Julie Wheeler Bryant is nothing if not meticulous, so it is no surprise the play she chose for the Elora Community Theatre by David French is just as diligent in its written approach.
That Summer is a look back at times everyone goes through. It is about coming of age, growing up and facing the things that life can throw at us. French, an award winning Canadian playwright, focuses on two American sisters who spend part of their summer alone in at a cottage in Ontario. The play had its premier at the Blyth Festival in 1999.
It is set in 1957, and French detailed in his script what music from that era will be heard in which scene – an unusual approach for playwrights.
Director Wheeler Bryant, a longtime veteran of local theatre as an actress, producer and director, is just as steadfast in her preparations. It is telling that the play runs in November, but she held the photo shoot for the cover in June. Rehearsals started then, too.
“I have this hundred hour rehearsal period – at a minimum,” she said. “You never know what might happen.”
That includes having the leading lady in this play off sick for nearly two weeks, just a month from the opening. But being meticulous is more than just making sure actors know their lines. Wheeler Bryant wants them to have all the advantages available to those who will be on stage in front of an audience for six nights over two weeks.
“I feel its my duty that they have that background,” she said. She is even taking special care with the music, making sure there is activity on stage – so people can hear more than just a snippet of Fats Domino or The Platters.
To Wheeler Bryant, directing is a lot like her career.
“There’s a lot of preparation work that goes into rehearsal – it’s goes back to my teaching days,” she said.
She has been involved in the theatre for a long time, and it was in a play that she met her husband, Gary Bryant, also a teacher and a well known theatre performer. He taught drama, he acted, directed and produced, too. They became a team. He is the producer for That Summer.
Over the past 30 years or so, theatre has become an important part of southern Ontario’s culture, with numerous professional troupes and a host of amateur theatres springing up. The Elora Community Theatre has been running continuously since 1973.
It was a small town, too, that got the theatrical ball rolling. Blyth Festival began in 1977, and offered exclusively Canadian plays. Within a few years, theatre in the area, once limited to Stratford and Niagara-on-the-Lake, came of age, with dozens of playwrights appearing and shows offered everywhere. Drayton Entertainment was born in that booming era, and became among the largest theatre companies in Canada.
Having drama taught in local high schools did not hurt the cause, either. Graduates wanted outlets for their creative urges, and small town theatre was perfect for them.
Wheeler Bryant first saw That Summer at 4th Line Theatre. As its name suggests, that theatre is so rural its productions are in a barn and out in the fields – and usually packed with people. Gary Bryant performed there for two years.
“I really loved it,” Wheeler Bryant said. “It brings tears and laughter. If it can do that …”
Directing That Summer came about after she was approached by Vision Theatre Productions in Fergus to direct last year’s Agatha Christie production, Death on the Nile. It was a hit, with a packed house for its three-night run.
“I was surrounded by so many great people,” she said of that show. “I had so much fun. The cast was fantastic. So, I thought I really should direct for ECT. So, I started thinking of plays. This was my favourite.”
She likes Canadian plays, and has to feel strongly about any work she directs because there are simply too many hours involved not to love what she is doing. Besides working with the actors, the director will also work with the stage manager, lighting man, props manager and many other people.
Wheeler Bryant blocked off areas of a church basement for rehearsals in order to delineate the space the actors will be working with at the Fergus Grand Theatre next month – so they are comfortable with the switch.
But, she said, when the troupe moves in the Sunday prior to opening night, there will be little rehearsal time because she will be working on sound, lighting and set building.
“When we move in, it’s all about the technical,” she said.
Volunteers
For amateur theatre, volunteers are everything, from set builders to people who can provide trucks to move the equipment. People are close in the local theatre world. At a rehearsal recently, volunteers were stuffing envelopes for the ECT’s coming schedule, including three from Vision Theatre Productions.
“We have quite a few theatres in the area,” she said with a smile. “We all help each other out.”
Wheeler Bryant noted a show she produced in the early 1990s seemed to be a turning point for the ECT. It was a Ted Johns play called He
Won’t Come in from the Barn, a Blyth Festival world premier featuring local farmer Morley Trask – and a cow on the stage. People still talk about it, and its run was extended, something very rare in amateur theatre.
The ECT changed the way it operated because of that play. Bryant remembers long line-ups and people not being able to get into the theatre. Back then, tickets were sold for any seat on any night the show ran. After that experience, tickets were sold with allocated seats – and dates.
She remembers the cow for that show was provided by Ted Kent. Today, the set for That Summer is being built on Kent’s property.
Local connections extend to Centre Wellington District High School, too. Wheeler Bryant talked to drama teacher Jenny Ritter, telling Ritter she needed three girls and a boy in their teens to play in That Summer.
When the call for auditions for That Summer went out, 35 people tried for the seven roles. Wheeler Bryant said all of them were very good, leaving her with the pleasant problem of choosing from a wide selection of talented people. She noted that all seven actors in the play are from this area.
Wheeler Bryant’s directing philosophy is to let each of the actors find a comfortable fit in the role – rather than demanding everything be done according to her wishes.
“Everybody puts their ideas forth – and we choose what’s best,” she said.
Wheeler Bryant added she learned a great deal about directing when Theatre Ontario held week-long workshops during the summers in the late 1980s. She and another regular ECT director, Bronwynn Hill, attended those.
The actors in her show rave about the style she honed there.
Former teaching colleague and actor Alma Bennett, who plays the older Margaret Ryan, said of Wheeler Bryant, “She’s a fabulous director. She’s creative. She’s inspirational. She brings out the best in everybody – without telling them what to do. She lets us find our way.”
Bennett said Wheeler Bryant got her involved in theatre years ago when they were teachers, and “She uses the same style we used as teachers.”
Wheeler Bryant, in turn, remembers how she and Bennett used to direct an entire school of children in Christmas concerts at Ponsonby, dealing with dozens of performers at once.
Pat Dunn, who plays Mrs. Crump and has won several individual acting awards at the Western Ontario Drama League, said of Wheeler Bryant, “She’ll let you try things out.”
High school student Sam Turner, who was in Death on the Nile, said, “She gives you options. She’s very open to us. She lets the actors develop.”
Brianna Hastie and Zoe Dunbar, as well as Maurena Taylor, are all at CWDHS, and all four are planning to have careers in theatre.
Because of her illness, Taylor was simply hoping to get through the rehearsal that night, but Hastie and Dunbar were pleased to comment.
“I absolutely adore her,” said Hastie, who plans to study theatre at Ryerson University. “She’s taught me so much as an actress. She has a picture in her mind, and she helps you create it.”
Dunbar, who plans to study theatre at York University, said of Wheeler Bryant’s technique, “It’s structured – but she’ll still let you have your own opinion.”
Wheeler Bryant noted, though, that the ebb and flow of local theatre can mean there will be times when amateur troupes struggle.
“There will be burnout,” she said, adding people move away and it sometimes takes time to find replacements.
That might be why the people in roles of authority treat everyone with so much respect. Diligence spreads to human relations, too. Wheeler Bryant credits the ETC board of directors for keeping everything humming, and they are all volunteers. At the rehearsal in the church basement, she thanked absolutely everyone for attending, including Turner’s grandparents from England, who will not be able to see the show in November, the professional play polisher, and even the reporter taking notes in the back of the hall.
“Theatre’s alive and well, but you have to work hard to keep it strong and vibrant,” she said.
That Summer will run Nov. 13 to 15 and 19 to 21 at the Fergus Grand Theatre. Tickets are $17.50 each, with packages available. Visit fergusgrandtheatre for tickets and information.
