Branch Plant

Presented as part of the Factory Theatre Lab's 1970-71 season (opened May 1971).

Written by Harvey Markowitz

Directed by William Glassco

Cast

Vanderhoef: Gerry Huckstep
Currie: Albert Bernardo
Blaseley: John Illingworth
Gauthier: Robert Coltri
Carter: Stan Ross
Rollins: Al Hand
McEachrean: Leonard Sedun
McIllraith: William Binney
Lamoureux: Claude Hamel
Miss Herman: Marcella Lustig
Other roles: Bernie Bohmers, Sebastian Calleri

Design: Peter Kolisnyk
Production manager: Mark Freeborn
Stage manager: Diane Hollingsworth
Assistant to the director: Steven Whistance-Smith
Lighting: Peter Ottenhoff
Properties: James Iwasuk
Crew: Bill Pipher, James Carnrite, Tom Lackey

Program Notes

"On May 1, 1970, our lease on the FACTORY space began. We moved in without even a hammer and began sifting through the layers of dirt and garbage. Somehow in this earthy space, we hoped to build a repertoire of new Canadian plays.

"With the failure of the St. Lawrence Centre's first season of original plays, we encountered many skeptics over our firm 'Canadian only' policy. Our playwrights have not let us down, however; this policy has proved a solid backbone for the theatre. At first we had difficulty finding good scripts; now we have difficulty scheduling productions of all the good scripts available and cannot run our productions long enough. Gradually we are defeating our playwrights' greatest enemy: Canada's psychological distaste for her own art and artists. We can now compete against American and British imports and I feel that our season (along with Theatre Passe Muraille's highly original season) has done much to alter Toronto's cultural climate despite the retrograde policy of the St. Lawrence and the continued old museum theatre and contemporary wax museum imitations of the universities and other amateur and professional organizations.

"We are only 1 year old. While we have been generally well reviewed, our plays and productions are still far from perfection. Actors, playwrights, directors and producers are only beginning to intuit the depth of the struggle and commitment necessary to achieve great art. We must transcend low production budgets, high overhead, miniscule or zero salaries and find ways of reworking plays through fifty to a hundred performances under a variety of conditions.

"In year 2, we will do ten new major showcase productions and thirty-six workshop productions. We also hope to revive some earlier pieces and develop them into a genuine repertoire of Canadian works. Upcoming shows will include ESKER MIKE AND HIS WIFE AGILUK by Herschel Hardin (June), THE RED REVOLUTIONARY, an adaptation of a very old Canadian play (July), THE MASQUE OF WILDE by Joseph Addison (September), A TOUCH OF GOD by John Palmer and TO COVET HONOUR by Frank McEnaney.

"We would welcome many more scripts. We have a five-year lease on the building."

Ken Gass, Artistic Director

 
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