Clinton News-Record, 1969-05-08, Page 3A paradise indeed!
BY " YBRITAS"
Guest Reviewer;
Saturday night's performance
of "Pools Paradise" by the
Clintons Pegasus Players can be
described only as a thoroughly
enjoyable evening, due to a
combination of strong acting,
good directing and sharp
audience reaction. The play, as
Presented, revealed a dozen little
brilliances which merit praise for
;members at every • level of
production,
Set in the vicarage of a small
English village, the plot centres
'ofvi is
around the exploits theca
wife and assorted company as
she dabbles on the sly in the
football pools. The complete
success of the hilarious and
involved situations depended on
swift action, perfect timing, and
effective casting all of which
were evident on Saturday night.
The cast was well chosen and
gave the impression of an
experienced group accustomed
to working together, and to each
other's reactions. Tillie Hack,
the vicar's wayward wife, was
believably human, suitably
irritated with her staid and
mild-mannered husband, and
provided several rollicking
moments in the play. The part
was a large one which she
portrayed with consistency and
wit, without the assistance of
exaggeration or any inherent
comedy in the part or character.
Stan Dukes was excellent as
the Rev. Lionel Toop, so natural
and well -cast that he actually
became the vicar on stage. He
looked and acted the part of
continuous low-keyed,
exasperation with such a
seemingly small amount of
effort that he appeared not to be
acting at all. He is to be praised
for his command of a role which
could easily have been overdone.
Vince Cunningham, as the
visiting Rev. Arthur Humphrey,
was also believably meek and
bewildered and really gave the
impression that the church life
had sent him a little dotty. The
only criticism that can be given,
I believe, is that the part was
somewhat 'nonfining for
Cunningham's definite abilities.
A surprisingly good bit of
acting was given by Harry Sewell
as the Bishop of Lax who gets
caught up in the middle of all
the mess in the third act. For his
first experience on stage he
showed excellent control of
timing of movement, and
although the part called mostly
for dead -pan, Sewell's facial
expressions were a study.
So much for everyday people
who, as previously pointed out,
had little assistance from the
parts themselves and whose
effectiveness in the play
depended entirely on their own
portrayal and interpretation.
The three parts in caricature
— Ida, Willie Briggs and Miss
Skillon — were all perfectly
type -cast and completely
consistent throughout the
evening, an absolute essential for
Early Files e .
Continued from Page 2
10 years ago
May 7, 1959
Miss B. K. Sloman, Clinton,
spent Wednesday in Niagara
Falls at the celebration of the
golden wedding anniversary of
Mr. and Mrs. Albert Sloman. Mr.
Sloman is a brother of Henry
Sloman of town.
The Carnation Company
Scholarship Foundation has just
announced that Frances
McCullough has been awarded a
$750 ' Elbridge A. Stuart
Scholarship. The awards are
made to members of families of
Carnation employees on the
bases of character, scholarship
record, leadership and
seriousness of purpose:
NOW
FOR YOUR
ENJOYMENT
The •
CLOUD "9" ROOM
At
HOTEL
CLINTON
Featuring
SiNG ALONG
the slap -stick conic element.
Ida, the excitable and silly maid,
was an exceedingly difficult role
and was probably one of .the
most important parts in the
play, She provided a unifying
thread to further the plot, unite
the characters, .and keep the
excitement and :spirit on a high
key. The slightest wilting on the
part of Ida would have been
disastrous, Although Ann
Chislett tended at times to get
carried away with hand
movements and gestures and her
over -excitability made one feel a
bit squirmy, it would have been
an exacting task tofi d abetter
substitute in either casting or
portrayal.
Joyce Norman, "poor :foolish
virgin," was almost perfect as
the masculine spinster, Miss
Skillon, and was suitably
indignant, severe, and
disapproving with all. She may
have been a little too angry and
too little righteous; but again,
criticism is difficult.
Bruce Abbot as Ida's rather
doltish boyfriend, Willie Briggs,
was highly effective in
movement — or lack of it, in
facial expressions, and to a lesser
extent in his limited dialogue.
He certainly looked the part and
also provided a few gems of
vulgarity in the humour,
Pace and timing, absolutely
essential to the progress of the
production, was excellent due to
the hard work and competent
stage -management of Bob
Thompson. Coming in and out
of doors and cupboards,
off-stage sound effects by Les
Priestley, and the cross -streams
of dialogue, were right on cue
and . kept the pace high when a
lag would have been fatal.
Slapstick, bodily contacts an'd
injuries were also perfectly
timed and really hilarious. The
couch . scenes between Miss
Skillon and Rev. Toop, and
between Ida and Willie Briggs,
were side-splitting and almost
made you feel • as if you should
be looking the other way. Shins
being banged and bodies being
dropped and thrown about were
all effective, never strained or
half-hearted, and the cuts and
bruises really hurt.
Another excellent use of
movement as a means of
implementing the tide of
excitement was to have two
distinct and interesting activities
taking place on stage
simultaneously. Characters dil
not stand waiting for audience
attention to say their piece, but
went on with their own
activities, heedless of other
interactions occurring. This was
natural and true to life and kept
the audience wide awake and
expectant.
BROWNIE'S
DRiVE-IN THEATRE
CLINtON
Box Office Opens at 8.00 p.m.
FIRST SHOW, AT DUSK
Fri. - Sat. - Sun.
May 9-10-11
— — DOUBLE FEATURE — --
One of the GREAT SUSPENCE
THRILLERS of All Time — Starring
AUDR-EY HEPBURN
in
"WAIT
UNTIL
DARK"
with
ALAN ARKIN and
RICHARD CRENNA
(Adult Entertainment) Color
Showing at 10.15 p.m. Only
AND
"The Viscount"
(Adult Entertainment)
Showing at 8.40 p.m. Only
(Adult Entertainment)
Starring Kerwin Mathews and
Edmond O'Brien in Color
Cartoon
Opening Nightly
Wed., May i4
Except Sunday
Wed. - Thurs. - Fri.
May 14.15-16
- DOUBLE FEATURE --
"THE
IMPOSSIBLE
YEARS"
Shoaling at 10,15 'p.tn. Only
(Adult Entertainment) Starring
Costumes, by Denise
Priestley, were in all cases
outstanding, Makeup, by
Shirley Ann Dukes and Edna
Thompson, was particularly
effective in Misa Skillop's
nursed -lip sneer. I must give high
praise to ;Shirley Dukes, the
producer, and to,the members
responsible for the set, Bob
Thompson, Al Goodfellow, Don
Champion, Jack Norman 'and
Gerry Storey; for lighting by
Bruce' Woodrow, and for
properties by Pamela , Warner.
The decor, by 'Daphne Abbott,
was very effective and gave an
atmosphere of permanence and
d
homeliness. The drawing room
was cozy, sufficiently cluttered
and lived-in, and I imagine the
entire cast felt quite at home
and comfy. It must have been a
painful process to tear it down
after such a great deal of
attention to detail had been -
achieved,
The task of finding fault with
Philip King's Pools Paradise as
presented by the Pegasus Players
is. an almost impossible one,
However, one may point out
that, whether because of the
writer, or the handling of the
dialogue by the characters, the
whole plot line of the football
pool and Mrs. Toop's 'rather
frowned -upon part in it, seems
to have been lost in the hilarity
and confusion of all the Iittle
sub -plots going on around it.
This took nothing away from
the humour and interest of the
play but did leave one a little
uncertain about the climax and
ending of the third act.
Also, after reading the play, it
became apparent that several
very funny lines were missed by
the audience, either because the
actors did not speak loud
enough, emphasized words
ineffectively, or failed to wait
for laughter to end.
However, these criticisms are
quite unimportant and made no
difference in the amount of
enjoyment that the audience
obviously received.
The director, Brian Markson,
is to be congratulated on a
presentation which followed the
intention of the playwright and
also served the purpose of the
Pegasus Players, that of
providing relaxed and enjoyable
entertainment to local audiences
and to the members themselves.
I "enjoyed the evening
thoroughly:' °'1 •
•
..._ _l"" 7-.a.,.r..,..
From My Window
Not all news in headlines
Shirley Keller
Boy oh boy, reading the daily
paper each morning can be an
education, I'm not talking about
the front pagetwhere each day's
world news is spread out in all
its gory detail. What I mean is
the juicy little tidbits you read
inside between the ads and
underneath the regular stories,
For instance, I read just
today that an adult education
Maryland,
program in Towson, Mazy ,
offers a course in "Magic,
Witchcraft and the Occult." This
is a 10 -week course, I suppose,
in the mystical art of stirring up
a pot of some horrible potient to
kill everything from vermin to
varmints. 1 hope there is a
follow-up set of lectures on how
to look cool while'being burned
at the stake!
Then there is the little article
about the Ohio housewife (who
accidentally dropped her
wedding ring into a mail box
when she was posting some
letters. That reminded me of the
time when I was very young;that
I was sent by my mother to mail
some envelopes. In my
excitement to accomplish the
task, I dropped the letters
through the slot without any
stamps and:when I realized my
mistake, I simply dropped the
money for postage in the box on
top of the letters! I never did
find out if those letters got to
their destination with or without
stamps.
I learned whg storks have so
long been associated with the
delivery of babies. Says my daily
newspaper: "He is known to be
a faithful mate, model parent
and considerate of his elders."
•
diaticleati
STUDIO
Specializing in . .
• Weddings
• Children
Single or Group Portraits;
and Passports
524-8787
11$ St. David, God•rich
Sounds almost human, doesn't
he,
The Beatles are back in the
news once in a while for one
reason or another. Today it is to .
rebut stories that the Beatles are
losing popularity with their
young fans. They call it
"unrnerited" rumor. I call it
justice. I say again, think what
good those four boys could have
wrought had ' they chosen to
tread the paths of near
normality.
Did you read about the NDP
MPP who is upset because the
province is discriminating against
female dogs? You bet. While the
province is going bankrupt with
education costs and an ever
spiralling cost of living, some
well-meaning type spends more
of the taxpayers money
defending a myriad of dumb
bitchesawho couldn't care less if
their owners have to pay $2
more in dog tax each year
because of their reproduction
abilities, Nor would it concern
them much if the decision was
to have them spayed!
His suggestion was a bili of
rights for dogs. I'm betting the
towns which are presently
over -run with dogs male and
female — would be the last to
endorse such legislation. Such
dog -gone stupidity,
I read the list of films that
were banned for public viewing,
They really don't sound too
appealing, but then I'm judging
them on their titles alone. Now
let's turn the page and read the
RECEPTION
and `
DANCE
for
DOUG McBEATH
and '.
JOYCE HAYTER
bridal couple
at
Zurich Community
Centre
Saturday, May 10
Music by
ILLUEWATER PLAYBOYS
Lunch Provided •,
=-Everyone Weicome'r",::
•
kY
.. .... y�t;" ..
films on display in the big cities
now, "Poor Cow,"
°Corruption," "Moonlighting
Wives" and "It's Hot in
Paradise," Rather sensational
titles too, but apparentjy
perfectly fit for Human eyes and
minds providing you. are adult.
I noticed that Dr. Morton
Shulman thought a picture by
the name of "Titicut Follies"
shouldof havebanned.
nbaen ned
The movie deals with the abuse
of patients in a U.S. mental
hospital. Could 'it be that Dr.
Shulman was not that far wrong
when he claimed indecent
behaviour of staff and patients
in some of the mental hospitals
in our fair province? Makes one
wonder!
And then to cap it all off, I
read; "If you don't believe
you're over the hill, listen to a
nine-year-old explaining orbital
rendezvous to his brother."
Man, that's true to life. The
science my son studies these
days causes his father and I to sit
with our mouths hanging wide
open in awe and amazement.
And does he think we're dumb
when we can't even converse at a
public school level.
I can hardly wait for
tomorrow's news,
I A "MUSTANG" THEATRE
PHONE 524.998! • OPENS AT 8:00 P.M.
UNET
DRIVE-IN THEATRE
HWY. 8 GODERICH AT CONCESSION RD. 4
Largest Screen In Huron County
— ALWAYS A DOUBLE BILL --
Children
Children Under 12 In Cars Free
BOX OFFICE OPEN 8:00 P.M.
FiRST SHOW -AT DUSK
Fri. - Sat. - Sun.
May 9-10-11,
MichoL
ADULT
dELA6ADDED FEATURE
Coming Next Weekend:
"JIG SAW"
,King Kong Escapes
T'S' �R�
ALBERT ST., CLINTON TEL. 482-7905 (!formerly Dory's Supertest)
THERE WILL BE:.
FAVOURS - GiFTS - FREE DRAWS
BALLOONS FOR THE KIDS
"FUN FOS EVERYONE"
Ifi %illO illiIto s•Sil
•
G!lnton New$,BOOPrd, Thyrsday, .MOW 3, 1909
REMEMBER WR1H►
AWAY 11
GIFTsUQGgSTIANs
New from Yardley
'Spring Flowers"
Cologne, $2.00 & $3.00 -- Du;ting Powder, $3,25
Cream Lotion, .$3.50 — Soap, 3 cakes, $2.00
Seven Wind sets by Quarry Yardley Gift. Sets
$2,50 to 45,50 $2.50 to $4.25.
soap Shulton Gift Suggestions
$2.75 -- Spray Cologne, $3,00, $3,75
IVIQTHER'S DAY CHOCOLATES
Smiles & Chuckles— $1,75 to $5.q0
Choose your card for Mother; Day
from our complete selection
NEW[DMBE Pharmacy
NOW
ON
ONE YEAR TERM
DEPOSITS
SAVE at your CREDIT UNION
It Is Owned And Controlled By
You — The Members.
Clinton Community
Credit Union
70 Ontario St.
482-3467 wiamoniaL
GODERICH
THE SQUARE
E 524-7811
AIRCONDITiONED
NEW STARTING TIMES FOR SUMMER MONTHS—One Show. a. :Flight,
Sunday through Thursday; Two Shows Friday and Saturday Nights.
Check starting times below, Saturday Matinees will start at 2.00.
THURSDAY and FRIDAY -- May 8 and 9
NI He won
a small
▪ part of
▪ the west!
Ea
u m
WALT DISNEYpr""°° /
GLENN FORD AS
TEWI rIootor
SHOWING ONCE EACH EVENING
A WOOOFAi . HoI
CRS
OF PHI
LIGHT``��S
A1.4
A TONY RICHARDSON FILM
PANAVISIOIV COLOR by Deluxe
United Artists
(Adult Entertainment)
WEDNESDAY,
THURSDAY
and FRIDAY
May 14-15-16
Two Color Hits!
One Show at 8,00 p:m. Only
TECHNICOLOR'S!
AT 8:00 O'CLOCK
SATURDAY,
SUNDAY,
MONDAY and
TUESDAY
May 10-11-12-13
Showing Saturday at 7.00 p.m.
and 4.00 p.m.
Showing Sunday, Monday and
Tuesday at 8.00 p.m. Only
SATURDAY May 10
MATINEE
"ROBINSON
CRUSOE
In MARS"
S,Iowing at 2.00 o'clock p,tn:
The
Beloved
Fest Seller
On The
Screen!
CO&UMBIII a HAROLD
Proems HECHT
ion
BOWIES
EX LLI
11n COLUMBIA COLOR 1
Glowing
With
And
Wonder'
COLhhU�� }M�,IIIA 1'1Uruars
OAIL FongiLN