Canadian Theatre Icon James Roy on the Founding of the Blyth Festival

The Blyth Festival Podcast

Fifty years ago this summer, an actor, a playwright and a newspaper editor walked into a bar ....

OK, kidding, it wasn't a bar. But James Roy, Anne Chislett and Keith Roulston DID sit down in Keith's living room and decide to start a summer theatre festival in Blyth, Ontario. Miraculously, nobody told them they were crazy. Fifty years later, theatre-lovers around the world are still enjoying the fruits of their hard work and imagination.

Join host Joanne Wallace for an intimate chat with James, who became Blyth's founding Artistic Director. He'll share the inside story on how the festival came into being, who rallied around the cause and became the new theatre's greatest champions, and exactly how director Paul Thompson once talked some local farmers into hoisting two live cows on and off stage every night - for art.
Tickets on sale now! 1.877.862.5984 | www.blythfestival.com
Bus transportation available from Stratford, Kitchener and London for select dates. Performance dates and details: https://blythfestival.com/tickets/stratford-bus/
We love your feedback. Send us your thoughts any time: [e-mail]
The Blyth Festival is supported by many amazing sponsors, along with our loyal Blyth Festival Members. Our season sponsor is Bruce Power. None of this could happen without you!
More about James Roy at Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia
Credits: Research/writing/host: Joanne Wallace | Sound design/production/editing: Jim Park

Music: Million Things I'd Rather Do, Binkley, via Epidemic Sound | Theme Achaidh Cheide, (c) Kevin MacLeod, licensed under CC BY 3.0