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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1986-07-23, Page 18Theatre review 'Glory' audience got the laughs it wanted BY KEITH ROULSTON Everybody needs a chance to laugh now and then and after one Blyth Festival play that was a poetic drama (although with hu­ mour) and another that was a hard-hitting drama (again with large doses of humour) Blyth Festival audiences were ready to just plain laugh for the opening of Gone To Glory. And laugh they did at Suzanne Finlay’s play from the moment Araby Lockhart (Lulu) tows her shopping cart (fashioned from an old baby buggy) down the theatre aisle and caught it accidentally on one patron’s foot. From then on through every one-liner and sight­ gag in the show to the final blackout the audience was primed. The show features two feisty elderly women, Lulu and Winnie (the irrepressable Margaret Bar­ ton) trying to eek out a meager existence in an isolated cabin. Their stay there is threatened by a new landlady (Anne Anglin getting her first chance to show a little glamour at Blyth, in years) who wants tosell the place. The quiet of their northern retreat is further shattered when their charming, drifter friend Bakpak brings a film maker (Lynn Woodman) to visit. She decides the couple would make perfect subjects for her latest film on elderly poor. She then hauls in her cameraman (Robert King) to record the couple ’ s struggle to find a new home when they’re evicted. The highlight of the play is the mad-cap film-making scene early in the second act when there is so much activity on the stage it spills over into the aisles of the theatre itself. There are also some moments of sleight of hand that delighted the audience and kept them guessing as to who would appear where on stage next. Araby Lockhart as Lulu shows some of her best work in the play. After two seasons at the Festival, Margaret Barton has won such a loyal following that she could probably get a standing ovation for reading a telephone book. Her delightful performance as the stubborn, cantankerous and earthy Winnie won her shouts of “bravo” from the opening night crowd. Anne Anglin, getting a chance to play someone near her own age for a change, is a wonderfully, flighty Googie, with perfect comic timing. David L. Gordon has a wonderful combination of boyish innocence and a hidden sense of power that lights up the stage. His work with the other actors brings his scenes alive. Lynn Woodman as the hard- driving film-makerTeddi, getsa chance to use her comic talents in this show and proves to have a deft comic touch. And Robert King is, well Robert King, able to turn his small part on stage into a memor­ able moment. Gone to Glory probably has the strongest production values of the season so far at Blyth. Sue LePage’s set, spilling off the stage to both sides and down into the theatre, is integrated into the auditorium by surrounding the proscenium arch with fake tree trunks and blackened ropes that run like vines, well back along the ceiling and sides. Her costumes also fit the bill to a T. Louise Guinand’s lighting is subtle and helps establish the moods of the play. Katherine Kaszas’ direction pulls the show together, getting strong perfor­ mances out of the cast and fine production values. She puts the performers right into the audience at atimes in a way that isn’t stagey but seems natural, even necessary given the requirements of the script for so many different playing spaces. Given all this and some delight­ ful moments in the script, there are still serious problems with the play itself. Although workshopped in Banff in 1985, workshopped again in Blyth last winter and with extensive rewriting during rehear­ sals, the play is still uneven. The quiet moments with just Lulu and Winnie seem almost to be in a different play in comparison to the hectic group scenes. There seems to be a lack of direction in the script, a lack of driving toward a conclu­ sion. And just a word of warning to those contemplating going: if you don’t like jokes about various bodily functions, you may not enjoy the show as much as the majority of the audience seemed to. But the show is virtually sold out for its entire run already, with only a few tickets available for August performances. If the audience’s reaction from opening night is any gauge, those tickets too will be snapped up quickly. Blyth's success has led to big changes in summer theatre While the importance of the Blyth Festival in the Canadian theatre scene is often talked about in these parts, it’s often hard for the ordinary citizen to know how much is fact and how much is publicity hype. An indication of the Festival’s impact, however, comes in the most recent edition of CanPlay, the magazine of the Playwright’s Union of Canada. When Blyth Festival began in 1975, Canadian plays were seldom performed in summer theatres and newCanadian plays were never performed there. In those days the staple for summer theatre was Neil Simon from the U.S. or Agatha Christieor Alan Ayckburn from Britain. This year, CanPlay points out, of the 97 plays being done in Canadian summer theatres (ex­ cluding the classical productions at Stratford and Shaw Festivals), 16 are world premiers and 39 others are revivals of successful Canadian plays. Well less than half, (42 to be exact) are imported plays. This year there is only one summer production of a Neil Simon play in Canada. Leading the way in many theatres are the playwrights who made their reputation at Blyth. Ted Johns’ “Garrison’s Garage” gets several productions and of course Peter Colley gets more productions for “I’ 11 Be Back Before Midnight’ ’ and his other plays. “Midnight” is being produced both in Toronto in a major commercial run and in Petrolia. THURS., FRI., SAT. 5P.M.-12A.M. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 1986. PAGE 19. Araby Lockhart as Lulu, reads from her romance novel to Margaret Barton as Winnifred as the two women survive in their cabin in the northern woods in “Gone to Glory” by Suzanne Finlay which opened at the Blyth Festival last week. The show provided the laughs the audience came for. — photo by Jim Hockings. Brunswick Street, Stratford Monday 11 am.-5 p.m. Tues. -Sat. 8 a. m. -9 p. m. Sunday-Closed 519-271-5645 lJPJ SB WA1 jr3 Blyth Inn EAT IN OR TAKE OUT 523-9381 BLUE FOUNTAIN RESTAURANT STEAK HOUSE TRIPLE K Restaurant INBLYTH 523-9623 CALL 357-2179 for reservations ANDVISIT THE RUBBERBOOT LOUNGE CHARCOAL BROILED STEAKS 1 Restaurant 132 JOSEPHINE ST. 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