working on and off the better part of two weeks to get the demo ready. We are buying from another company now, so needless to say the first company wanted their lights back now. New companies lights are sitting in a box ready to go up and this project has entered the realm of career.

It must be the ongoing grey cool rainy weather because most people were in very foul moods all day today and were making no attempt to hide it. I fortunately was working most of the afternoon by myself quite literally inside a replica 1930’s phone booth installing lights and managed to avoid, but just barely, most of the petty squabbles going on. I left worked depressed by it all, even the thought of soon being free of electrics department responsibility has not lightened my mood today. Oh for some Sun and truly warm temperatures to lift this gloom….Bill



  ¶ 19:41

  I was not going to post today the urge to write, just is not with me today. I then remembered sage advice about writing. Writing is about getting your ass in the chair and pounding out on those keys and so that is today’s entry. My day started with a phone call from my Mom to ask me something I had already answered for her yesterday. A sense less call, well no. I had overslept and was being rewarded for it with one of those work place nightmares where everything was going wrong and what ever you did things only got worse. She woke me from that. How do Mom’s know? The next thing to happen. I melted the handle on my espresso maker by turning the gas on too high. I did not wreck it and the coffee was ready sooner than usual. So even that wasn’t too bad. At the bank the cute teller who did not wait on me went out of his way to engage me in chit chat. That was kind of cool. And even more so when I was chatted up at the grocery store today by the produce guy, he is cute too, of course!, and he has become increasingly more friendly over the past few months he also happens to be a member of the store owners family. Hmm… things can’t be all that bad. I returned home and was not in the door 5 minutes when a friend of mine drops in and informs me he has split up with his boy friend of 7 years and spent the next hour 1/2 in the presence of his, I can only guess on the rebound boy toy, regaling me with all the sordid details. His ex is a not very out, big fish in a small pond politician who I know quite well, yes that way too. Don’t these people know I blog? I was going to garden for the rest of the day the weather was perfect. Instead I mucked out the cupboard under the kitchen sink, to make room for my new organics recycling pail so thoughtfully provided by the town as we enter a new stage of recycling here. It is a job I had been putting off for a while that some how seemed right today….Bill


  ¶ 21:51

  I have just returned from seeing Gus Van Sant’s very moving and very disturbing film Elephant. It is his fictional take on the events of the Columbine shootings. He has chosen a very minimalist and at the same time complex approach to the core reasons and process’s that lead to a seemly senseless massacre of innocent life. He uses young non-professional actors and a script almost completely devoid of dialogue. We follow a selection of common enough high school characters with their rising angst throughout one bleak day of their lives. These themes and characterizations never roll over in to stereotypes but remain to remind us of the high cost of neglecting “ordinary teen problems” by parents, the education system and society. For many high school was not a happy time and this film carefully explores the manifestations that, that unhappiness can acquire and the sometimes tragic consequences it can lead to.

As a piece of cinema it works mainly on an intellectual level. It is devoid of mainstream film trickery and relies on a rich and realistic sound track to forward the plot. Van Sant has used a narrative of interconnecting circles of events and, viewpoints that slowly move us towards the inevitable conclusion with mounting horror and increasing tension. Van Sant uses camera technique more familiar to documentary and creates all the more verisimilitude for it. It is probably the smartest and most sensitive recreation of the Columbine shootings to date. He asks all the right questions, but does not suggest any solutions to the problems facing young people today. That is for us to decide. He does however warn us that we must pay attention to their needs if we are to avoid a repeat of tragic events again ….Bill



  ¶ 22:48

  Finally a bit of sun. I had begun to think I would not remember what it looked like. The rain of the past few days has done a lot towards washing away some of the dirt and grime of winter. The lawn has started to turn green and I am sure in a few short weeks I can happily complain about having to cut it. For now though the lawn and garden is pickered all over with crocus and snowdrops and the brilliant yellow of Colts Foot colours the more wild areas. It is a hopeful sign, I will none the less leave the snow shovel by the back door so as not to tempt fate. Inside I opened a couple of windows, which immediately attracted the cat’s attention as the sound of birds once more re-entered the house to their obvious and murderous delight.

In the green house the increase in light and temperature has rewarded me with new bloom and growth and several of my Mexican favourites are in bloom Hibiscus, Bougainvillea, Lantana, and Poinsettia. I have restarted the ginger from its dormancy and will very soon need to get the Cannas potted up and going again. With March having been such a wintery month this year the garden season will burst forth with un expected speed this year, if April behaves itself that is. I have cut some cherry branches and brought them in to force some early bloom and provide a psychological boost to my winter weary mind they will contrast nicely with the very stunning bloom from the orchid Paphiopedilum, sukhakulii, (wildcat) a native of Thailand and indescribably sexual looking. Oddly most women who have seen it are squeamish while most men are intrigued by it. I do not relate its sexual appeal to any one gender in particular it is just its general air of eroticism, it is very animalistic. Here is link to a photo it does not nearly do justice to it, nor does it show the mottled green leaves so much part of the effect….Bill


  ¶ 14:50

  Yesterday started off nice and quiet my boss was not in and there was nothing scheduled onstage at the Festival Theatre just the various departments in doing notes on the 'Pygmalion' set. Good I can finally get the power hook-ups complete for the moving light demonstration. The place was also completely devoid of administration as they were all up stairs frantically packing up their offices. They are moving to new temporary locations while the renovation monster moves to the administration levels for the final stages of the festival theatre make over.
At nine the head of lighting shows up.
“Good morning Bill are you busy.”
“Yes I’m trying to finish the demo, Is there something you need?”
”No not really. Is there a crew in?”
”No just Laurie and me, Ian is at the George this morning”
”Are you sure you don’t need anything”
”Have you seen the notes from last night?”
”Oh do you have notes?
”Well one or two but you need to get the demo ready too”
”Yes I do but, I can get Laurie started on your notes. There is no ladder crew, so we can’t do anything in the air. John is not in but ; we can print the notes off of Ian’s computer” One or two notes! The printer kicks out two pages. There is my morning shot.

The afternoon was spent in what can best be described as emergency lighting 911 as we did a mini hang and focus at the Royal George in a further attempt to rescue the Act II scenery of ‘Earnest’ which the director hates so much. It was a good afternoon every one worked well together and we accomplished a lot. There is nothing more enjoyable then the sardonic humour of stage hands when there is a feeling of desperation in the air. The set for this show is crap everyone knows it but no one can say so, and so it goes….Bill



  ¶ 11:50

  I mentioned not to long ago the federal government gave the theatre a big whack of money to spend on new technology. Well we are spending, this week we received two state of the art lighting fixtures to sample, before we make our decision on which ones to buy. These are no ordinary light bulbs in can stage lights. They are all singing all dancing multi-purpose high tech state of the art $6000. dollar computer operated luminaires in a polycarbonate shell. It has been on my to do list all week to get these lights hung and ready to demonstrate to the design departments.

I was about to start this morning; only we had another crisis develop. It seems the director of ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ suddenly hates the set for his show. Now this is not just any old director who can be fobbed off with excuses and sweet talk. This is the former Artistic Director who after a long and glorious reign at the theatre is making his triumphant return after his retirement from The Shaw not to long ago, needless to say it was all hands on deck at the Royal George Theatre this morning in order to demonstrate solutions to his concerns about the set and our department had to quickly scramble to set up our gear so as to be ready for the 9:30h show and tell. My boss of course saddled me with this job, along with our junior most supervisor(ah thanks). We finished the show and tell and then installed new lights in a fake coal fire that was not working “just so” and we made it back to the shop a half an hour before lunch.

Good I thought I could get organized to hang the demo lights after lunch, a quick discussion with my boss as to what he wanted then consult the head stage carpenter as to how best to hang the lights from the loading dock ceiling the only place large and high enough to run the demo. Well what a palaver that turned into with my boss arguing about how to hang the lighting pipe with the head stage carpenter at one point even the technical director waddled into it with his not very helpful solution. I just stood back and watched the clock tick ever closer to noon. They did not come to agreement and I left for lunch and to think on their various concerns. An hour after lunch I went to the head stage carpenter and hashed out a plan that I felt would work for all concerned. He agreed and he also (surprisingly) came and helped me set up the rigging gear I needed to hang these lights. Now if only I had a camera to capture the dumb founded look on my boss as he came by and saw me and the head stage carpenter very amiably working together getting the pipe ready to go in the air to hang these lights on. I am thinking girl friends you better learn to play, cause I’m outta here real soon….Bill


  ¶ 21:54

  I drove my crew hard this morning including the lighting designer and most of all myself and we successfully completed the focus about ten minutes early before the morning break. Break was the time we had planned to finish according to plan “B”, which we were operating under after yesterdays shall we say difficult day. I rewarded us all by extending break the extra 10 minutes we gained. It is a standard carrot and stick management trick that I often use to get the crew motivated particularly when our ass is against the wall. It works every time and it keeps the crew on your side.

This afternoon during the 1st onstage rehearsal of Pygmalion I was working on the installation of a specialty power outlet for the Data Flash, it is a high powered strobe light that we use primarily for lightning effects. The lighting designer had some how forgotten to spec. this lamp on the drawings so it was not installed until today. We normally do not do any work onstage during a rehearsal, however the lighting designer has his first cueing session with the director tonight and the very first scene takes place in a rainstorm so he needed the data flash working for tonight urgently. I installed the outlet in a small room off the midrail about 35’ above the deck timing my use of power tools to the onstage rehearsals breaks and it took 4 hours to do what is about a 2 hour job normally.

It gave me a lot of time to sit and think in this ugly little concrete room with its stairs to the front of house catwalks, access to the downstage lighting bridge and stairs to the auditorium roof as well. In this room we have supplementary dimmers for the front of house lighting and the fly men also use this room to store sandbags and weights used at the midrail, to load the fly system with counterweight. There is also a very small washroom off this room it is called the flymans washroom and it is that, that I was remembering, for it was in that very utilitarian washroom almost 23 years ago during a rehearsal of Pygmalion that I had sex with a young actor who is no longer at The Shaw, but is well known in Canadian theatre today. I am guessing we are probably the only two guys to have done it in that particular room. Remember this was the eighties and early days before AIDS, sex was free and easy then and this sort of activity was perfectly normal in the very intense party atmosphere that the theatre was at that time. I have never told anyone this story before and I am guessing he hasn’t either if you are a work colleague (or if you are not) don’t ask me who, I won’t tell. Oh yeah; it was good, it was very good. That’s all I will say….Bill




  ¶ 21:38

  I worked really hard today. We all worked really hard today. After 9 hours work we ended up 4 hours behind schedule and we started the day 2 hours ahead which means for all that hard work we only achieved a net gain of 3 hours after the 9 hour day was done. Still with me? There is an added crew working 4 hours tonight which means if they work their butts off we may only be 2 hours behind when I start in the morning. They must gain 6 hours work in 4 tonight to put us back on track. I get to deal with finishing the focus tomorrow morning in 4 hours, weather they finish tonight or not. So some how some body must do 6 hours work in 4 hours, either the crew tonight or my crew tomorrow. I Sure hope it is not me. The first level set which we call LD levels is the start of programming the lighting cues in the control console and it must start at 13:00h come Hell or high water tomorrow. It is 21:00h I have to be up at 6:30 that means I have 9 ½ hours to sleep I like 9 hours minimum so bed in ½ an hour. Did I ever tell you lighting is mostly about numbers and math. Goodnight….Bill


  ¶ 21:16

  It is Monday the dog ate my homework. Here is a second post I don't have the patience to rewrite the first.

I spent the whole day today about 30’ in the air focusing lights. It is one of my favourite jobs. You work directly with the lighting designer and this is the first time the “art “ of the highly technical job of lighting appears. For the designer this is the first step of the realization of what until now has only been an idea in their head and on paper. It is a tense time for them as they begin to see weather dreamed out concepts will work or not. You as an electrician and the designer join in a unique partnership as you work from lamp to lamp setting the numerous details involved in positioning each light whilst all around you the large crew is completely at your beck and call. Moving ladders and scenery and, fixing problems and fetching needed items to keep the process moving along as uninterrupted as possible. It is a busy time for the deck supervisor. I am happy when I can get off the deck and in the air away from the fray down below. I came off the lift at the end of the day and said “Well that went rather well today eh!”, to the deck supervisor. Who gave me the what planet are you from look. I apparently missed the fact that our boss was in the foulest of moods all day and took it out on everybody within earshot so unsettling to the head of lighting design that he spent his day crabbing at the deck supervisor about all and sundry including time, even though we were running 2 hours ahead of schedule all day long.” Well my day went fine. I think I’ll stay in the air tomorrow too”….Bill


  ¶ 21:13

  A couple of months before Michael died he commissioned an artist friend and work colleague of ours to paint his portrait in oils. He asked her to do two portraits one for me and one for his sister. Karyn produced a diptych of two very distinct personalities of him. The first is Michael the noble savage, emerging from the jungle with Mayan ruins behind him and reflects his wild untamed side, this is the portrait his sister has. The second is Michael, urbane and witty and is the portrait that Karyn painted for me. Unfortunately Mike died before they were completed. We all would have liked to have known his reaction.

After Michael died I was asked for a photo of him to hang in the green room at the Festival Theatre and Karyn very obligingly produced a reduced B&W photographic copy of her (from mine) oil painting. Most people believe it is an actual photograph of him.
The old green room has just been recently remodelled and restyled as a crew room and lounge for those immediately involved in running shows. We are still setting up this new room and as of yet there is only one picture returned to the room. it is Michael’s picture and it is the first thing you see now when you enter the room. I find it a bit unsettling. Although, I am pleased to see it there, I wish it were a little less prominent and that the other pictures would quickly be rehung. I think I will ask for his picture to be moved to a different spot in the room.

I have not spoken in much detail about Mike in this blog before now. He studied at Dalhousie and also at Nova Scotia School of Art and Design during the seventies when it was one of the best art schools in North America and, when it was full of many top artists and art refugees from the USA who had come to Canada to avoid the Vietnam draft. He studied fine arts and Art history was one his majors he had a good eye and he has taught me how to look at paintings with skilled critical judgment. He also has studied theatre and worked as a professional actor for some time. Then he met me and moved to Niagara-on- the-lake and re-entered the more stable technical side of theatre. He spoke four languages fluent, he had a photographic memory and was a genius with math. He was also cursed with an exceptionally high IQ. (There is no real way to explain what I mean by curse, but those who know, will know what I mean.) He was a renaissance man and dabbled in many things good and bad. He generally got on with most people and had a large personality that filled many a room, along with his deep voice and, he is still greatly missed by many….Bill




  ¶ 21:40

  Finally the sun is back and the snow has stopped falling. With temperatures well above 0c it is quickly melting which is good because I refuse to shovel any more well at least not today. So it is Thursday a day that started with a poem but not to me. Here is another that suits the weather. It is another Zen ....Bill

Frozen snow
adorns the naked tree
flowers bloom in winter.

john daido loori





  ¶ 11:28

  We are on the second day of the Rep. lighting hang for The Festival Theatre. This is the initial install of the lighting that is used for all of the shows. In the weeks to come the show specific lighting will be installed, this weeks hang and focus involves about 400 lights and represents about 2/3 of the total to go in, in order to light the 4 shows in The Festival Theatre this season. I can’t believe how nice everyone has been this week. Stage hands are notoriously not nice. I was in and out of the lighting office a half a dozen times this morning and my soon to be ex boss thanked me each and every time we had a conversation about some work related subject. He was not the only one. In a bold face attempt at flattery the design assistant suggested that I must have been 4 years old when I started working at the Shaw 25 years ago. Now excuse me, I may look young for my age but 29 as flattering as that is, is a stretch even for me. Our head of the Audio department who has a curmudgeonly attitude at the best of times (Don’t get me wrong Walter it is one of your most endearing qualities) was feeling some auld lang syne. It is not like I am leaving town soon. But with everyone being so damm nice it sure makes me wonder… Some times it is better to leave in disgrace, it makes it so much easier when it is time to go….Bill


  ¶ 20:31

  I am just in from the first round of snow shovelling and walking Ron’s dog. The sound of me shovelling his front porch woke him up. Not from a nap but to start the day promptly at the crack of sunset. Well it would be sunset if I could see it but, we are in the middle of a blinding snow storm. Weather warnings et all and, more to come over night. In an act of blatant defiance I have turned up the heat and I am sitting here writing, dressed in boxers and a tee whilst listening to Ravi Shankar play some Indian ragas. I have a curry in the freezer which I may very well thaw out and have for dinner along with a few pappadums and my fantasy will be complete. Winter is gone and I am in India again….Bill



  ¶ 20:17

  I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth, yet. It has just been a very busy one day weekend. I had an unusually high number of E-mails to write, including another letter of condolence to a friend whose Mother had died last week. My weekend E-mails seem to be more of the letter type then the crisp to the point business E-mail we all need to write. I like to spend more time on my weekend E-mails and concentrate on quality writing when I can.

On my way home for lunch I stopped at the post office to pick up a waiting parcel. Lo and behold in the “it never rains but it pours” department there are two parcels waiting for me. YAY!, The problem is though I am on my bike and can not very well carry two parcels. So what to do? I could leave one and get the other tomorrow but, how do I decide which one. One was from Amazon.co.uk and the other one was from (discreetly) The San Francisco Fetish Factory. My two only remaining and favourite vices books and porn. I could not choose and I struggled to bring both home on my bike. If anything no one can accuse me of not having diverse tastes. The Oxford Dictionary for Writers & Editors and the Oxford Guide to Style for Writers & Editors. In the other box Tender, Rough & Nasty, gay reality porn and Big Bear Lake, unscripted real sex. Maybe my next career should be writing for the porn industry. I wonder if any one would mind if porn scripts didn’t suck. Hmm maybe….Bill



  ¶ 21:17

  Things went a whole lot easier today both at work and at home. I am still pretty well topic number one on the rumour and gossip mill. There seems to be increasing anxiety amongst some of the other electricians and the lighting designers, as the full ramifications of my departure sinks in. It felt more like an adventure today as every one including myself wonders; What ever next? Well we will just have to wait and see is my answer….Bill


  ¶ 21:02

  I’ve gone through every emotion in the book today from elation to fear and many others in between. I am questioning my judgement and I think I have lost my mind. Even though deep in side I am fairly certain I am heading in the right direction. Some think I am crazy to give up such a good job and take on such uncertainty especially at the beginning of the season. Others have whole heartily congratulated me for making the move. At work the atmosphere is strange and sullen and I am getting the same sort of comments, queries, and even doubts that I my self feel. It has been a roller coaster day and when I came home I cried and just felt so alone. I only want the impossible. That things could be the way they were. Why do I have to tear apart what is left in my life in order to start again? I resent that, even though I know that nobody is to blame. I know I have to make change and with change comes more pain. Instinct drove me to this now. The plan is unclear. I wonder if I am sane?

I went to see Ron today and walk his dog for him. He is a retired Stage Manager it was his 68th birthday last week. Yesterday he had another cancerous lump removed from his tongue. He smokes and he drinks, alot. He lives in a house that is filthy dirty. He feels lonely and neglected and after a brilliant career in the theatre he has nothing to show for it but memories. He had numerous boyfriends over the years and lived a jet set life in the fifties and sixties and was always the life of the party. And now he is a lonely bitter old fag living in squalor in a small town. I am one of the few people who still see him regularly. He has become my model of exactly how I don’t want to end up my life and career.

Not every thing was sad and bad today. I had a short visit with a Special Guy in the Post Office today and coupled with this my horoscope, a glimmer of hope.

VIRGO (Aug. 24 - Sept. 23): Someone you meet on your travels today will become very important to you in the weeks, months and maybe even years to come. They may be either much younger or much older than you but you are on the same wavelength mentally and emotionally and spiritually and that is what matters. It seems you have a lot to teach each other.

If I was a more religious person I might even believe in providence….Bill




  ¶ 21:38

  It's official I've resigned....Bill



  ¶ 17:25

  It is day two of the Royal George lighting hang and things are moving along at their usual snail pace. This theatre was built in 1906. Although it has been upgraded many times it is still a creaky old theatre that does not accept new technology with ease and grace. So we have to use techniques both ancient and modern in order to squeeze our shows in to the space. It is complicated and space is at a premium as we all try to work around the difficulties. Of our three theatres it is my favourite. The nearly hundred year old theatre drips with personality and charm. When you walk in the door it just grabs you in the heart with some sort magic that takes hold of you, and just isn’t present in some modern concrete block stage house. I wish I could explain more fully how that magic works. For any of you who have been back stage especially in an older theatre you will probably understand that special feeling and that unique smell that theatres have. Some say it is Ghosts. Others say it is the laughter and joy of the audience and artists that has soaked into the fabric of the place. Many say it is sweat and tears mixed with dirt and grime. I expect it is a combination of all of the above. There is nothing quite like it.

I suppose I mention this tonight because of the crossroads that I am now at. My life feels a bit like that creaky old theatre.
Here is where things stand. I have met with the production manager today and have laid all my cards on the table. Although the timing is bad for the theatre right now she seems genuinely interested in making changes that will address the many concerns that I raised today. She understands fully that I will not withdraw my resignation however she is just as determined that I remain in the department. That’s Ok, I do not wish the theatre any ill will. A renegotiated contract will not change my long term plans and it will fit in with my current; time to take care of me stand. So I am prepared to listen. My boss is still in shock. What is most surprising is my resignation has not yet slipped out to my co-workers two whole days in a place that is notorious for rumour and gossip and not a whisper yet! Stay tuned….Bill



  ¶ 23:42

  Instead of working on my blog links this weekend as I had planned. I wrote letters of resignation and have notified both union and management that it is my intention to leave my job in 4 weeks time. I won’t be leaving the theatre altogether and will probably go on the union call list and cherry pick casual work over the next 7 months. And that suits me fine. It is a bit of an early start to some of my long range plans. My boss is freaking out. The production manager has requested a meeting with me ASAP. For the theatre this could not come at a worst time. I am comfortable with that. It is my turn to look after me now….Bill



  ¶ 17:59

  Two years ago the various technical departments put together wish lists of new stuff that it would nice to have. You know the sort of fantasy where you could go into your favourite store and point at anything you want and get it for free. This sort of exercise happens from time to time and the information becomes part of some sort of government grant application. Later we will get some cash for something or other but never near what you asked for and seldom enough to use it for what you really wanted. The last time we did this we were applying for some sort of grant that is for new technology capital expenditures i.e. new toys for the boys. If you can dream about it put it on the list. And we did. It was insanely ridiculous the things we asked for. Well why not we will never get it.

Well something happened this week the federal government came through and they came through big time we are talking about several million dollars Yes, millions. All to spend on new tech toys for the theatres.

Now before I go any further there will those of you who will say that, that money would be better spent on health care or education. You might be right but here are a few facts. For every dollar the government invests in the Arts they get back $12.00 in generated taxes. The Shaw Festival employs over 500 people and is an emerging industry. There are literally hundreds of other business that directly rely on our success for their success. We are an important segment of the very substantial tourist industry in Niagara. In an area where conventional manufacturing such as GM is dying out investment in clean industry such as the Theatre is just plain good business. I will not even touch on the “Value of Arts to society argument” I have no patience in preaching this argument to the ignorant any more.

As flippant as I am this money will be well spent. It will bring an important technological lift to our business and will allow us to stage fine Art with all the bells and whistles. While we are essentially an Art Theatre. We can not afford to forget that our audience, through rock concerts, Hollywood, and mega commercial stage shows expect high technical standards. This grant will go along way in helping us meet the expectations of our audiences.

That is the good news. Here is me the cynic. We have to spend this money by the end of March. We will. With the Federal government in the midst of a major scandal. They badly need good press. An election is looming, they need to do something fast. What could be better then supporting the Arts, investing in tourism and fulfilling a promise to help industry secure new technology all in one fell swoop. Look for streams of politicians in early May. In time for the gala opening of the Theatre season in front of our shining new addition; holding big cardboard cheques with smiling Mandarins from the Shaw all appearing on the national news just in time for the election. Every cloud has a silver lining….Bill



  ¶ 18:13

  It is Thursday it is a poem.
Zen / Spring

Ice and Water,
Their difference resolved,
Are friends again.

yasuhara teishitu / TR. R. H. BLYTH


....Bill


  ¶ 13:03

  Summer starts on Monday. Well at least it will seem that way for me. Why? It is the first day of the Lighting hang at two of our three theatres and that is the official start of the new summer season for me at The Shaw Festival. It is also the end of my leisurely Winter of picking and choosing when I want to work. I now move into six day weeks and shift work over a twelve hour day. I Am ready for this sudden ramp up this year and am looking forward to returning to the intense work schedule and unlike last year I have a focused goal to aim for by the end of the Summer. Unlike last year where I was still very much in shock and was working mainly on auto pilot. It is going to be a particularly difficult season this year. Our two most junior supervisors are moving up to greater responsibilities and one of our senior supervisors and his trades electrician is taking the season off. It has meant that four key positions in the electrics department are being filled by people new to their job. My boss cheerily tells me today that I will be expected to keep a close eye on the more junior supervisors as I swing from theatre to theatre. I am not entirely sure when supervising supervisors became part of my job description but it apparently has. Oh and by the way any one need a job. We still have an opening for a part time electrician to operate the Lunch Time Theatre shows. This is a union I.A.T.S.E. supervisor position (starting in June) although non union permit applications will be considered from qualified professionals . The suitable candidate should be familiar with Strand light boards 520 series and should have at least basic familiarity with DMX system gear, moving fixtures, scrollers, rotators, fog machines etc. Strong theatre lighting knowledge essential and experience with rep. system operations while not necessary would be helpful. You will be carefully watched over by yours truly with due diligence and endless patience and with only a hint of irony. And if you are a friend of Dorothy. I could also use a sister….Bill


  ¶ 21:32

  I fear it is true! But who the hell is Rerun?....Bill



You are Rerun!


Which Peanuts Character are You?
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  ¶ 15:39

  Last night instead of watching the Lord of the Rings Festival I went out to the movies. The Brock Film Society was showing The Republic of Love to a sparsely populated audience where the mean average age of the audience seemed to be about 50. This in the heart of a university campus! So begins what was on the whole an unsatisfactory evening at the cinema. The Republic of Love is a Canadian film based upon the book of celebrated Canadian author Carol Shields’, book of the same name and very cleverly directed by Deepa Mehta. This pair was able to attract the cream of Canadian film and theatre actors. One or two well known Brits were thrown into the cast including Stratford stalwart Martha Henry who directed our highly sucessful production of The Royal Family last summer. So with all this talent what went wrong. The plot was a very straight forward; boy meets girl boy gets girl, bad things happen, boy loses girl, boy gets girl happy ending period. I am not a huge Carol Shields fan she writes very well but in my opinion her appeal is to the unafflicted middle class’ and her writing does not have sufficient depth to keep my interest. Deepa Mehta on the other hand is a smart director with a highly imaginative mind and a deep sense of the surreal. For those of you unfamiliar with Deepa’s work think Julie Taymor of Lion King fame (stage version) and to my mind Julies very fine bio pic of Mexican artist “Frida” Kahlo. Deepa is just as talented. However her sensibilities are wasted on this trifling story. In a film that takes place entirely in Toronto the overlay of Indian music, colours and hints of Bollywood, whilst an interesting distraction and cleverly integrated only seemed to supply decoration to the rather ordinary plot. Deepa can’t be faulted for this she does tell the story clearly. The performances are all strong and sincere and Shields’ work is respected by all involved. At the end of the Film there was a smattering of applause from the sparse audience, the unafflicted middle class I expect. As for me I left the theatre with three questions on my mind. Am too Gay to appreciate this simple happy end, "straight "love story? How can I introduce some of those vibrant colours of India into my house? What could Deepa Mehta do with a script of some substance? I could not answer the first two questions. As for the third I think Deepa and Rohinton Mistry would work well together and Vikram Seth’s A Suitable Boy would be cinematic genius in Deepa’s hands. As for The Republic of Love it was not bad. It just lacked literary spark that one would have expected from such a celebrated writer….Bill


  ¶ 20:06