TAFI rekindled

Word is that one of the most famous names in Annapolis Valley cultural history has been rescued from oblivion.

I’m one of those ancient enough to remember the

Theatre Arts Festival International (TAFI) live and on stage. When I started studying at Acadia University, everybody was still talking about Joan Baez singing in an outdoor concert at Norwegian Bend.

What I remember is the famed Russian Bolshoi Ballet performing in the gymnasium on a plywood stage. The ballerinas clumped so gracefully and the dying swan made us all forget the noise.

Jack Sheriff, the most impressive impresario I ever met, was the guy who made things happen. Born in Toronto in 1931, he was the professor who ran the Acadia Summer Playhouse, where I saw my first musicals. He ran community theatres in Wolfville and Lunenburg, losing his house in order to retain theatrical real estate in two towns.

He presented scores of productions, enlisting literally hundreds of students and community members of all ages to take part in every capacity from acting to costume-making. It was he who had the dream of bringing the old ferry boat Kipawo back to Wolfville Harbour as a floating theatre, and he started the Kipawo Showboat Company to be its resident company.

Unfortunately, Parrsboro had a better wharf and claimed that piece of history.

Was playwright

Mostly in his retirement Jack wrote plays. I only ever heard of him putting them on in the Kipawo Arts Centre. Wolfville’s old Steadman’s store became this eccentric man’s home and creative centre. He had one novel in the works.

In 1993, the last musical I recall him doing, Song for Mud Creek, went on stage in honour of Wolfville’s centennial. Most of the town’s thespian community took part. In his later years Jack generously opened his little stage to rambling musicians. There were some great concerts at the Kip. Greg Muttart recorded his third CD there and called it Live at Jack’s.

TAFI was founded by Jack and friends in 1970 and now it is been revived. The new TAFI board, made up of theatre professionals and longtime residents of the Valley, recently was convened, under the acting chairmanship of Michael Bawtree, who gave the Atlantic Theatre Festival its name.

The original mission of the non-profit TAFI society was to “foster, encourage and promote theatre arts internationally” and its activities were to be carried out “primarily in Wolfville in the County of Kings, but also generally in the province of Nova Scotia.”

Basic goals remain

The new board could make some adjustments to that mission in order to reflect changing times, but the basic goals will remain the same, Ralph Higgins told me, with the same broad interpretation of ‘theatre arts’ to include performance of all kinds, including music and dance.

Jack died in 2005. Fortunately beforehand, his contribution was acknowledged by the community and the Valley Arts Award, but the new TAFI’s first objective is to keep Jack’s name and achievements alive.

Ralph says the initial project is to develop an oral history of his life and work.

He says board members are doing research and they’d to invite contributions and memories. There is a new TAFI webpage and a biography is planned.

The new board of TAFI is also planning to build on the importance of Wolfville and the Annapolis Valley as a cultural centre, and promises to be looking for opportunities to develop its potential in new and exciting projects.

Nobody could recreate Jack’s flare and entrepreneurial nature. He was truly a local eccentric, but it will be interesting to see what the new TAFI gets up to.

www.tafi.ca.