Page 99 - ESCARPMENT MAGAZINE | Spring 2013

99 Spring 2013 Escarpment Magazine
For a number of years I have been acquainted with Greg
and Suzanne Brown through our mutual volunteer work with the Tom
Thomson Trail. I knew they were dedicated, hard workers who were
willing to put in long hours to get the job done. What I didn’t know was
that Greg is also a budding playwright and theatre producer. That is,
until I saw his first production, Harvest Moon, at Meaford Hall. Needless to
say, I was impressed with Greg’s alter ego.
Harvest Moon hit the stage in the spring of 2011 to sellout crowds. An his-
torical drama set in Meaford and St. Vincent Township around 1900,
the play mixes a good amount of local history with a ‘boy meets girl’
story that fits seamlessly into the era. In an effort to utilize as much local
talent as possible, Harvest Moon’s huge cast was intentional on Greg’s part.
When I asked Greg how he got into writing and producing plays, he
explained that in the past, though he and Suzanne had been involved
in local theatre groups in other communities, they had never tackled
anything this grand. So they simply looked it up on the Internet… “What
are the duties of a theatre producer?”With the naivety and exuberance
of Mickey Rooney they thought, why not — and forged ahead.
When they moved to Meaford, the Georgian Theatre Festival was in
its final decline and the Browns felt it was unfortunate that a town with
a theatre like Meaford’s did not have a local theatre company. Greg
had been working on his play idea for a number of years and now he
had a mission. After researching local history Greg wrote several drafts
which Suzanne edited into a final script. He then passed the script to
Gary Simon, who would be directing the play. Gary filled in the stage
directions, blocking and character actions. He also made the final de-
cision on the ending as Greg had written several to choose from. From
this collaboration Harvest Moon was born.
Greg assembled financial support from the community, booked theatre
space and posted a casting call in the local media. The response to the
casting call was overwhelming. Before Harvest Moon was staged it was
thought that this might be a one off production, but with its success, the
Browns sat down with a core group of like-minded theatre enthusiasts
and decided to form the Meaford Community Theatre. From the start
all agreed that the group should be relaxed and manageable and
though not formally incorporated, they do have an executive committee
and charitable donations can be made through the Meaford Hall &
Culture Foundation. Wanting to maintain the local flavor of Harvest Moon
going forward, the group continued to seek out talent from within the
community for their productions instead of bringing in professionals. *
Community
Theatre thrives
in Meaford
{Hey kids, let’s put on a show!
~Mickey Rooney – Babes in Arms 1939