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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 1986-07-30, Page 18Theatre Review Imaginative staging, fine acting help Lilly BY KEITH ROULSTON There must be a few of the 2600-odd residents of Lilly, Alta, who don’t appear on stage in the Blyth Festival’s production of Ken Dyba’s play of the same name but there certainly can’t be many. Lilly, Alta, is probably the largest production ever mounted by the Festival with a cast of 20 actors, most playing several roles. The play is Mr. Dyba’s imaginative attempt to recreate a mythical town, based on his experiences growingupinNordegg, Alta., a mining town that is now a ghost-town. It’s a sweeping, often poetic, sometimes funny and sometimes tragic play done in a non-realistic style that makes the audience work hard to keep track of who’s who and what they’re doing at the same time they cope with the style that asks the imagination to make a town come alive on a mostly-bare stage. For some people, brought up on realistic settings and straight-forward story lines, the effort may be too much. Richard Rose, one of Canada’s hottest directors, has done a fine job of marshalling his huge cast. Some of his imaginative staging, such as creating the train (that arrives in town every Tuesday) with nothing more than twirling umbrellas to represent the driving wheels of the steam engine and actors voices providing sound effects, brings applause from the audience. Then there are swirling bands of white cloth that create winter snow storms, and there’s a delightfully huge rocking horse that stands in for a real horse. All these tricks are used to help tell the story of two young lovers, who want to escape the domination of the girl’s adopted mother who is the power of the community. Mrs. Lilly (Margaret Barton) has named thetown after her first husband and true love, a gigantic man named Quenton Boone Lilly, who died without giving her a child but left his mistress pregnant. Mrs. Both spousesshouldknow finances BY SONIA ZIMMERMAN, CA Many women are lost in dealing with money when their husbands die because they have always let their husbands handle the family’s finances. Since women on average live longer than men, it is common for a new widow to be thrust into the bewildering money arena at the time when she is least equipped emotionally to cope with it. There is a big difference be tween handling the weekly house hold budget and managing money for long-term items such as children’s education or retire ment. The homemaker should be completely aware of all dealings involving banking, assets and liabilities, insurance and wills. Banking: At death, the deceased person’s bank accounts, including joint ac< ounts, may be frozen and safety deposit boxes sealed. Items other than insurance policies and the will may be unavailable until the will is probated. Both spouses should therefore know not only what bank accounts exist at which branches, but the contents of all safety deposit boxes and the bank managers’ names. Assets and liabilities: It is common for a wife to be unfamiliar with investments, such as stocks and bonds. While she may wish to continue dealing with her hus band’s stockbroker, there’s no .»t4 Sb* 49 (so: b ■ • ‘ .i. Lilly forces the mistress to give her the child (whom she names Calla) and she raises her as her own daughter. The entire town knows what has gone on but Mrs. Lilly is so dominating that they pretend they don’t know. It’s Calla and the local librarian, Willy’s love story and attempt to escape that is the central focus of the play. Robert Bockstael and Paulina Gillis make a delightful couple that have the audience longing for success in their plans. They’re surrounded by dozens of interesting characters from Drunk Dick (Robert King) who continues to meet the train every Tuesday expecting the return of his wife who long ago ran out on him, to the two local undertakers (Ron Gabriel and Reg Dreger) who are continually sizing up potential customers, to three old timers who never get to say a line but have the audience in stitches with their mimed antics. It’s the kind of show where individual actors don ’ t get a chance to stand out, but the playwright is well served by the entire company which includes several young actors from Huron County. Still, for all its imagination, the show is still based on a kind of poisoned view of small town life: the sort of prairie gothic view of prairie small town that CBC has established so well over the years that it’s hard to know if it really exists or if the idea has been repeated so often it now becomes reality for most non-prairie people. There’s festering sexual frustra tion everywhere (there are two sex scenes, generally, tastefully- handled, fully clothed.) There are a host of people warped by their life in the small town. And everybody, everybody, who is somewhat sane can hardly wait to escape. Perhaps this cliche is true on the prairies but it rings unrealistic, even insulting to Huron County ears. Still, the play can be intriguing and at times moving. For people whodon’t mind the effort, it’s a worthwhile experience in theatre. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 30, 1986. PAGE 19. Paula Gillis and Robert Bockstael play the young lovers who try to escape from Lilly, Alta, in the play by Ken Dyba that opened at the Blyth Festival July 22. It features the largest cast ever in a Festival play. — photo by James Hockings. p.H IbI i KI' Brunswick Street, Stratford Monday 11 a. m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat. 8 am.-9 p.m. Sunday-Closed 519-271-5645 WAI L=----- feln iC gSLjz mir- In fact, if you are new to the stock market and lack the time or inclination to educate yourself, don’t feel bound to keep your money in stocks. You may want to simply put your inheritance and/or life insurance proceeds into term depositswhichareprotected by federal deposit insurance. On the liability side, even the surviving spouse who thinks she knows the family’s financial affairs in detail is often surprised to discover large bank loans or mortgages she had not known about. So ask your husband while you can. Insurance: Every spouse should know how much insurance the other partner has, the payment options (annuity or lump sum), the insuring companies, who the beneficiaries are and what steps are required to collect the insur ance. Find out also about group insurance from your husband’s employer. Wills: It is essential that hus band and wife have up-to-date wills and know where they are kept, who the executors are and the exact provisions. It is wise not to name your spouse as the sole executor. Choose a second person on the basis of reliability, compe tence and knowledge of the family’s affairs. There are many legal matters that must be dealt with at death, so don’t try to get by without a lawyer to give you ■ ^uqlpiaspdiadvjce. 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