The Citizen, 2010-07-22, Page 18PAGE 18. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 22, 2010.‘Winter’s Tale’ a tough journey worth taking
Vodden wants new policies for
North Huron correspondence
With William Shakespeare’s The
Winter’s Tale, it is impossible not to
cringe as you watch a man tear down
all that he has earned through
paranoia and jealousy.
In a theme explored all too often in
contemporary culture because of its
unfortunate and relenting relevance
to everyday life, Leontes, King of
Sicilia, begins the play on a slippery
slope that just continues to steepen.
One of the Stratford Shakespeare
Festival’s more low-key releases at
this year’s festival (being produced,
fittingly for the show, in the no-frills
Tom Patterson Theatre),The
Winter’s Tale is more of an
exploration of the psyche of a man
than most plays.
With the consistent path of the
show heading in a downward spiral
as Leontes’s life continues to
unravel, it can be gut-wrenching and
hard to watch, but as his life
proceeds (over 16 years elapses
throughout the play) despite his
mistakes, you may just find yourself
pulling for Leontes as he staggers
towards the redemption that he has
made it his life’s goal to seek.
The play begins with Leontes and
the king of Bohemia, Polixenes. The
pair have been friends for the
majority of their lives and the story
begins just as Polixenes is set to ride
back home.
Leontes insists that Polixenes
prolong his stay, but it isn’t until
Leontes’s wife, Queen Hermione,
insists that he stays, that he decides
that he will indeed, extend his visit.
This, and subsequent actions
between Hermione and Polixenes
(hand-holding, whispering and other
familiar actions between the two),
serve as the catalyst behind
Leontes’s descent into madness,
immediately believing that his wife
has begun having an affair with
Polixenes.
His wife, who is with the couple’s
second child, knows nothing of her
husband’s suspicions initially, while
he travels through back channels to
have his friend killed.
The nobleman he sends to do the
job, however, feels his justification is
weak, and spills the beans to
Polixenes, leading the both of them
to flee from the kingdom, only
working to strengthen the resolve of
Leontes who eventually lets his
queen in on what he is accusing her
of.
What follows is a further descent
into a world of misfortune
resembling Michael Douglas in
Falling Down or even Hubert Selby
Jr.’s Requiem For A Dream as he and
the rest of his court await word from
the oracle as to the fate of his wife.
She is found to be innocent, to
which Leontes scoffs, denouncing
the oracle, and banishing Hermione.
As promised, however, going against
the oracle brings dire consequences
for Leontes and those near and dear
to him.
His wife gives birth while underlock and key and Leontes has hisbrand new daughter banished aswell, left in the wilderness to fightfor herself (he was talked down fromthrowing his daughter to the fire).
The dramatic ups and downs of the
characters as one powerful man
shapes the lives of so many are
intense and stunning as none of the
cast members miss a beat.
Along the way there is laugh-out-
loud humour and drama to incite
gasps and tears, all of which is
handled with ease by the Stratford
professionals.
Leading the way and playing
Leontes, the man with the most
dramatic peaks and valleys is Ben
Carlson, son of 2010 Blyth Festival
first-timer Patricia Hamilton.
Carlson begins as a joyous man,
happy with all he has in life. He
descends into jealousy, madness and
rage only to be humbled and driven
while he seeks redemption for the
weighty decisions he has made that
affected so many.
Perhaps the most touching
moment of the production comes
from Hermione as she pleads her
innocence to her king. Yanna
McIntosh is no stranger to complex
women, having played LadyMacBeth at last year’s festival andher take on Hermione is no different.Her insistence that she is virtuousis touching and true. It is at thismoment when Leontes is at his
coldest, resisting such an
impassioned, yet tender plea from
his wife.
Another standout is Seana
McKenna, who plays Paulina, wife
of Antigonus, played by one of the
Blyth Festival’s favourite sons
Randy Hughson.
McKenna takes a different
approach to defending the virtue of
the queen, threatening to be the one
woman Leontes’s lords don’t dare to
remove by force for fear of their own
safety.
The Winter’s Tale, because of its
intensity, is a journey that may be
hard to take for some. The
uncertainty of Leontes’s redemption
and the path of a Shakespearean
tragedy assures that there are no
winners and losers, just people
who have weathered the storm of
life, making this production
shockingly relevant and relatable,
despite its seemingly far reach
from our traditional, day-to-day
reality.
Continued from page 1
months after the fact.”
Vodden then stated that, given the
amount of time spent on objections
presented by Bob Pike, he felt
council was not responding to
others’ concerns.
Reeve Neil Vincent echoed his
sentiment from previous meetings,
stating that planning issues need to
be evaluated as such, and not with
superfluous information.
“I believe that I had at least been
made aware of the correspondence
we received before July 29,” Vincent
stated. “And maybe the whole coun-
cil hadn’t... but we need to deal with
these issues as they come forward.
“If [an issue is a] planning issue,
we have to look at [it] as a planning
issue without any other baggage,” he
said. “We have to look at the deci-
sions as whether they are good
planning or not.”
Vincent then stated that councils
are sometimes faced with having to
choose between two decisions, and
neither outcome is desirable, but one
needs to be chosen.
Vincent went on to say that he
didn’t feel there was any apology
necessary.
“I don’t feel we have to apologize
for what we have done in the way of
process,” he said. “Yes, maybe we
could have a policy of notifying and
recording that we received a letter of
correspondence from people, but...
beyond that, I feel we have acted as
prudently as we could.”
Councillor Conn stated that she
also thinks little change needed to be
made, as staff acts as a buffer for
certain information that doesn’t need
to come to council.
“I think there is some information
that comes into this office that I
don’t want or need in my
[councillor’s] package,” she said.
“We have staff deal with some
material for a reason.”
CAO Long stated that things may
have been done differently, but
echoed that this was the practice set
in place prior to the school board’s
application.
“In retrospect, this could have
been done differently, I accept some
of the blame for this situation,” he
stated. “Typically, when we receive a
letter of objection in a planning
matter, those letters are brought
forward when the by-law is
proposed to council.
“I think, in retrospect, the
correspondence could be dealt with
differently, given the sensitivities on
this matter,” Long said.
Council voted 4-2 against
Vodden’s suggestion to have an
evaluation of correspondence-
handling operational procedures.
Elizabeth Ruth McDonald
youngest daughter of Ruth and
Murray McDonald graduated
with Distinction on June 8th,
2010. earning her Honours
Bachelor of Science in
Mathematics and Statistics,
Co-op, from McMaster
University in Hamilton.
Elizabeth is seeking an Actuary
Assistant position and
continues working towards her
Actuary designation.
Anne Jane McDonald
eldest daughter of Ruth and
Murray McDonald graduated
May 29th, 2010 at Thunder
Bay’s West Campus of the
Northern Ontario School of
Medicine. Anne continues her
studies in the Family Medicine
Residency program with
NOSM, based in Sault Ste.
Marie, Ontario, for the next two
years.
G r a duation
A king of kings
Ben Carlson, Leontes in the Stratford Shakespeare Festival’s The Winter’s Tale, does a superb
job of keeping his life and his court together, until he no longer feels his subjects are being loyal
to him and he changes everything, including the structure of his family. (David Hou photo) LYNN BOYER
Lynn is the daughter of Gary and Brenda Boyer of Ethel.
An Ontario Scholar from Listowel District Secondary
School, Lynn will be attending Fanshawe College for a Pre-
Health program.
SHAUNA EDGAR
An Ontario Scholar from Listowel District Secondary
School, Shauna is the daughter of William and Dorothy
Edgar of RR2 Bluevale. She will be returning to LDSS to
continue her secondary school studies.
LEANNE VAN VEEN
The daughter of Dan and Dianne VanVeen of RR2
Brussels, Leanne is an Ontario Scholar from Listowel
District Secondary School. Leanne will be departing for
Brock University in the fall to study Education.
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
LDSS Ontario scholars