"Cowardice asks the question...is it safe? Expediency asks the question...is it politic? Vanity asks the question...is it popular? But conscience asks the question...is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because it is right." ~Dr. Martin Luther King

Friday 27 May 2016

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "WHAT YOU SEE ...YOU REALLY DON'T": 

We see that the Deputy is front and center of a music event.
The Mayors clique also has used that facility for concerts.
Take your pick. 

Posted by Anonymous to  Our Town and Its Business at 27 May 2016 at 06:13

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The Ipad is a wonder but too often my fingertip hits the wrong spot. The comment was deleted in error.  

Theatre Aurora is not the only theatre group in town . A couple of commercial entities have been established. 

I was never a member of the organisation but family members, particularly my late husband,
 were heavily  involved. I was a follower though and  many friends' lives evolved around the 
organisation. Grand -daughter Stephanie helped out back-stage in a recent production. 

My son Frank was Aunt in Charley's Aunt in the play that opened the new premises.Theresa was one of a group of kids dressed all in black, who silently changed sets in darkness because there were no curtains. 

The play was on at Shaw Festival Theatre in their almost new facilities in Niagara-on-the-Lake. 
We all  hopped in a bus and went  to see it before our first night.

It was excellent. Ours was infinitely more fun and exciting .

The many shows and talented individuals who found satisfaction, stars,directors,producers,will forever be the high point of our lives. No professional theatre surpassed them. 

Fiddler on the Roof. My Fair Lady, Oklahoma,The Boyfriend, A Man For All Seasons, The Lord High Admiral of the King's Naveee. ..there was little they did not dare.,

Actors  ,doing hum-drum jobs by day and shining stars at night would be too long to list and  I would be afraid to leave anyone out. There were so many. They  were so great. Norma Dover as the little French maid with a feather duster. It was magic.

An unlikely thespian in the Odd Couple was Ron Wallace, engineer of the little newspaper that could ...The Auroran 

Were I  asked to enumerate Council accomplishments during the time I was Mayor, the building that gave theatre their own home in Aurora, would be high on the list. 

We didn't build it. Nor finance it. Neither did we breathe life into the performances. 

We merely had the privilege of  helping to make it possible.

Opportunity presented and we snagged it without a moment to lose. 

We had many such moments. 

Over the years ,Theatre Aurora has  not been greedy. They have shared building and all they created from their labours. Winter Blues Festival  was performed there recently and I know other groups have had access. 

They participated in Town events. Floats in the July 1st Parade, a Council skit in one celebration and  lent their many skills in other areas. 

All of it volunteer, unpaid labour, week-ends and long evenings ,after and over and above normal working hours. 

Craig Kamke a former teacher at St Andrew's College offered Children's Theatre several summers. 

In every way, It has  been a success story. The community has been enriched and completely  supportive. 

For Council to even think of taking from them, that which is not Council's  to take,  is unthinkable. 

Only people with no idea of town history or what it takes to provide community theatre,would even contemplate such a thing. 

And sadly, we know the very group. 

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

So there is a new lease proposal. How is that taking it away?

Anonymous said...

I'm on the TA side, but it is a Town-owned building so how could that be "not Council's to take"? You wouldn't want to be accused of being amongst the 'entitled,' would you?

Anonymous said...

What you have here are two levels of "Culture".

Level 1 is the good level. It is about culture delivered through a Town mechanism that existed prior to the MorMac era. Examples of "good culture" is Theatre Aurora.

Level 2 is the bad level. It is about culture delivered through a Town mechanism that was created during the MorMac era or after the MorMac era with hangers-on from that era. Example of "bad culture" is the Aurora Cultural Centre.

Somewhere in the middle of these levels are the "limbo culture". This is culture delivered through a Town mechanism but the members of the Anti-MorMac tribe are confused about where to pigeon hole it. Example of "limbo culture" is Hillary House or Aurora Museum.

You see, it is all very simple.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for illustrating the hypocrisy, 11:53.