News from the Shaw Festival this week

Although the season has yet to begin, there is news on two fronts from the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake this week, both of great interest to fans of the Festival.

As you may have heard, the Shaw was hit by a strike last week - the first in the history of the Festival. It involved IATSE Local 461, which involves the Festival's Facilities Department, and the Production and Audience Sales and Services Departments. The strike began last week when talks broke down, so the picket lines went up in Niagara-on-the-Lake, which is something we're certainly unaccustomed to seeing outside the Festival Theatre as well as the smaller venues.

The parties returned to the bargaining table with a mediator on Thursday morning, and early Friday morning, following a marathon bargaining session, a tentative agreement was reached, giving the Facilities Department their first collective agreement, and tentative renewal agreements for the Production and Audience Sales and Services Departments. So, voting will be held shortly, and IATSE Local 461 is recommending ratification of all three tentative agreements, which means this strike should be short-lived.

Talking to Odette Yazbeck yesterday, the Public Relations Director says the strike will not affect the season, and everything will open as scheduled, which is a relief to everyone involved. A strike is never pleasant; I almost faced a strike situation with in my job at CKTB Radio in St. Catharines a number of years ago, and it was not something I was personally looking forward to. For people who would rather work than strike, it can be awful, so thankfully it was short lived and hopefully now resolved.

The other news from Shaw recently is the fact the Festival will celebrate the life of the late Goldie Semple on Sunday, March 28th at 3 pm in the Festival Theatre. Goldie, you might recall, died peacefully on December 9th at the age of 56 after a courageous battle with cancer. She left behind her husband of 33 years, Lorne Kennedy, and their 14 year old daughter, Madeline.

I wrote earlier this year of Goldie's passing, and the profound affect her career has had not only on me, but on so many other people over the years. The actor, teacher and mentor was certainly one of the most elegant performers on any stage anywhere, and her work at the Shaw and Stratford Festivals over the years has been exemplary. To single out just one or two particular performances would do a disservice to her other fine work, so suffice it to say, whatever Goldie put her mind to, we were all the better for it. I can honestly say, I have never seen a bad performance from Goldie.

We plan to be at the Festival Theatre next Sunday, and I hope a lot of her friends and fans will come out too, as we celebrate the life of one of our great artists who left us far too soon.

March 20th, 2010.