August 18, 2025 • 32 mins
A visionary broadcaster. A small-town station with big dreams. A new Canadian play with live music straight from the dawn of Canadian country music.
About This Episode
In this episode, actor and playwright Nathan Howe takes us behind the scenes of his brand-new play, Radio Town: The Doc Cruickshank Story.
The play chronicles the remarkable journey of Doc Cruickshank, the small-town visionary who founded CKNX Radio and Television in Wingham, Ontario and built it into a powerhouse of Canadian broadcasting.
We talk about:
- 📻 The history of CKNX and its role in Canadian broadcasting
- 🎶 Early Canadian country music and why it still resonates
- 🌾 How radio built — and connected — rural communities
- 🖋 The creative process behind writing Radio Town
- 🎼 The show’s live music, performed by the actors themselves — all skilled musicians playing songs from the era
Why You’ll Love This Episode
If you’re passionate about Canadian theatre, small-town stories, music history, or the roots of Canadian broadcasting, this conversation will transport you back in time and leave you eager to see what’s sure to become a new Canadian classic.
Tickets on sale now! 1.877.862.5984 | www.blythfestival.comÂ
Got something to say? Send me your thoughts any time. I read everything you write: jwallace@blythfestival.comÂ
The Blyth Festival Podcast is presented by our Exclusive Communications Partner, Tuckersmith Communications Co-operative (TCC). Thank you!
Today’s episode was recorded at the Wild Goose Studio https://wildgoosestudiocanada.square.site/ in downtown Blyth.
Credits: Producer/Host: Joanne Wallace | Sound Designer/Engineer: Jim Park
Music: Gotta Give Me Something, (theme); River Run Dry via Epidemic Sound; Wabash Cannonball, Al Widmeyer; Down Yonder, The Barn Dance Band, Red Wing/Crooked Stove Pipe, Bill Monkis; all from Saturday Night Barn Dance (Vols 1&2), Barn Dance Historical Society; I’ll Tell You Like It Is, Rikard From; The Waitress, Mac Taboel both via Epidemic Sound.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Joanne Wallace (00:04):
On one snowy day in 1926 Wilford Cruickshank was
puttering around the back roomof a small electronics shop. A
buddy of his arrived, he had thelatest issue of Popular
Mechanics magazine in his backpocket, and he said, Hey, Doc, I
thought this might interest you,and he opened the pages to an
article called How to build asimple transmitter. That was the
(00:30):
moment, the moment Wilford, akadoc Cruickshank, took his first
step onto the road that wouldlead to a little radio station
in Wingham, Ontario, a radiostation that changed everything,
Unknown (00:43):
coast to coast. People like old time music most, and
here from the wegham arena timefor the 26th anniversary, CKNX
Bar dance.
Joanne Wallace (00:52):
CKNX brought rural stories and country music
to Canadian airwaves for thevery first time. It was
ambitious, it was local. It wasa little bit crazy.
Playwright Nathan Howe hasturned this story into a new
play, and we're going to talkabout what it means to give a
(01:14):
community a voice and why thatstill matters today. You
Joanne, Hi, I'm Joanne Wallace,and this is the Blyth festival
podcast presented by TuckerSmith communications Co Op.
Today, I'm speaking withplaywright and performer Nathan
Howe, and I'll tell you moreabout this in just a minute, but
(01:36):
first, a couple of notes. OneThis episode marks the last in
our regular season for 2025 soafter today, we'll be saying
goodbye for a while. Now, thatsaid, Blyth will be bringing you
what's quickly becoming a newChristmas tradition in November
and December, and that is aremounting of our homegrown
holiday classic, a Huron CountyChristmas Carol. Two years ago,
(01:59):
I spoke with actor Randy Hughsonabout his tour de force
performance as Ebenezer Scroogein this piece, and I can confirm
Randy will be back and at hisvery scroogiest again this year.
So we'll reissue that episodefor you later on this fall, to
get you in the mood. And by theway, tickets for that show are
on sale right now. And secondly,I cannot confirm this, and it
(02:24):
might not come to pass. So letme just say this, if you are a
fan of a certain group of playsknown as the Wingfield follies,
keep an eye on your Blyth emailand social media feeds. That's
all I'm going to say for now.
But it could be very excitingnews. Okay, back to Nathan. Howe
Nathan is a Saskatoon basedactor and playwright. He's been
(02:47):
on Blyth stages many times as aperformer, and folks on the
fringe circuit in Western Canadawill certainly have seen a
number of his plays, but this isthe first time he's written an
entire show for us, the theatrecompany and the community he's
come to love. And that play iscalled Radio town, the doc
Cruickshank story, and it takesus to Wingham, Ontario, home of
(03:09):
CKNX radio, and also home to theman who turned a relentless
sense of curiosity into acultural powerhouse that changed
Canadian Broadcasting forever.
It's a story about broadcasting,yes, but it's also a story about
ambition, about tenacity, aboutlegacy, and mostly about what it
(03:31):
means to truly serve acommunity. So whether you're
planning to see the show, andyou totally should, or you've
already seen it, I think you'llfind a lot to chew on in this
conversation, so let's get toit. Hi Nathan, hello. Welcome to
the podcast, and thanks forbeing here. Thanks for having
me. All right, let's get goingfor listeners who don't know who
(03:55):
exactly was doc Cruickshank andwhy is his story important,
Nathan Howe (03:59):
Doc Cruickshank was a person from Wingham who kind
of stayed at the top oftechnology through his life. He
was ahead of everybody and aperson like that, you would
usually expect to move to,especially at the beginning of
radio, which, what, which waswhere he was starting to move to
(04:23):
a big city and work for one ofthe few radio stations in
Canada, but he decided to stayin Wingham and build build a
community, basically build upcommunity radio, agricultural
radio, and create a music sceneand create an industry in his
town so that people can live andwork there.
Joanne Wallace (04:45):
It's such a cool story, and there's a lot of
there's a lot of story here anda lot of history. So I'll get to
that in a minute. But first Iwanted to say, you grew up in
Saskatoon. Is that right? That'strue. So how? Did a guy from
Saskatoon get interested in thestory of a man who built a radio
station in Wingham, Ontario?
That's
Nathan Howe (05:07):
a great question, and that's a question that
people are asking me in Winghamall the time, which is
fantastic. Unfortunately, it's along story with a lot of
happenstance, but yeah, we're ona podcast, not in line at the
grocery store. So I when I wasmoving to Ontario, I had heard
of the Blyth Festival, and theydo new work, new Canadian work,
(05:33):
and I had a lot of friends whohad worked here and had
recommended it to me, andsomehow I was on tour with a
writer in residence, PhelanJohnson, and somehow word got to
the to Gil and the festival thatI played the saxophone, and so I
(05:53):
ended up here
Joanne Wallace (05:55):
in extra years because you played the
saxophone, yeah.
Nathan Howe (05:59):
So I moved to, I was going to move to Toronto
anyways, but I didn't have tolook for a place, because I was
going to spend all summer outhere. So I landed in Toronto
with a backpack and mysaxophone, and I felt like a
real cool artist. And then, andthen I came out here, which kind
of reminded me of home. Thelandscape is very similar, you
(06:21):
can, you know, see for days, andthe sky is huge. And I was here
for the next three seasons. Ireally loved the work. I really
loved the town.
Joanne Wallace (06:33):
And I should just say that you were here for
as an actor, not actually as a
Nathan Howe (06:37):
saxophone player, yes, yeah, yeah. I had, I had a,
you know, a small acting part ofthat, but then yeah, the next
two years, it was, yeah, I wasacting, and I was working on a
collective creation my nextseason, called wing night at the
boot. And I was, I kind of putmyself in charge of making the
music for that show. And to makethe music for that show, I
(07:00):
wanted to research into what themusic history was in the area,
who the big artists were and andso we got a tour of the barn
dance Museum in Wingham thatwas, at that time, already
closed, but not emptied. And itwas amazing, like it was a whole
scene was was in that town inthis area, yeah.
Joanne Wallace (07:21):
And I'll we'll get to a question about the barn
dance too, for listeners whomight not know what that was,
yes. But okay, so there you arein the barn dance Museum,
Nathan Howe (07:30):
yeah. And so I started learning about all these
artists, like musicians, whowere all from here and from the
area, who made a living as justmusicians and radio show hosts.
And then we went upstairs inthat museum, and I had my phone
flashlight out because therewere no lights on, and I walked
into a room that was a TVstudio, and it it was kind of
(07:54):
amazing to me. I don't like Iknow there were TV stations in
Saskatoon, but nothing. No onewas creating their own TV or
shows. It was news and, likesome some local programming,
advertisements, that kind ofthing. And it really kind of
piqued my interest and and thenI forgot about it because I had
(08:17):
to do a show. But then I waspitching shows to Gil and he's
like, Weren't you looking intodoc Cruickshank a bit and, and,
and so I went home and or I wentto the place I was staying in
Blyth, and I kind of took sometime to brainstorm what that
would look like as a play. I'ddone a lot of history plays in
(08:40):
my writing and and once, I kindof found the the hook of what,
you know, what connected me toDoc Cruickshank story, to the
theatre I, you know, I couldn'tstop writing. What was that
hook? I fell in love with thistheatre that tells local
(09:01):
stories, and the audience isthere, here, like going to watch
a show about themselves or theirrelatives, and Doc Cruickshank
spent his life doing that, andthe Blyth festival has spent its
history doing that, and it feltreally kind of Meta. And really,
(09:21):
I it was, I kind of got to writemy like, you know, my love
letter to the theatre and to thecommunity, after living here
Joanne Wallace (09:29):
in a lot of ways, this story, this doc, doc
Cruickshank story, is pureBlyth. It's profoundly local,
and it's based on a piece ofreal history, and it shines a
spotlight on a rural communitythat made a massive contribution
to something that turned out tobe of national importance. So I
(09:49):
wonder, can you talk a littlebit about the role that Doc and
CKNX played in the developmentof the Canadian Broadcasting
industry?
Nathan Howe (09:58):
Yeah, I could talk a bit about it. Um, I mean, it
was, it was at the beginning ofeverything. So there, Doc
Cruickshank is known as thegrandfather of agricultural
radio. He was kind of at thebeginning of community radio,
bringing community members on tospeak to the community. They
(10:20):
were kind of like early, likeearly to the Daily News, which
was a concept that is so like,you know, through my life, daily
news has, you know, now becomeinstant news. But back then,
like, it was a discussionbetween, you know, the doc
Cruickshank and his tiny team,and they had to like work with
(10:43):
the newspaper and also againstthe newspaper in ways too,
because that was, you know,Thursday was, was when the
weekly newspaper came out, andthere was a bit of trouble, I
guess, between the newspaper andthe radio station, because who
who could report the news, andwho was getting paid to bring
the news? And, I mean,
Joanne Wallace (11:00):
they started just by reading the newspaper on
the air. So that's great. Thankyou. And I know you talked about
the TV station that you saw whenyou went upstairs, yeah, in the
museum. And for people who maybedon't know the history of CKNX,
it did start as a radio station.
They later started a televisionstation, and you're going to see
all of this dramatised inNathan's play. So it's, it's
(11:24):
very cool, a fantastic story.
And you talked about the barndance earlier, so can you tell
us real quickly about what thebarn dance was? And then my next
question is going to be aboutthe role that CKNX And Doc
played in the development ofCanada's country music scene. So
maybe you could put those thingstogether for us.
Nathan Howe (11:45):
Yeah, yeah, I can, yeah. The barn dance was a live
show on Saturday nights, whereon the radio, on the radio,
yeah, it began. It began by thelike they were playing records,
and then they started invitinglive bands into the studio, and
(12:05):
then that, kind of like thatstarted basically the the roster
of, like, Country and Westernmusicians from this area, and,
you know, was kind of thecatalyst For many people to to
work as musicians, but the barndance, yeah, it was this
Saturday night show. Theystarted to get people to come,
(12:27):
like people were coming to thestation and watching through the
window. And you know that therewas a restaurant beside the
station, and so they could watchthe barn dance there too. So
they started taking it live, andthen they started touring to
community halls and town halls.
And basically the barn dancegrew and kept going until there
(12:49):
was a stop in the 80s and 90s.
But 2023 was the last barn dancethat's about that very long ago.
No, not at all. And it startedin 1936 it stopped playing on
the radio in, I think, 1970don't quote me on that. It was
(13:12):
near the near the end of Doc'stime at the station, but it
Joanne Wallace (13:17):
was on, it was on the television. Oh no, it was
at a different show on the TV
Nathan Howe (13:21):
station. It was a different show. They had a lot
of music shows on TV, but it wascircle eight. Ranch was kind of
the popular TV show version,
Joanne Wallace (13:30):
but, and it became the sort of Canadian
response to the Grand Ole Opry,right? Yes, totally, yeah. And I
mean, all that started inWingham, so yeah, it's a really
great story.
Okay, I want to talk about theactual play now and what
(13:53):
audiences can expect when theycome into the theatre. Doc is
our main character, but who elseare we going to meet
Nathan Howe (14:00):
his family, Mabel Cruickshank, as is his wife, Bud
Cruickshank is his son, and Johnis his brother. So we'll meet
the Cruickshank family, and thenso many characters over the 46
years that the play covers.
There will be, you know, somerecognisable barn dance
musicians, some many whocouldn't fit into the show.
(14:24):
It's, there's seven peoplecovering this much time. The
cast is a bunch of, like, multiinstrumental, like talented
Joanne Wallace (14:36):
folk. Yeah.
Actually, I was going to askyou, is there going to be a
band? Or how is, how is themusic going to be presented?
Nathan Howe (14:41):
Oh, yeah, the music is. It's a constant in the show.
And we've got people learninginstruments. So there, there is
a band, but there's no sturdylike person on bass, Gil. Gil
has been learning the bass forthe show. You. Um, so he's now
(15:02):
one of the four bass players inthe show.
Joanne Wallace (15:05):
Actually, we there was a panel discussion
about this show at our recentBonanza weekend, and our
director, your your Director ofMusic, George meanwell, told
quite an interesting story aboutthe bass players and how he was,
how it was a challenge to him toprogramme the music and arrange
(15:26):
it and whatnot, because itdepended on who was available
for the scene. Yeah,
Nathan Howe (15:31):
yeah. It's been a real like through through the
rehearsals, I've been doing somuch rewriting, and George has
been doing so much readjusting,as we find out, you know what,
what is needed to keep the showgoing, kind of thing. So it has
been a real, like,collaborative, like, push and
pull of like, well, this sceneneeds to happen here. Well, that
song has to happen here, and weneed this person on this.
Joanne Wallace (16:00):
There's a lot of really big moments in this
story, like we have the firstbarn dance, and we have the
decision to open a TV station,and spoiler alert, there was a
fire that actually happened thatburned everything down and so
on. I found when I was readingthe script, your scripted stage
directions around some of thisstuff are so intriguing, they
(16:23):
almost read like a cinematicallyto me. And I know you have a
reputation for this kind ofimaginative, minimalist style in
your writing. Can you talk a bitabout how this is evolving in
the rehearsal hall and what someof these moments are going to
look like.
Nathan Howe (16:42):
A lot of it comes to necessity. What we can what
we can physically do with, youknow, seven people, three of
them have to be in a band. Twoof them have to move set pieces.
Maybe three of them have to moveset pieces. So a lot of you
know, this is, this is the thingwith writing theatres. A lot of
stage directions are, they helptell the story, but are rarely
(17:05):
shown on stage.
Joanne Wallace (17:07):
All right, we are going to take a short break
now, but don't go away, becauseI'm really interested in this
part of the conversation. And wecome back. I'm going to ask
Nathan a little bit more aboutthe craft of playwriting. We're
also going to chat about therole technology plays in doc
story and about the profound actof community building that this
whole story captures, andwhether we might be able to
(17:29):
harness that energy today, sowe'll be right back.
There's more to come, but firsta quick reminder that tickets to
radio town the doc Cruickshankstory are on sale right now. You
can orderthem@www.blythfestival.com or
(17:49):
you can call Nathania or Audrey,or any of our other friendly box
office staff for help. I'llleave the box office number for
you in the show notes below. Ialso want to give a quick shout
out, as usual, to our exclusivecommunications partner, Tucker
Smith communications Co Op. Iknow I keep talking about them,
but they are a full servicetelecom provider serving Huron
(18:12):
County. They are also ourinternet provider, and we cannot
run this theatre without them.
And our actors love them too,because they really enjoy having
internet in their temporarysummer apartments. On top of
that, they sponsor this podcast,and we are very grateful. Oh,
they also sponsor our exclusivemembers newsletter, which you
will get anytime you make a giftto the Blyth festival, because
(18:34):
when you do, you become a memberof our family, and we will send
you this newsletter, which Iwrite, and personally think is
fabulous. So thank you to allour members. Thank you. TCC, we
couldn't make this podcastwithout you. All right, let's
get back to my chat with Nathan.
Howe. Nathan, I want to talkmore about the craft of
(18:57):
playwriting, because this act ofsupporting writers as they go
about creating new Canadianplays that capture our history
and our understanding of who weare, etc. This is our our core
mandate at the Blyth festival.
So I know that a lot of ourlisteners are are really deeply
interested in how it all works,and we could do an entire
episode play writing. But let mejust start here. CKNX was all
(19:19):
about sound, right? Voices,music, radio. So as a
playwright, how did you thinkabout translating all of that
into something visual and livethat we could see in front of
us?
Nathan Howe (19:37):
That's a great question. Yeah. I mean simple
answer, it's, it's the mediumthat I that I'm working in. But
longer answer, I suppose it, itis the The play is about the
people who who made the noise.
And so while we still dramatisethat. That, like the the
(19:59):
performances and the radioshows, it is like, what, you
know, what were these peoplegoing through? Why did they
choose to do what they did andand, you know, always putting
people on stage is somethingthat I find, I connect to and
(20:20):
find more, you know, real andauthentic than really, any other
medium.
Joanne Wallace (20:28):
Yeah, yeah.
There's a beautiful section ofthe play that takes us through
the war years, for example. Soit's a very, it's deeply human
piece of the story, right?
Nathan Howe (20:41):
Yes, yeah. And that feeling of, like, you know
someone leaving and you maynever see them again, or that
feeling of of of distance andlike fear that you know the
world is about to change, Ithink, is something that that
yeah, that we can all connect toand that that was a very
(21:03):
important part of like the thegrowth of those people, as well
as the radio station it, youknow Well, while everyone is is
shutting down and change, andbusinesses are changing the way
that they operate to help thewar effort. The radio station
(21:24):
became very important forgetting the news out to this
whole part of the world.
Joanne Wallace (21:36):
What about the music we were talking about this
before the break. Early countrymusic is woven throughout the
show and is part of the story.
Again, with your writing hat on,what role does that music play
like, not just historically, butmaybe emotionally or
thematically?
Nathan Howe (21:56):
Yeah. I mean, there's, there's a wealth of
music from the era that wasplayed on the station, and I
have the luxury of being able tobring these musicians onto the
stage as characters. So I as Iwas like finding everything that
(22:17):
I could and digitising whateverI could find, I started
whittling songs down as I as Ilistened to it, as I wrote. So
there are a few songs that thatwork for the characters to tell
their own story. There are a fewsongs that kind of put us in
like a time period. And youknow, we can hear the
(22:40):
advancements in the songwritingfor the people too. We've got
Earl Haywood at the beginningand near the end of his career,
and you can hear the the qualityin his writing and how much
he's, he's he's grown throughthat time. Yeah, it plays a huge
role in, like, so many differentways in this show, like,
(23:05):
emotionally, yeah andphysically, I guess we get to
see how it happens.
Joanne Wallace (23:19):
Okay, we've talked about technology. You've
mentioned it a couple of timesbefore the break. This is a
story about a man in a radiostation, but it's also a story
about technology, and it's aboutwhat happens when a new medium
comes along and it reshapes howpeople connect and create and
understand the world. So we arenow facing another wave of
(23:42):
potentially disruptivetechnology. AI, so what did
telling this story lead you toreflect on in terms of how
technology changes us, and howwe can maybe harness it for good
instead of evil?
Nathan Howe (24:01):
That's a fair question. I wish I had a concise
answer, or, like, had a greatanswer. I mean, the this wave of
radio and then television, likethey were waves, right? Like,
now we think of radio assomething that like, Oh, you,
(24:22):
you turn on every once in awhile, but it was, it was
important and integral to thecommunity then. And the same
with television. It was local,it was important, it was
integral. And then came alongcable, and that shut so many
stations down, and then camealong streaming and that such so
shut down so much cable. Soit's, it's really, I mean, where
(24:46):
I found some faith in there wasthat, like AI, is going to have
its its end. It might take myjob for a while, but then people
are going to want somethinghuman, because people are human.
And. Hmm, so that's like, kindof the hope that I found in
that, but it is like, it's alsoa story of like, of people will
(25:11):
always like, persist and keepon, keep on changing and
finding, finding new ways ofcommunicating with each other.
So while we might be in an eraof disinformation at the moment
that you know that may have itsthat wave may crash into the
shore soon,
Joanne Wallace (25:32):
actually, since you mentioned the community
piece, this is, I mean, this isthe heart of the story. I think
when I was reading the script, Ifelt how deeply this story is
about that, about buildingcommunity. It's about giving
people a voice, bringing themtogether, helping a small rural
(25:53):
place see itself as part ofsomething bigger. It It feels
almost impossible to imaginecreating something like seek
annex today in because ourcommunication and our
entertainment has all become sohomogenised. Do you think we've
lost something like, is this apure nostalgia play, or is there
(26:15):
something in it that we canstill learn from?
Nathan Howe (26:18):
That's a great question. I mean, I always
believe there's something we canlearn from, from looking back at
history and and, you know, Docsays it in, in the play is the
world is smaller now we all haveaccess to like we can reach
further than we used to be ableto. So while I feel like, yes,
(26:41):
it is an nostalgia play in someways, there's also like
actionable ways to like, to toreach, reach out to your
community, to kind of createyour own community at this time,
which you know, again, has ledto some evil in the world. And
(27:01):
this is the question, yeah, it'sa great question.
Joanne Wallace (27:04):
I want to be able to go back in time and have
radio stations all over again.
Yeah,
Nathan Howe (27:08):
right. I mean, you never know. You could always go
back. That might be, you know,we might all find that we should
go back. We should like, go backto, you know, opening coffee
shops in towns and gatheringplaces so that we can talk to
each other face to face, becausethe way that we're not talking
to each other face to face isn'treally working. You know, I
(27:30):
talked before about like, thewaves of like technology and
changes in humanity. You know,this might just be another one
where once we, you know, get toa certain point where we can
stop and look inwards. You know,we might take something and
learn from it and and go back tolooking after our neighbours.
Joanne Wallace (28:00):
If doc himself could tune in from the
afterlife, what do you think hewould say about this play?
Nathan Howe (28:10):
That's an excellent question. I mean, if I hope that
he would, he would look at theplay and and like I hoped there
would be proud, because I feellike just the act of doing the
play the local story is kind ofwhat he lived for, at least my
(28:34):
reading of that, you know, it'shard not to read that into
someone who decided to stay anddecided to build where he was,
yeah, so I hope that there issome pride. I imagine he would
probably put his hands on hiships and go, No, that's not how
that happened sometimes,because, you know, as I said, a
(28:56):
lot of stuff burned down. Soresearch was was fraught. And I
mean, like, I hope a little bitthat, because the Blyth festival
started a few years after hisdeath. Like, you know, if, if
he's looking down at the place,I hope that he's already aware
that this, this stage, is kindof carrying on what what he was
(29:21):
building in the area.
Joanne Wallace (29:23):
Thank you.
Nathan, this has been so muchfun, one of us could stop
talking. However, I'm going tosqueeze one more question in.
Tell us what's next for you.
Nathan Howe (29:34):
What's next for me?
I am going to Victoria now toact in a play. It's a Michael
Healy play. So Michael Healy,some of his work has been done
here. The drawer boy was themost recent one. It's a Michael
Healey play about theConservative government in 1979
the night before a nonconfidence vote happened. So I'm
(29:56):
playing Joe Clark. Who short runas prime minister?
Joanne Wallace (30:04):
All right, you heard it here first, folks, if
any of you are out west, you cancatch Nathan at the belfry
theatre. What's the name of theshow? 1979 All right. And if
you're not in Victoria andyou're here in Ontario, then you
need to get yourself to Blyth soyou can catch this amazing show
about doc Cruickshank and CKNX.
Thanks for everything.
Nathan Howe (30:24):
Nathan, thank you.
Thanks for having me. We'll talkto you again.
Joanne Wallace (30:35):
That was playwright, actor and all
around, nice guy. Nathan. Howe,tickets for Nathan's play radio
town the doc Cruickshank storyare on sale now, and we would
love to have you join us forthis fabulous premiere. Again.
You'll find the box officenumber in the show notes below.
Now here is where I usually say,please Like and Subscribe Us For
more great conversations, whichyou should still totally do, but
(30:59):
we will be on hiatus now untilnext season, that is unless a
certain exciting event possiblyrelated or not to Wingfield
farms, takes place, in whichcase we will bring you an
episode all about that. So yes,you really should subscribe.
Today's episode was recorded inthe beautiful wild goose studio
(31:19):
in Blyth, and you shouldabsolutely visit when you're
here. The gallery is filled withstunning pieces and hosted by
the charming Hans Van Vliet andhis partner, Cindy McKenna. And
Hans and Cindy also run agorgeous B and B on the upper
level. So call them if you needa place to stay. We're right
across the street from thetheatre. Thank you so much for
(31:40):
being with us again this season.
Thank you for listening soclosely, for sending me all your
lovely cards and emails.
Everything we do at the Blythfestival is really about
building a community of peoplewho love Canadian theatre, and
this podcast is no exception,which means you are a massive
part of its success, the sameway you are a massive part of
(32:01):
the success of anything we do.
So thank you from the bottom ofmy heart. A final shout out to
Tucker Smith communications CoOp, who will be sponsoring us
again for another two wholeyears. And finally, a special
thanks to my tireless,unflappable sound engineer, Jim
Park. Jim puts up with morenonsense than you could ever
(32:22):
possibly imagine. He's aconsummate Pro, and we're lucky
to have him. I'm Joanne Wallace,until next time, thanks for
listening. You.
On one snowy day in 1926 Wilford Cruickshank was
puttering around the back roomof a small electronics shop. A
buddy of his arrived, he had thelatest issue of Popular
Mechanics magazine in his backpocket, and he said, Hey, Doc, I
thought this might interest you,and he opened the pages to an
article called How to build asimple transmitter. That was the
(00:30):
moment, the moment Wilford, akadoc Cruickshank, took his first
step onto the road that wouldlead to a little radio station
in Wingham, Ontario, a radiostation that changed everything,
Unknown (00:43):
coast to coast. People like old time music most, and
here from the wegham arena timefor the 26th anniversary, CKNX
Bar dance.
Joanne Wallace (00:52):
CKNX brought rural stories and country music
to Canadian airwaves for thevery first time. It was
ambitious, it was local. It wasa little bit crazy.
Playwright Nathan Howe hasturned this story into a new
play, and we're going to talkabout what it means to give a
(01:14):
community a voice and why thatstill matters today. You
Joanne, Hi, I'm Joanne Wallace,and this is the Blyth festival
podcast presented by TuckerSmith communications Co Op.
Today, I'm speaking withplaywright and performer Nathan
Howe, and I'll tell you moreabout this in just a minute, but
(01:36):
first, a couple of notes. OneThis episode marks the last in
our regular season for 2025 soafter today, we'll be saying
goodbye for a while. Now, thatsaid, Blyth will be bringing you
what's quickly becoming a newChristmas tradition in November
and December, and that is aremounting of our homegrown
holiday classic, a Huron CountyChristmas Carol. Two years ago,
(01:59):
I spoke with actor Randy Hughsonabout his tour de force
performance as Ebenezer Scroogein this piece, and I can confirm
Randy will be back and at hisvery scroogiest again this year.
So we'll reissue that episodefor you later on this fall, to
get you in the mood. And by theway, tickets for that show are
on sale right now. And secondly,I cannot confirm this, and it
(02:24):
might not come to pass. So letme just say this, if you are a
fan of a certain group of playsknown as the Wingfield follies,
keep an eye on your Blyth emailand social media feeds. That's
all I'm going to say for now.
But it could be very excitingnews. Okay, back to Nathan. Howe
Nathan is a Saskatoon basedactor and playwright. He's been
(02:47):
on Blyth stages many times as aperformer, and folks on the
fringe circuit in Western Canadawill certainly have seen a
number of his plays, but this isthe first time he's written an
entire show for us, the theatrecompany and the community he's
come to love. And that play iscalled Radio town, the doc
Cruickshank story, and it takesus to Wingham, Ontario, home of
(03:09):
CKNX radio, and also home to theman who turned a relentless
sense of curiosity into acultural powerhouse that changed
Canadian Broadcasting forever.
It's a story about broadcasting,yes, but it's also a story about
ambition, about tenacity, aboutlegacy, and mostly about what it
(03:31):
means to truly serve acommunity. So whether you're
planning to see the show, andyou totally should, or you've
already seen it, I think you'llfind a lot to chew on in this
conversation, so let's get toit. Hi Nathan, hello. Welcome to
the podcast, and thanks forbeing here. Thanks for having
me. All right, let's get goingfor listeners who don't know who
(03:55):
exactly was doc Cruickshank andwhy is his story important,
Nathan Howe (03:59):
Doc Cruickshank was a person from Wingham who kind
of stayed at the top oftechnology through his life. He
was ahead of everybody and aperson like that, you would
usually expect to move to,especially at the beginning of
radio, which, what, which waswhere he was starting to move to
(04:23):
a big city and work for one ofthe few radio stations in
Canada, but he decided to stayin Wingham and build build a
community, basically build upcommunity radio, agricultural
radio, and create a music sceneand create an industry in his
town so that people can live andwork there.
Joanne Wallace (04:45):
It's such a cool story, and there's a lot of
there's a lot of story here anda lot of history. So I'll get to
that in a minute. But first Iwanted to say, you grew up in
Saskatoon. Is that right? That'strue. So how? Did a guy from
Saskatoon get interested in thestory of a man who built a radio
station in Wingham, Ontario?
That's
Nathan Howe (05:07):
a great question, and that's a question that
people are asking me in Winghamall the time, which is
fantastic. Unfortunately, it's along story with a lot of
happenstance, but yeah, we're ona podcast, not in line at the
grocery store. So I when I wasmoving to Ontario, I had heard
of the Blyth Festival, and theydo new work, new Canadian work,
(05:33):
and I had a lot of friends whohad worked here and had
recommended it to me, andsomehow I was on tour with a
writer in residence, PhelanJohnson, and somehow word got to
the to Gil and the festival thatI played the saxophone, and so I
(05:53):
ended up here
Joanne Wallace (05:55):
in extra years because you played the
saxophone, yeah.
Nathan Howe (05:59):
So I moved to, I was going to move to Toronto
anyways, but I didn't have tolook for a place, because I was
going to spend all summer outhere. So I landed in Toronto
with a backpack and mysaxophone, and I felt like a
real cool artist. And then, andthen I came out here, which kind
of reminded me of home. Thelandscape is very similar, you
(06:21):
can, you know, see for days, andthe sky is huge. And I was here
for the next three seasons. Ireally loved the work. I really
loved the town.
Joanne Wallace (06:33):
And I should just say that you were here for
as an actor, not actually as a
Nathan Howe (06:37):
saxophone player, yes, yeah, yeah. I had, I had a,
you know, a small acting part ofthat, but then yeah, the next
two years, it was, yeah, I wasacting, and I was working on a
collective creation my nextseason, called wing night at the
boot. And I was, I kind of putmyself in charge of making the
music for that show. And to makethe music for that show, I
(07:00):
wanted to research into what themusic history was in the area,
who the big artists were and andso we got a tour of the barn
dance Museum in Wingham thatwas, at that time, already
closed, but not emptied. And itwas amazing, like it was a whole
scene was was in that town inthis area, yeah.
Joanne Wallace (07:21):
And I'll we'll get to a question about the barn
dance too, for listeners whomight not know what that was,
yes. But okay, so there you arein the barn dance Museum,
Nathan Howe (07:30):
yeah. And so I started learning about all these
artists, like musicians, whowere all from here and from the
area, who made a living as justmusicians and radio show hosts.
And then we went upstairs inthat museum, and I had my phone
flashlight out because therewere no lights on, and I walked
into a room that was a TVstudio, and it it was kind of
(07:54):
amazing to me. I don't like Iknow there were TV stations in
Saskatoon, but nothing. No onewas creating their own TV or
shows. It was news and, likesome some local programming,
advertisements, that kind ofthing. And it really kind of
piqued my interest and and thenI forgot about it because I had
(08:17):
to do a show. But then I waspitching shows to Gil and he's
like, Weren't you looking intodoc Cruickshank a bit and, and,
and so I went home and or I wentto the place I was staying in
Blyth, and I kind of took sometime to brainstorm what that
would look like as a play. I'ddone a lot of history plays in
(08:40):
my writing and and once, I kindof found the the hook of what,
you know, what connected me toDoc Cruickshank story, to the
theatre I, you know, I couldn'tstop writing. What was that
hook? I fell in love with thistheatre that tells local
(09:01):
stories, and the audience isthere, here, like going to watch
a show about themselves or theirrelatives, and Doc Cruickshank
spent his life doing that, andthe Blyth festival has spent its
history doing that, and it feltreally kind of Meta. And really,
(09:21):
I it was, I kind of got to writemy like, you know, my love
letter to the theatre and to thecommunity, after living here
Joanne Wallace (09:29):
in a lot of ways, this story, this doc, doc
Cruickshank story, is pureBlyth. It's profoundly local,
and it's based on a piece ofreal history, and it shines a
spotlight on a rural communitythat made a massive contribution
to something that turned out tobe of national importance. So I
(09:49):
wonder, can you talk a littlebit about the role that Doc and
CKNX played in the developmentof the Canadian Broadcasting
industry?
Nathan Howe (09:58):
Yeah, I could talk a bit about it. Um, I mean, it
was, it was at the beginning ofeverything. So there, Doc
Cruickshank is known as thegrandfather of agricultural
radio. He was kind of at thebeginning of community radio,
bringing community members on tospeak to the community. They
(10:20):
were kind of like early, likeearly to the Daily News, which
was a concept that is so like,you know, through my life, daily
news has, you know, now becomeinstant news. But back then,
like, it was a discussionbetween, you know, the doc
Cruickshank and his tiny team,and they had to like work with
(10:43):
the newspaper and also againstthe newspaper in ways too,
because that was, you know,Thursday was, was when the
weekly newspaper came out, andthere was a bit of trouble, I
guess, between the newspaper andthe radio station, because who
who could report the news, andwho was getting paid to bring
the news? And, I mean,
Joanne Wallace (11:00):
they started just by reading the newspaper on
the air. So that's great. Thankyou. And I know you talked about
the TV station that you saw whenyou went upstairs, yeah, in the
museum. And for people who maybedon't know the history of CKNX,
it did start as a radio station.
They later started a televisionstation, and you're going to see
all of this dramatised inNathan's play. So it's, it's
(11:24):
very cool, a fantastic story.
And you talked about the barndance earlier, so can you tell
us real quickly about what thebarn dance was? And then my next
question is going to be aboutthe role that CKNX And Doc
played in the development ofCanada's country music scene. So
maybe you could put those thingstogether for us.
Nathan Howe (11:45):
Yeah, yeah, I can, yeah. The barn dance was a live
show on Saturday nights, whereon the radio, on the radio,
yeah, it began. It began by thelike they were playing records,
and then they started invitinglive bands into the studio, and
(12:05):
then that, kind of like thatstarted basically the the roster
of, like, Country and Westernmusicians from this area, and,
you know, was kind of thecatalyst For many people to to
work as musicians, but the barndance, yeah, it was this
Saturday night show. Theystarted to get people to come,
(12:27):
like people were coming to thestation and watching through the
window. And you know that therewas a restaurant beside the
station, and so they could watchthe barn dance there too. So
they started taking it live, andthen they started touring to
community halls and town halls.
And basically the barn dancegrew and kept going until there
(12:49):
was a stop in the 80s and 90s.
But 2023 was the last barn dancethat's about that very long ago.
No, not at all. And it startedin 1936 it stopped playing on
the radio in, I think, 1970don't quote me on that. It was
(13:12):
near the near the end of Doc'stime at the station, but it
Joanne Wallace (13:17):
was on, it was on the television. Oh no, it was
at a different show on the TV
Nathan Howe (13:21):
station. It was a different show. They had a lot
of music shows on TV, but it wascircle eight. Ranch was kind of
the popular TV show version,
Joanne Wallace (13:30):
but, and it became the sort of Canadian
response to the Grand Ole Opry,right? Yes, totally, yeah. And I
mean, all that started inWingham, so yeah, it's a really
great story.
Okay, I want to talk about theactual play now and what
(13:53):
audiences can expect when theycome into the theatre. Doc is
our main character, but who elseare we going to meet
Nathan Howe (14:00):
his family, Mabel Cruickshank, as is his wife, Bud
Cruickshank is his son, and Johnis his brother. So we'll meet
the Cruickshank family, and thenso many characters over the 46
years that the play covers.
There will be, you know, somerecognisable barn dance
musicians, some many whocouldn't fit into the show.
(14:24):
It's, there's seven peoplecovering this much time. The
cast is a bunch of, like, multiinstrumental, like talented
Joanne Wallace (14:36):
folk. Yeah.
Actually, I was going to askyou, is there going to be a
band? Or how is, how is themusic going to be presented?
Nathan Howe (14:41):
Oh, yeah, the music is. It's a constant in the show.
And we've got people learninginstruments. So there, there is
a band, but there's no sturdylike person on bass, Gil. Gil
has been learning the bass forthe show. You. Um, so he's now
(15:02):
one of the four bass players inthe show.
Joanne Wallace (15:05):
Actually, we there was a panel discussion
about this show at our recentBonanza weekend, and our
director, your your Director ofMusic, George meanwell, told
quite an interesting story aboutthe bass players and how he was,
how it was a challenge to him toprogramme the music and arrange
(15:26):
it and whatnot, because itdepended on who was available
for the scene. Yeah,
Nathan Howe (15:31):
yeah. It's been a real like through through the
rehearsals, I've been doing somuch rewriting, and George has
been doing so much readjusting,as we find out, you know what,
what is needed to keep the showgoing, kind of thing. So it has
been a real, like,collaborative, like, push and
pull of like, well, this sceneneeds to happen here. Well, that
song has to happen here, and weneed this person on this.
Joanne Wallace (16:00):
There's a lot of really big moments in this
story, like we have the firstbarn dance, and we have the
decision to open a TV station,and spoiler alert, there was a
fire that actually happened thatburned everything down and so
on. I found when I was readingthe script, your scripted stage
directions around some of thisstuff are so intriguing, they
(16:23):
almost read like a cinematicallyto me. And I know you have a
reputation for this kind ofimaginative, minimalist style in
your writing. Can you talk a bitabout how this is evolving in
the rehearsal hall and what someof these moments are going to
look like.
Nathan Howe (16:42):
A lot of it comes to necessity. What we can what
we can physically do with, youknow, seven people, three of
them have to be in a band. Twoof them have to move set pieces.
Maybe three of them have to moveset pieces. So a lot of you
know, this is, this is the thingwith writing theatres. A lot of
stage directions are, they helptell the story, but are rarely
(17:05):
shown on stage.
Joanne Wallace (17:07):
All right, we are going to take a short break
now, but don't go away, becauseI'm really interested in this
part of the conversation. And wecome back. I'm going to ask
Nathan a little bit more aboutthe craft of playwriting. We're
also going to chat about therole technology plays in doc
story and about the profound actof community building that this
whole story captures, andwhether we might be able to
(17:29):
harness that energy today, sowe'll be right back.
There's more to come, but firsta quick reminder that tickets to
radio town the doc Cruickshankstory are on sale right now. You
can orderthem@www.blythfestival.com or
(17:49):
you can call Nathania or Audrey,or any of our other friendly box
office staff for help. I'llleave the box office number for
you in the show notes below. Ialso want to give a quick shout
out, as usual, to our exclusivecommunications partner, Tucker
Smith communications Co Op. Iknow I keep talking about them,
but they are a full servicetelecom provider serving Huron
(18:12):
County. They are also ourinternet provider, and we cannot
run this theatre without them.
And our actors love them too,because they really enjoy having
internet in their temporarysummer apartments. On top of
that, they sponsor this podcast,and we are very grateful. Oh,
they also sponsor our exclusivemembers newsletter, which you
will get anytime you make a giftto the Blyth festival, because
(18:34):
when you do, you become a memberof our family, and we will send
you this newsletter, which Iwrite, and personally think is
fabulous. So thank you to allour members. Thank you. TCC, we
couldn't make this podcastwithout you. All right, let's
get back to my chat with Nathan.
Howe. Nathan, I want to talkmore about the craft of
(18:57):
playwriting, because this act ofsupporting writers as they go
about creating new Canadianplays that capture our history
and our understanding of who weare, etc. This is our our core
mandate at the Blyth festival.
So I know that a lot of ourlisteners are are really deeply
interested in how it all works,and we could do an entire
episode play writing. But let mejust start here. CKNX was all
(19:19):
about sound, right? Voices,music, radio. So as a
playwright, how did you thinkabout translating all of that
into something visual and livethat we could see in front of
us?
Nathan Howe (19:37):
That's a great question. Yeah. I mean simple
answer, it's, it's the mediumthat I that I'm working in. But
longer answer, I suppose it, itis the The play is about the
people who who made the noise.
And so while we still dramatisethat. That, like the the
(19:59):
performances and the radioshows, it is like, what, you
know, what were these peoplegoing through? Why did they
choose to do what they did andand, you know, always putting
people on stage is somethingthat I find, I connect to and
(20:20):
find more, you know, real andauthentic than really, any other
medium.
Joanne Wallace (20:28):
Yeah, yeah.
There's a beautiful section ofthe play that takes us through
the war years, for example. Soit's a very, it's deeply human
piece of the story, right?
Nathan Howe (20:41):
Yes, yeah. And that feeling of, like, you know
someone leaving and you maynever see them again, or that
feeling of of of distance andlike fear that you know the
world is about to change, Ithink, is something that that
yeah, that we can all connect toand that that was a very
(21:03):
important part of like the thegrowth of those people, as well
as the radio station it, youknow Well, while everyone is is
shutting down and change, andbusinesses are changing the way
that they operate to help thewar effort. The radio station
(21:24):
became very important forgetting the news out to this
whole part of the world.
Joanne Wallace (21:36):
What about the music we were talking about this
before the break. Early countrymusic is woven throughout the
show and is part of the story.
Again, with your writing hat on,what role does that music play
like, not just historically, butmaybe emotionally or
thematically?
Nathan Howe (21:56):
Yeah. I mean, there's, there's a wealth of
music from the era that wasplayed on the station, and I
have the luxury of being able tobring these musicians onto the
stage as characters. So I as Iwas like finding everything that
(22:17):
I could and digitising whateverI could find, I started
whittling songs down as I as Ilistened to it, as I wrote. So
there are a few songs that thatwork for the characters to tell
their own story. There are a fewsongs that kind of put us in
like a time period. And youknow, we can hear the
(22:40):
advancements in the songwritingfor the people too. We've got
Earl Haywood at the beginningand near the end of his career,
and you can hear the the qualityin his writing and how much
he's, he's he's grown throughthat time. Yeah, it plays a huge
role in, like, so many differentways in this show, like,
(23:05):
emotionally, yeah andphysically, I guess we get to
see how it happens.
Joanne Wallace (23:19):
Okay, we've talked about technology. You've
mentioned it a couple of timesbefore the break. This is a
story about a man in a radiostation, but it's also a story
about technology, and it's aboutwhat happens when a new medium
comes along and it reshapes howpeople connect and create and
understand the world. So we arenow facing another wave of
(23:42):
potentially disruptivetechnology. AI, so what did
telling this story lead you toreflect on in terms of how
technology changes us, and howwe can maybe harness it for good
instead of evil?
Nathan Howe (24:01):
That's a fair question. I wish I had a concise
answer, or, like, had a greatanswer. I mean, the this wave of
radio and then television, likethey were waves, right? Like,
now we think of radio assomething that like, Oh, you,
(24:22):
you turn on every once in awhile, but it was, it was
important and integral to thecommunity then. And the same
with television. It was local,it was important, it was
integral. And then came alongcable, and that shut so many
stations down, and then camealong streaming and that such so
shut down so much cable. Soit's, it's really, I mean, where
(24:46):
I found some faith in there wasthat, like AI, is going to have
its its end. It might take myjob for a while, but then people
are going to want somethinghuman, because people are human.
And. Hmm, so that's like, kindof the hope that I found in
that, but it is like, it's alsoa story of like, of people will
(25:11):
always like, persist and keepon, keep on changing and
finding, finding new ways ofcommunicating with each other.
So while we might be in an eraof disinformation at the moment
that you know that may have itsthat wave may crash into the
shore soon,
Joanne Wallace (25:32):
actually, since you mentioned the community
piece, this is, I mean, this isthe heart of the story. I think
when I was reading the script, Ifelt how deeply this story is
about that, about buildingcommunity. It's about giving
people a voice, bringing themtogether, helping a small rural
(25:53):
place see itself as part ofsomething bigger. It It feels
almost impossible to imaginecreating something like seek
annex today in because ourcommunication and our
entertainment has all become sohomogenised. Do you think we've
lost something like, is this apure nostalgia play, or is there
(26:15):
something in it that we canstill learn from?
Nathan Howe (26:18):
That's a great question. I mean, I always
believe there's something we canlearn from, from looking back at
history and and, you know, Docsays it in, in the play is the
world is smaller now we all haveaccess to like we can reach
further than we used to be ableto. So while I feel like, yes,
(26:41):
it is an nostalgia play in someways, there's also like
actionable ways to like, to toreach, reach out to your
community, to kind of createyour own community at this time,
which you know, again, has ledto some evil in the world. And
(27:01):
this is the question, yeah, it'sa great question.
Joanne Wallace (27:04):
I want to be able to go back in time and have
radio stations all over again.
Yeah,
Nathan Howe (27:08):
right. I mean, you never know. You could always go
back. That might be, you know,we might all find that we should
go back. We should like, go backto, you know, opening coffee
shops in towns and gatheringplaces so that we can talk to
each other face to face, becausethe way that we're not talking
to each other face to face isn'treally working. You know, I
(27:30):
talked before about like, thewaves of like technology and
changes in humanity. You know,this might just be another one
where once we, you know, get toa certain point where we can
stop and look inwards. You know,we might take something and
learn from it and and go back tolooking after our neighbours.
Joanne Wallace (28:00):
If doc himself could tune in from the
afterlife, what do you think hewould say about this play?
Nathan Howe (28:10):
That's an excellent question. I mean, if I hope that
he would, he would look at theplay and and like I hoped there
would be proud, because I feellike just the act of doing the
play the local story is kind ofwhat he lived for, at least my
(28:34):
reading of that, you know, it'shard not to read that into
someone who decided to stay anddecided to build where he was,
yeah, so I hope that there issome pride. I imagine he would
probably put his hands on hiships and go, No, that's not how
that happened sometimes,because, you know, as I said, a
(28:56):
lot of stuff burned down. Soresearch was was fraught. And I
mean, like, I hope a little bitthat, because the Blyth festival
started a few years after hisdeath. Like, you know, if, if
he's looking down at the place,I hope that he's already aware
that this, this stage, is kindof carrying on what what he was
(29:21):
building in the area.
Joanne Wallace (29:23):
Thank you.
Nathan, this has been so muchfun, one of us could stop
talking. However, I'm going tosqueeze one more question in.
Tell us what's next for you.
Nathan Howe (29:34):
What's next for me?
I am going to Victoria now toact in a play. It's a Michael
Healy play. So Michael Healy,some of his work has been done
here. The drawer boy was themost recent one. It's a Michael
Healey play about theConservative government in 1979
the night before a nonconfidence vote happened. So I'm
(29:56):
playing Joe Clark. Who short runas prime minister?
Joanne Wallace (30:04):
All right, you heard it here first, folks, if
any of you are out west, you cancatch Nathan at the belfry
theatre. What's the name of theshow? 1979 All right. And if
you're not in Victoria andyou're here in Ontario, then you
need to get yourself to Blyth soyou can catch this amazing show
about doc Cruickshank and CKNX.
Thanks for everything.
Nathan Howe (30:24):
Nathan, thank you.
Thanks for having me. We'll talkto you again.
Joanne Wallace (30:35):
That was playwright, actor and all
around, nice guy. Nathan. Howe,tickets for Nathan's play radio
town the doc Cruickshank storyare on sale now, and we would
love to have you join us forthis fabulous premiere. Again.
You'll find the box officenumber in the show notes below.
Now here is where I usually say,please Like and Subscribe Us For
more great conversations, whichyou should still totally do, but
(30:59):
we will be on hiatus now untilnext season, that is unless a
certain exciting event possiblyrelated or not to Wingfield
farms, takes place, in whichcase we will bring you an
episode all about that. So yes,you really should subscribe.
Today's episode was recorded inthe beautiful wild goose studio
(31:19):
in Blyth, and you shouldabsolutely visit when you're
here. The gallery is filled withstunning pieces and hosted by
the charming Hans Van Vliet andhis partner, Cindy McKenna. And
Hans and Cindy also run agorgeous B and B on the upper
level. So call them if you needa place to stay. We're right
across the street from thetheatre. Thank you so much for
(31:40):
being with us again this season.
Thank you for listening soclosely, for sending me all your
lovely cards and emails.
Everything we do at the Blythfestival is really about
building a community of peoplewho love Canadian theatre, and
this podcast is no exception,which means you are a massive
part of its success, the sameway you are a massive part of
(32:01):
the success of anything we do.
So thank you from the bottom ofmy heart. A final shout out to
Tucker Smith communications CoOp, who will be sponsoring us
again for another two wholeyears. And finally, a special
thanks to my tireless,unflappable sound engineer, Jim
Park. Jim puts up with morenonsense than you could ever
(32:22):
possibly imagine. He's aconsummate Pro, and we're lucky
to have him. I'm Joanne Wallace,until next time, thanks for
listening. You.
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