Bluff's Shut Down, Rex Moves in

Last February, the student union-owned restaurant, Bluff’s, was shut down with much controversy. In early fall of this year, a new restaurant, named Rex’s Den, after the school mascot, will open in its place.

The old restaurant, Bluff’s, was closed up due to financial problems among other reasons, according to Zuhair Syed, the president of the SCSU. “A lot of students were complaining about a number of issues; like the cost of food, the speed of service, the hours of operation, the lack of events, the cost of booking events and the fact that there was no games room”.
Bluff’s has tried many tactics to improve its customer base. Throughout the five years that it has been in service, the restaurant has changed menus and swapped managers with no improvement in business.

Back in the winter, the SCSU loaned $30,000 to Bluff’s after the initial $140,000 from the union was used up. However, it wasn’t enough to keep the restaurant running. Instead of supporting a business that was running a deficit for five years, the executives of the SCSU decided to close the restaurant and increase their own paycheques. In defence, the SCSU stated that the decision was voted on by the Annual General Meeting of Members and that the SCSU union is one of the lowest paid student unions in the country.

Despite those two facts, the salary increase incited a great uproar within the student body, including a sit-in at the Bluff’s restaurant where Syed and a number of SCSU executives answered students’ questions.

“We answered everything that we could, and I got the impression that many students were content after their questions were answered” says Syed, of the sit-in. “There was a protest, but these things happen, if you lose your job tomorrow, you’d be upset, and that’s natural. We’re trying to explain to them [the students] that at the end of the day, it’s important to evaluate what direction the restaurant is moving in.”

Now that the dust has settled, the SCSU is hoping that Rex’s Den will be a success. The business plan of the new restaurant is based on suggestions from students. “Not a single suggestion that a student has made was not included in that business plan”, says Syed.

Rex’s Den will be a pub-style restaurant where students can hang-out and socialize. There will be a consistent menu of regular pub foods, such as nachos or chicken wings, but there will also be a change of menus every once in a while that includes cultural foods.

“There’s a lot of cultural diversity on campus, so we have to cater to those students. We’re going to keep the staple foods, but at the same time, we’re going to change the menu all the time. Some of the ideas that we have on the table are maybe monthly cultural foods” says Syed. “We want to offer Mediterranean food, Indian food, Caribbean food, all sorts of things.”

While the new business plan seems very ambitious, Syed assures that the new General Manager of Rex’s Den, Amir Vahidy, is capable to run the restaurant and deal with the constant menu changes. Vahidy has previous experience managing several successful restaurants. Syed wants to make clear that while the student union owns the restaurant, it does not manage its affairs.
Hopefully, where Bluff’s has failed, Rex’s Den will not. “We’re just optimistic that we can make this happen and make it big” says Syed, of the new restaurant. He envisions the pub to be a busy place where students can get away from their studies and enjoy campus events.

“If you go to any campus in Canada, you’ll pretty much have at least one restaurant or pub where students enjoy, have a good time, take a break from your studies, and meet new people. We’re missing a big part of campus life without a place to hang-out.”

The Stratford Festival: Theatre for Fanatics (and First Timers)

177 days, 126 actors, 14 plays, 4 theatres, one BIG collection of entertainment.

The Stratford Festival is an annual festival of theatre that runs from April to November in Stratford, Ontario. Started in 1952 by Tom Patterson, a resident of Stratford, the main intent of the festival was to encourage economic activity in his town.

The festival is dedicated to mostly performing plays by Shakespeare because the famous playwright was born in an English town, also named Stratford. This year, the Shakespearean repertoire features Macbeth, Julius Caesar, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

The festival also has a nice mix of contemporary pieces such as West Side Story and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, both starring leading actor Chilina Kennedy.

“They’re both really different characters so it’s great to flip between the two shows. Yesterday I had a double [bill], so I started off with[A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the] Forum, and that was a nice light way to start the day- it’s a comedy- and then I switched over to the more serious side of West Side Story”, explains Kennedy.

West Side Story, the biggest hit of the festival this year has been selling out consistently for the run of the show. The story is written as a musical set in 1960 Manhattan. Kennedy and her co-star, Paul Nolan play star-crossed lovers in a modernized version of Romeo and Juliet.

Getting the role of Maria was not an easy task. Kennedy had originally auditioned only for the character of Philia in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, but the director asked her to also audition for the part of Maria. Kennedy was called back five times to audition before winning the prestigious role.

After her parts were confirmed, Kennedy spent six weeks of six-day work weeks preparing for the show. She exclaims, “I love rehearsing! I love putting something together and discovering a character from the beginning until the time you put it on stage. And then you keep growing. A run is really interesting if you keep it open to grow within the show.”

Other plays that are running at the festival include The Importance of Being Earnest, Three Sisters, Cyrano de Bergerac and Bartholomew Fair, to name a few.

Students can purchase discounted tickets for $29. Regular price for seats usually range from $29-$111, depending on the play and the date of the performance. Visit www.stratfordfestival.ca for more deals and information.