Blyth Festival 2025: Strombergs in Blyth for first time to ply her trade
BY SCOTT STEPHENSON
For the 2025 season of the Blyth Festival, Vinetta Strombergs is directing Sir John A: Acts of a Gentrified Ojibway Rebellion, by Drew Hayden Taylor. Strombergs has been in her fair share of rehearsal halls over the years, but this summer marks the theatre veteran’s first time working in Blyth - a fact that surprises even her!
When she was asked to come to town to direct this complex comedy, it was an easy choice to say yes, and she hasn’t regretted the decision. “I’m having a wonderful time!” Strombergs declared. “I’ve been here as an audience person, but I haven’t worked here before. I told a few friends that had worked here that I was coming this year, and they all said ‘oh, you’re going to love it.’”
Strombergs and Taylor go way back. “He’s an old, dear friend of mine. He actually recommended me for it,” she explained. “I’ve done a number of Drew’s plays before; I’ve known him since he wrote his first play, which was up on Manitoulin Island with Debajehmujig Theatre.”
Taylor’s punchy political satire explores the tensions surrounding Canadian identity and historical memory with equal amounts of hilarity and heaviness, and it’s one that Strombergs is walking with practised balance, and a great team behind her. The heavy themes of Sir John A must be carried by the lightness of laughter. “You want to find ways of making people laugh, but there’s also a lot of educational information that I’m not sure how many people know. We know he’s our first prime minister, and some of the things he’s done, but maybe not so much about the native community, and their reaction to a lot of his stuff, which is quite politically incorrect,” she pointed out. “Humour is the best medicine; we don’t learn when people lecture us as well as when we’re having fun. Drew is brilliant at putting in the educational stuff and what you need to know and learn with a lot of humour and great characters - he’s a terrific storyteller… you follow what’s given in the text. Drew has to do the heavy lifting with the research - we have to bring the characters to life, so it’s lifting it off the page. We don’t have to invent that part of it - it’s already there.”
At first glance, Sir John A might look like a one-man show. But there is more to this production than meets the eye. “When I read the play, it seemed to me that it’s really two plays in one - you’ve got the traditional, period-specific Sir John on stage, just like Mark Twain Tonight!… and then you pull back the panels, and there’s this whole other life going on, with the other three characters in the play. And they’re basically on a journey, so it’s a roadshow.”
Strombergs believes that Sir John A is the kind of play that can get people talking. “It takes place in 2017, which was our sesquicentennial year. And Drew was actually commissioned to write this play for the National Arts Centre. It premiered there, and it really speaks to a lot of the things that people were thinking about - we want to celebrate Canada, so, depending on who you are and what your Canadian experience is, you may have a different version of what celebration should be. Or if there should even be one.”
She’s confident that the audience in Blyth is ready for both sides of Sir John A: the entertainment, and the hard truths about our shared national heritage. “I think there will be a few musical tunes that may stay in their head,” Strombergs said. “I’m hoping that they talk about what goes on between the characters. I hope they’re not offended by some of the things they hear Sir John say, but understand how problematic his attitude is.”
One of the not-so-secret weapons in Strombergs’ arsenal is the actor playing Canada’s first Prime Minister: Blyth Festival favourite Randy Hughson, who never fails to entertain audiences. “Oh, they’re going to love him!” she declared. “They’ll be shocked by some of the things he says, but they’ll love him, because he’s just so good! And it’s a crazy character - like, really crazy.”
If Strombergs had to choose a favourite moment in Canadian history, it would be travelling to Montreal for Expo 67. “I went with my dad, who, at the time, was working with Stratford. So it was a road trip with the Stratford company. Going around and seeing all the incredible things from around the world - it was pretty special,” she recalled. “I grew up backstage. Both my parents were involved in theatre. My dad: a classical musician. My mother: a classical dancer. I didn’t go classical - I went contemporary. But my dad was actually the conductor and accompanist at the Stratford Festival, so part of my early years were in Stratford, just soaking it in.”
Being the child of classically-trained artists never felt out of the ordinary for Strombergs. “It seemed normal. When you grow up with it, it’s just life.” She knew she wanted to follow their lead by pursuing a life in the arts, but she wanted to do it her own way; she wanted to play the kind of music she heard on the radio, and do the “fun” kind of dancing. “I started out with music, but it was, like, folk music. I learned to play the guitar, and my dad taught me the piano, and then I wanted to do contemporary stuff. I started in musical theatre - it was a lot of original Canadian musicals and stuff in Toronto.”
To further her parents’ already-sizable contribution to the arts, Strombergs used her inheritance to found the Strombergs Family Realization Fund (SFRF), which offers financial support to artists pursuing their dreams. “I wanted to use it to give back to the community. Because Dad was in music, and Mom was in ballet, I try to support things that have aspects of that… it’s not a huge amount of money - it’s not like we’re talking millions of dollars or anything - just a few thousand here and there. Really, you know, it just makes you feel good that you can give a little something back.” The SFRF especially focuses on providing opportunities for experienced cis-gendered and transgendered women who are hoping to finance their passion projects.
Strombergs feels like she has the perfect cast and crew to bring Taylor’s vision to life, and she’s having a wonderful time preparing for opening night as a team. “We’re having a lot of fun - it’s a great group of people! My stage managers are fantastic, it’s fun in the room, and it doesn’t feel like work. It’s creative, and it’s playful, and it’s a fun show to work on,” she explained.
As a director, Strombergs believes that having fun in the theatre isn’t just about having a good time - it’s a crucial element to creating something worth watching. “I encourage a lot of trying things out, and exploring; there are no bad ideas. I will choose what works, and doesn’t work, in terms of the total picture or the journey or the arc or whatever…. You like working with people that you like. It’s funny - we were actually having a bit of a conversation about this, because we’re all getting along so well, we were talking about what matters more: there’s tons of talent, so, if you have a choice, are you going to cast people with talent, but are difficult, or people with talent, who are fun?” For her, the answer is obvious. “Ultimately, it’s just that camaraderie and co-operation and respect - all the positives. Having great working relationships, having the ease of being able to communicate, I think that’s what makes the best work.”