The Citizen, 1988-07-13, Page 31THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 13, 1988. PAGE 23.
Theatre Review
Laughter great medicine in 'Lucien'
SEQUENCE
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Fri. 9 - 1 a.m.
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Sat. 9 - 1 a.m.
BY TOBY RAINEY
If millworker Lucien represents
true Canadian bilingualism, and if
laughter is indeed the best medi
cine, then the Blyth Festival play
by the same name has probably
done more to unite Canada than
anything since the driving of the
Last Spike.
The one-man comedy, written
by Maritimer Marshall Button and
directed by the popular local
playwright/performer Ted Johns,
has toured the nation in the past
dumb: his shrewd and usually
negative observations of almost
every aspect of the world around
him are expressed in no uncertain
terms to his partner on the
graveyard shift at the New Bruns
wick pulp mill, an Aristotle-read-
ing “young fella”, on the job for
the summer, whom we actually
never see, although he is very
much present.
Lucien has an opinion on
everything, from job-relations (“I
give a lot to dis friggin’ company,
as entertaining as the play, if you
can take your eyes off the stage
long enough to observe it. The
middle-aged gentleman sitting
next to us laughed until the tears
ran down his cheeks and loud
guffaws echoed from all parts of
the capacity crowd on opening
night, while a few - mostly
middle-aged-to-elderly females -
obviously were not taken by some
of the spicier observations Lucien
offered.
The wonder of it all, though, is
how the inimitable Mr. Gabriel is
able to keep a straight face himself,
while most of his audience was
rolling in the aisles. Maybe it’s
because Lucien is very definitely
not a Bob-’n-Doug Canadian car
toon character, but just one of us,
trying to make the best of the quiet
desperation of his situation.
The set design, a marvellous and
very authentic creation of the
finishing room at a pulp mill, was
created by Pat Flood, a familiar
faceattheBlythFestivalin past
years. It was first created for
Theatre New Brunswick where the
play premiered, and imported to
Blyth for this production. The
malfunctioning computer, beeps,
toots and factory whistles add the
perfect touch - the only thing
missing is the smell of liquid pulp,
and of sweat.
“Lucien” opened in Blyth on
July 6, with performances until
September 10. Good seats are
available by calling the box office at
523-9300 or 523-9225. Bring han
kies to wipe your eyes.
GOOD
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OPENS 8:30 P.M. CLINTON
FIRST SHOW AT DUSK 482-7030
FRI. & SAT., JULY 15-16
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Actor Ron Gabriel, as the enormously human ‘Lucien’ in the Blyth
Festival’s play of the same name, peers into a vat of liquid pulp at the
New Brunswick mill where he works - or doesn’t, as the fancy takes
him. ‘Lucien’ opened July 6 and will continue until September 10.
year, drawing sell-out crowds from
British Columbia to the Maritimes.
But even so, this writer was not
convinced that it could be THAT
good - I mean, a two-hour
monologue by one man on a hot
summer evening? C’mon!
But we had reckoned without the
sparks ignited by the hilarious trio
of Button, Johns and Ron Gabriel,
the totally uninhibited actor who
plays the character Lucien -
actually he doesn’t play Lucien, he
IS Lucien.
And Lucien is your next-door
neighbour, your Uncle Bernie,
even me ... Lucien is the person
everybody knows and would pro
bably hate in real life as a crass and
boringloudmouth, butwhopro-
vides almost non-stop hilarity
whenbroughttolifebyMr. Gabriel
because the character hits so close
to home.
Trapped in a dead-end job by a
Grade 8 education, Lucien could be
any of us going through the
motions of a job we dislike simply
because there are no other options.
But millworker Lucien is far from
they owe it to me”); to trucks (‘‘Igo
for torque and torque alone”); to
the Cold War (“Da Russians
prob’ly got bombs pointed right at
dis (paper) mill - if d’ey gonna
destroy the world, d’ey don’ wan’
nobody readin’ about it”); to
PresidentReagan(‘‘It’ink he’s bin
dead for five year’ - runs on
batteries now, y’know?”). But
they are all our own opinions -
except that we wouldn’t have the
nerve to express them in public.
“Lucien” will very definitely
leave most of its viewers in
stitches, although we’re not sure
we’d want to take our Auntie
Bessie to see it with us: some of the
subjects the millhand comments so
freely on, and some of his
down-to-earth language, may be a
bit risque for some local viewers,
but all in all, it is very definitely a
show we could easily see a second
time this season.
The audience reaction is almost
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