Village Squire, 1981-04, Page 14THEATRE
Maggie and Pierre
"together " in Blyth
If actress Linda Griffiths sometimes feels she's suffering from
a split personality. who can blame her? Griffiths is the actress
who's been winning rave reviews as both the Trudeaus in the
long-running hit Maggie and Pierre. Now, after taking the play
to most of Canada's major cities. the actress is bringing it to the
Blyth Memorial Hall on April 10. 11, 12. It will be one of the
show's only appearances outside an urban centre.
Maggie and Pierre, mounted by Listowel native Paul
Thompson and the Theatre Passe Muraille company, probes the
personal lives of our cool, intellectual prime minister and the
young flower child -woman who married him.
Griffiths researched the play for seven months in Ottawa,
interviewing friends of the couple, talking to veteran Ottawa
journalists who covered the story of the marriage breakup and
VILLAGE SQUIRE
is available at:
Bayfield: The Village Market
Nip N' Tuck
Blyth- Snell's Food Mart
The Blyth Theatre
Blyth Standard
Blyth Saga
Brussels: The Brussels Post
Clinton: C & E Variety
Exeter: G & G Discount
Goderich: Fincher's Ltd.
Triangle Discount
Grand Bend: Carole's Craft Cupboard
Listowel: Smith's Red & White
London: Say Cheese
Multi -Mag
The News Depot
Lucknow: Sepoy Stationery
Milverton: Curiosity Shoppe
Mitchell: Scott's Dept. Store
Seatorth: Larone's Dept. Store
The Huron Expositor
St. Marys: Marshall's of St. Marys
Wildwood Inn
Stratford: Fanfare Books
J.S. Amusements
Wingham: Harris Stationery
Zurich: Tasty -Nu Bakery
VILLAGE
SQUIRE
Box 10
Blyth, Ont.
NOM 1140
PG. 12 VILLAGE SQUIRE/APRIL 1981
watching film clips of Pierre Trudeau's years in office. The
actress has not only played both Trudeaus on stage, but also
takes the role of Henry, a journalist -voyeur following the
Trudeau story, who becomes a kind of Canadian everyman - as
confused as others about the marriage and the country's
disillusionment with the man they once considered a hero.
When the play was first launched in Toronto, many
theatregoers expected a bitter satire poking fun at the country's
first couple. Instead, they found a moving play dealing with real
people who suddenly found their lives public property - a fact
partly responsible for dooming the marriage.
Actress Griffiths did meet the prime minister at a government
ball during the course of her research, but after chatting with
him briefly, her nerve failed her, and she didn't tell him he was
to be one of the leading characters in her upcoming play.
Griffiths has never met Margaret, but still feels close to the
prime minister's former wife who chose the jet set and. the
Rolling Stones over life on Sussex Drive.
The creation of Maggie and Pierre proved a challenge - and
playing the three roles for several months has been both a
physical and mental strain. Looking back on /he play. Griffiths
says, "I think Canadian people fell in love with Pierre Trudeau.
It was greater than Trudeaumania. Then there was a sense of
betrayal among people who think Trudeau took their generosity
and twisted it. And there was the parallel relationship of a
highly -emotional marriage. The falling apart of their marriage
wouldn't have been so unusual if they weren't so much in the
public light."
Griffiths calls the play "an allegory. for., our• time'J - and
describes it as "a love story with significance beyond 'the
personal story. . . "
Performances. of Maggie and Pierre at the Blyth theatre will be
at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday evenings. with a matinee
performance on Sunday, April 12, at 2:30 p.m. Also, Saturday
night, theatregoers can sit down to a special country supper,
served by the theatre's board of directors in the hall basement,
before the 8 p.m. performance begins.