Happy World Theatre Day!

Message of the 50th anniversary of World Theatre Day – John Malkovich

"I'm honored to have been asked by the International Theatre Institute ITI at UNESCO to give this greeting commemorating the 50th anniversary of World Theatre Day. I will address my brief remarks to my fellow theatre workers, peers and comrades.

May your work be compelling and original. May it be profound, touching, contemplative, and unique. May it help us to reflect on the question of what it means to be human, and may that reflection be blessed with heart, sincerity, candor, and grace. May you overcome adversity, censorship, poverty and nihilism, as many of you will most certainly be obliged to do. May you be blessed with the talent and rigor to teach us about the beating of the human heart in all its complexity, and the humility and curiosity to make it your life's work. And may the best of you - for it will only be the best of you, and even then only in the rarest and briefest moments - succeed in framing that most basic of questions, "how do we live?" Godspeed."
- John Malkovich

Celebrating fond moments of being involved in Theatre over the years!

As Mrs. Harcourt in Anything Goes.

Patsy & Tess in Crazy for You

As Kate in Kiss Me Kate

As Conchita in Copacabana

In Key for Two at Century Church Theatre

Cast Photo: Once Upon a Mattress

Cast of Kiss the Moon, Kiss the Sun at Theatre Orangeville

The cast of Looking at Century Church Theatre

Cast Photo: Sweet Charity

The Decorator at Century Church Theatre

The Songs of Mary Poppins

The Banks' Parlor

The Banks' Parlor with door to exterior.

BusyLizzy is living up to her name this week enjoying the outcome of a creative theatre project!

Creative Partners on Stage is a collaborative drama program between Community Living Dufferin and Theatre Orangeville. In this group, performers from our community celebrate their abilities on stage through a professionally supported production, while developing drama skills. I have had the pleasure and the privilege of directing this year's production, entitled "The Songs of Mary Poppins."

We began our rehearsals in September of 2011, and have had wonderful moments of joy and discovery! All along the way it is the process that has been the focus as this amazing group of individuals has developed their unique talents and voices in the “Spotlight Players.”

(Our sister group,"The Footlight Players" performed to delighted audiences in February!)

Captain Boom's Boat 'house'.

See "The Songs of Mary Poppins" 

Tickets are $10 (all inclusive) and can be purchased on-line or by calling the Theatre Orangeville Box Office at 519-942-3423 or1-800-424-1295. Tickets are also available by calling Community Living Dufferin at 519-941-8971. 

Tucking in your Tails

Our Hooking up to Crochet group is working on some squares to donate to a local Senior's Santa Hamper project. Volunteers will assemble the squares into lap afghans, and these, along with other necessities and goodies will be delivered to seniors in local retirement and nursing homes at Christmas!

The conversation over coffee at this month's Hooking up to Crochet meeting was all about tails! There were some seasoned 'hookers' around the table too, so it was great to hear the methods and reasons behind them:

Dale M shared a story from an experience with a similar "squares" charity project. After many hours of volunteers stitching the donated squares together, the final products were washed before being sent out to the needy recipients. To the horror of the volunteers, some of the squares came UNRAVELED in the wash! Some of the creators had left only an inch or less when switching colours or tucking in the ends. This caused them to come apart on the first washing! Dale's advice: Always leave at least 4-6" tail when switching a colour or ending off. When weaving in the tail, use a darning needle and travel along the base of a row of stitches to hide it well and then make a sharp turn (90 degrees or more) somewhere along the length of the tail. That way it can be tugged and stretched in different directions with less chance of unraveling.
After their experience, Dale's group actually requested that tails be "left dangling" on all donated squares. Volunteers felt it was preferable to tuck those pesky tails in securely themselves, rather than do all that assembly only to have a stray square or two unravel in the wash!

Sarah W-L ties a small knot when finishing a colour or ending a project. Many of her items are wearables for babies and children, and therefore subject to many washings! The knot means extra security and durablity. A shorter end is then sewn back through a few stitches to hide it inside the work. She is not too worried about the length of the tail, as it is not going to unravel with the handy little knot in place!

Liz (me) was experimenting with a couple of techniques recently learned online:
First I tried the Russian join. Thread the new yarn onto a darning needle and thread it through your last loop. Then splitting the yarn as you go, splice back through the length of your new yarn a few inches. Remove the needle, give the yarn a tug, then just cut off the small remaining end very close. Advantages: it is neat and quite invisible and conserves yarn. Disadvantages: it's a bit time consuming and fiddly for those who avoid the use of a darning needle, and can add a bit of bulk to the few stitches where the yarn is double thick from the join. (This is not very noticeable on most projects, though). I like this method, and will definitely use it when joining same colour yarns, as well as when I'm looking for that "extra neat" finish.
I also experimented with a simple 'invisible join' I found and re-pinned on my "Crochet Love" board on Pintrest. This one is a single knot, slipped down to the right of the last loop of the old yarn. You just continue crocheting with the new one and the knot slips neatly inside. This method doesn't address the 2 tails that are left hanging, but one assumes you could still "work over" them or weave them in later with a darning needle with whatever method you favour.
My favourite tail tucking method with finer yarns, is simply to crochet the next few stitches while tucking the new tail this way and that through the work (basically tangling it up neatly inside the next 5-10 stitches in the row - following whatever pattern I'm working on).

Care to join us for a Hooking up to Crochet (daytime) meeting? Or our sister (evening) group PUBlic Crochet? Here are some links to upcoming events!
Wednesday April 11th, 11 am, Mochaberry, 177B Broadway, Orangeville, RSVP on Facebook
Monday April 16th, 8 pm, Winchester Arms Pub, 171 Broadway, Orangeville. RSVP on Facebook

PUBlic Crochet

The highlight of the meeting was having a newbie along to learn to crochet! We welcomed Janice D to crocheting and among many great laughs about "crochet virgins" and all the associated puns, we got her going on a practice swatch. Best known as a photographer, writer and blogger, Janice came along to "try something new." The lure of a glass of wine and hanging at the pub for a few hours might have had a bit to do with it too! Here are Janice's first stitches and a bit of the swatch that the ladies dubbed "the banana worm"... because that's what it looked like!


This was only our 2nd time getting together at the pub. It was quiet on a Monday night, and the while the waiter didn't quite know what to make of us... he did keep sliding by the table at the most awkward moments in the conversation... you know, when we were telling our newbie "it is often tight when it's your first time!" Of course we were referring to the stitching on the practice swatch, but he didn't know that!

Current Project: Crocheting Squares for the Senior's Santa Hamper project in Orangeville.
Next Meeting:
Monday April 16th, 8 pm, Winchester Arms Pub, 171 Broadway, Orangeville. RSVP on Facebook
Or join our daytime group:
Wednesday April 11th, 11 am, Mochaberry, 177B Broadway, Orangeville, RSVP on Facebook

Kat has a "virgin" drink -- Baby on Board! Congrats, Kat!

Sarah is working on "wings" for a photography prop!