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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1987-07-29, Page 22PAGE 22. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 1987. r Entertainment Loma Wilson [left] plays a mysterious, superstitious old woman who sends shivers down the spine of a young wife played by Karen Barker in ‘ ‘Bushfire’ ’ the new mystery play that opened last week at the Blyth Festival. Blue vale man charged for leaving accident A Bluevale man has been charged with failing to report an accident after rolling his vehicle on a Morris Township concession at 3 a.m. Friday morning. Daniel Campbell, 29, lost control of his 1986 Mercury on a curve on Concession 1 near Sideroad 15, which struck the ditch and rolled over, hitting a tree before coming to rest on its roof. Damage to the car, which was owned by Car- Wall DoorSystems Ltd. of London, was estimated at $5,000. Mr. Campbell received minimal injuries in the accident, which has been attributed to a problem with the front wheel drive system on the car. BUSH FIRE by Laurie Fyffe A tale of mystery. love& hate, set in Canada 's pioneer past July 21 - August 21 Call the Blyth Festival box office for tickets and information 523-9300/9225 Theatre review 'Bush Fire' tries hard with difficult subject BY KEITH ROULSTON In “Bush Fire’’, the fourth play to open at the Blyth Festival this season, playwright Laurie Fyffe has tackled an intriguing mystery from the past in inventive fashion. The mysterious fire that killed the attractive young Ann Easby and three of her four children was the subjectofcontroversyin the area around Perth Ontario in 1928 and Ms. Fyffe has attempted to bring the sprawling story to the stage, not altogether sucessfully, if the shuffling of the audience can be a judge, but with a valiant effort. The play revolves around the efforts of a daughter of one of the neighbours of the Easbys to find out what really happened years earlier when she was a child. The story is close to her heart because she considered the slain woman her friend and she is married to the sole surviving child of the family. Karen Barker has the difficult role of jumping from a young wife back in time to the child who witnessed many of the happenings surround­ ing the controversial deaths. She accomplishes the many instant changes in age with remarkable skill. By comparison, the other eight actors in the play have relatively straightforward parts, being con­ finedtooneplaceintime. Lorna Wilson plays the mysterious old woman given to issuing dark warnings about nearly everything, whose solutions to problems is to conjure up a spell or use a potion or charm to ward off evil. Martha Irving plays the viva­ cious, attractive Ann Easby who, in this version of the story at least, was ill-suited for the rough bush life and was altogether too attrac­ tive to men for her own good. Laurel Paetz plays her best friend who eventually begins to unravel the mystery of her death. Generally the women in the play are the more interesting characters with the men too often left to try to bring the audience updated news on the things that have happened off stage. Neil Foster is the guilt-stricken coroner who conduc­ ted the first inquest into the deaths and seems more involved than appears at first. David Marr doesn’t appear until the end of the play, but his cruel, arrogant dandy of a prosecuting attorney in the court scene is a gripping performance. Wayne Nicklas, Greg Spottiswood and Peter Smith all turn in fine work but their characters lack much for them to play with. Jules Tonus manages the diffi­ cult task of creating a set that must be a realistic log cabin one moment and nearly disappear the next as bits from the past are played out in the foreground and finally, must become a court room. Despite the fact the story goes from time present to time past, from scenes inside the claustro­ phobic log cabin to outdoor scenes to scenes in which demons from the past seem to filter into the house to haunt the young housewife, Ms. Fyffe, with the skillful help of director Jackie Maxwell, manages to keep the action moving quickly. Such huge historical stories often fair poorly when translated to the cramped stage and at times the play does get bogged down as characters try to bring us to date on the latest happenings in the community, but the moments that lag are thankfully few. There’s so much story to tell that often the characters aren’t as well develop­ ed as possible. In all, however, the author has tackled a difficult subject in an interesting way. More future rewriting might help solve what problems there are. The play however proves the success of the play development program Katherine Kaszas has been putting together as Artistic Continued on page 24 Brunswick Street, Stratford Monday 11 am. -5p.m. Tues -Sat 8a.m -9p m Sunday-Closed 519-271-5645 Keystone Al ley Cafe WINGHAM Phone 357-1630 for 24 hour movie information Three Beauthjl women One lucky devil Playing from Friday to Thursday, July 30th toAugust6th Showtimes: Friday and Saturday at 7:00and9:00p.m. Sunday to Thursday - One show each evening at 8:00p.m. only X ADULT Ti ACCOMPANIMENT mounrto UH0l» or >4 Goes* who's ptayiaj doctor? » BROWNIE'S DRIVE-IN » 169 BEECH ST., CLINTON 482 703C & SHOW Al DUSK WARNING: Violence, Horror . T.B.OWARNING: Brutal Violence T.B.O. Ell UNTOUCHABLIS PtRlWOUM PKIURIS PRIStMA IS SRI IISWS mODUlllOS X BRI tx 01 PSI MS III M Illi UMOUIIIXBIIS MHSCOMMR (HIRIISMSKIISSMIIII Will I.SRSIS licco’wAMiimiT Hlchirt Pryor Critical Condition ADDED 3rd FEATURE SUNDAY AUG. 2 ONLY I PARK THEATRE #1BOX OFFICE HIT! EDDIE MURPHY BIEVI , > jugmnywa J STARTS FRI. • AT THE_ • ..ei.i.iOrm Coarse Language, May Offend Some NO PASSES FOR THIS ENGAGEMENT FRI. & SAT. 7:00 & 9:00 SUN. - THURS. 7:30 TUES. $2.50 imiWii mftjui Fhniuftrm GODERICH rm- ■■■■■!/>■■■iyrmry»«>i«y IX' MUSTflNG rhe M>ahN Thor™ © 1987 Marvel Entertainment Group. Inc I BOX OFFICE OPENS 8:30 P.M. Tuei. •3.50 ADDED FEATURE Goes to Camp ftwibuted Oj 8UUaWSIAP1CruMS 0ISIR1BUIKW 194) TOUCKSTOg PlCTURfS COARSE LANGUAGE and SWEARING SUN. ONLY TOUGH GUYS BURT LANCASTER FILLED HITS'.KIRK -DOUGLAS