By Gillian Brunette
Clowns, stilts, puppets and street performances bring new dimension to Huntsville Festival of the Arts.
Those who saw SplasH2O, a show featuring a composition of skits which played at the Huntsville Festival of the Arts a couple of years back, will remember its hilarious off-the-wall humour.
Since then, SplasH2O, a Houppz! Collective production whose number includes Huntsville High School alumnus Dan Watson, has been well-toured, showing at the Toronto Fringe Festival, Cazanovia, New York, France and eastern New Brunswick, where it was nominated for an Acadian association of New Brunswick Eloize award.
Watson has been performing regularly at other festivals, along with his equally zany wife Christina Serra, appearing most recently at the Cooking Fire Theatre Festival in Toronto. This weekend they are bringing their talents (along with those of a few friends) to the people of Huntsville.
Currently Watson and Serra can be found in and around the town dock area, laying the groundwork for The Edge of the Woods Theatre Festival, a two-day outdoor theatre extravaganza taking place July 12 and 13.
SEARCHING FOR BIG FOOT: Performers Christina Serra, Dan Watson and Sandy Bribbin (from left) check out a reward notice on their trek to find the elusive Big Foot. This comedy of errors is sure to make for a hilarious sketch; it's performed this weekend as part of the Edge of the Woods outdoor theatre extravaganza.
On both days the fun begins at noon with interactive activities for the whole family. “We wanted to create a real event that was more participatory, so we will have kids’ activities, like stilt-walking and puppet-making. These will be run by professional performers,” said Watson.
In charge of stilts is Sandy Gribbin, who will also act with Watson and Serra in a comic sketch titled Big Foot. Puppeteer Bruce Beaton and actors Jane Wells and Liz Rucker, also perform their comedic piece titled Morbid Stranger.
Big Foot is a clown piece telling the story of three adventure clowns searching for Big Foot in order to photograph him, explained Watson.
“It’s a real comedy of errors: we think we find his hair and footprints, but they turn out to be ours. It’s very Monty Pythonish and lots of fun.”
Morbid Stranger, another clown piece, works on the premise of old-time vaudeville, Watson continued. “A touring group, down on their luck, need to make some money, so Liz is going to write a show for the grand diva as her final hurrah, but everything goes wrong.”
Prior to the weekend’s events, Watson and Serra will be working with the youngsters of Camp Skoka (run by the Town of Huntsville). There is also a call out for local artists and performers who would like to be a part of the street performances.
“There are no tryouts. You automatically get the part,” said Watson. “So far, we have two Irish dancers, a country and western singer and a folky/pop singer.”
Added Serra: “We also put a call out in Toronto and got a trio of girls who are coming up to do modern dance.”
Watson is hopeful some HHS students may come out and join in the fun. “We taught street performance for Grade 9 and 10 in May for three days, and held two classes each day with (teacher) Kim Russell-Brooks.
“It was a different way of working for the students, it was quick, quick, quick, but at the end of three days they had enough material to perform for their peers.”
HHS will also be represented this weekend by alumnus Jack Bevington, who will be hosting the outdoor festival. The troupe’s logo, depicting a clown head in a tree, was designed by HHS student Katerina Tarrant.
“We held a logo contest in March and had some amazing submissions. The prize was two tickets to the Hawksley Workman concert,” said Watson.
The Edge of the Woods Theatre Festival takes place in and around the town dock this weekend and begins at noon each day, with a 30-minute show at 2 p.m.
“We hope to bring the idea that theatre is for everyone. That it can happen in a lot of places, can be anything, and not necessarily classical,” said Serra.
This is a pay-what-you-can event (suggested donation is $10 and $20 per family), so come down to the riverfront and enjoy world-class entertainment, along with a refreshing tall glass of lemonade.
For more information check out the Edge of the Woods blog at www.edgeofthewoodsfestival.wordpress.com.
