Alumna takes centre stage at Blyth Festival

By Erin Mason 

Huron Country, Ontario is home to the Blyth Festival, an annual theatre festival held in the small town of Blyth in southwestern Ontario. The Festival has been premiering Canadian plays and bringing Huron County’s unique stories to the stage for 36 years.

Alumna and actress Catherine Fitch, BFA’90, is at the Blyth Festival for the third year this summer and she’s appearing in two plays, A Killing Snow and Pearl Gidley.

Catherine began attending the U of C in 1983. Two of her professors, Grant Reddick and Keith Turnbull, first noticed her talents and acting potential. During a first year drama class, Reddick asked Catherine if she’d considered acting as a career. Truthfully, Catherine says that her shyness always made her hesitant to take drama classes. But Reddick and Turnbull helped Catherine crack her shell. Two years later, she auditioned in Edmonton for one of 11 coveted spots at Canada’s National Theatre School (NTS), and was accepted.
 
News of her acceptance was bittersweet for Catherine as she was battling an illness and was hospitalized. After recovering in Calgary, she traveled with her parents to Montreal to set up her apartment and begin studying at the NTS in 1986. Unfortunately, Catherine was still too sick to study and she returned to Calgary for further recovery.

It was a perfect example that the best plans are rarely followed as Catherine delayed her studies at the NTS to fully recover. “But the NTS was so supportive,” she says, which gave her the motivation to get better and pursue her acting goals. In 1990, Catherine graduated with her BFA from U of C and from the NTS.

In addition to her numerous theatre credits, Catherine has acted for television and film. Her first role after graduating from the NTS was in the Canadian comedy film, South of Wawa. “I’ve been lucky that my film and television work has been on great quality shows,” says Catherine. If she had to choose between film, television and the theatre, Catherine says she’d pick the theatre. “One of the best things about being an actor in the theatre is getting to know the people behind the show,” she says. “The moments of acting are essentially the same, but the theatre allows you to really connect with your fellow actors.”

While Catherine is rehearsing and on stage, her husband Tony will be busy on the highway commuting between their home in Woodville, Ont. and the Blyth Festival.
 
Catherine’s first play, A Killing Snow, opened on June 23 and runs until August 13. Her second appearance is in Pearl Gidley, which runs from July 28 until September 4.
 
If you’re in Huron County this summer, be sure to take in a play at the Blyth Festival. For tickets and show information, please click here.

For further information on Catherine and her film, television and theatre credits, please click here.