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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 1989-09-13, Page 22Lovely ladies Angela Nethery, the 1988 Brussels Fair Queen says her farewell speech as the seven contestants for thisyear anxiously await the selection of the 1989 Queen. Thecrowning of the new queen was Saturday evening. From left: Heather McGavin, Patricia Albers, Lori Willie, first runner-up Tracey Fischer, 1989 Queen, Margaret Cronyn, Pat Cowman and Miss Congeniality Sandra Marks. Summer school growing Theatre review ‘Cat’ hot despite weaknesses BY KEITH ROULSTON The Stratford Festival’s produc tion of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ which opened recently, is an even ing of entertainment that is much greater than the sum of its parts. The strong work of Goldie Sem ple as “Maggie’’, the “cat’’ on the hot tin roof of the title, and James Blendick as “Big Daddy” makes the Tennessee Williams drama both moving and funny and more than makes up for some weakness es in both the script and the production. Mr. Williams created a strange construction for the play that first opened in New York in 1955 and was rewritten for a revival in 1974. If he were alive today the play might benefit from a few more changes. “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ is a play full of powerful and often funny scenes that sometimes seem to clunk when they come together. In an interview before the show opened Miss Semple said the first act for “Maggie” is a frightening part to pull off and the truth of her statement quickly becomes evident when you see the play. The first act is almost a one-character play with Maggie taking about 90 per cent of the dialogue, desperately trying to carry on a conversation in their bedroom with her husband “Brick”, who tries to ignore her while he drinks until he hears the “click” in his head that says he has become so drunk he can’t think anymore. Here Maggie struts around the stage like a queen one moment, is as shattered as a little girl scolded by her father the next; hard and grasping one minute, pleading for love and forgiveness the next, and all the time so stunningly beautiful, so sexy that you’d think Brick must not only be drunk, but half dead not to make love to her as she wants. The second act completely changes gears and Maggie is hardly on stage at all. Now the focus goes to “Big Daddy” who again shares the stage with Brick but dominates it, just as Maggie dominates in the first act. One minute he is cruelly funny, the next harsh and the next bewildered as he tries to discover what has turned his favourite son from a swagger ing football start to a shell of a man bent on drinking to forget. Blendick turns in another splen did performance as the 65-year-old planter who is filled with euphoria when he thinks he has beaten the cancer, the one thing in his long life that seemed he couldn’t buy. His sense of joy, of renewed power is real as he bullies his wife and tries to bully his son, as he convinces himself that now he has a new lease on life and he’s going to make the most of it. When Brick, in retalia tion for the confessions about his own weakness that his father has bullied out of him, tells his father that he isn’t getting better, that it’s all just a plot of doctors and family to make him feel good about his last days, Blendick seems to sag and shrink, slinking off in sadness and anger at the end of the act, never to be seen on stage again. The third act changes pace again. Big Daddy is gone. Brick who has come out of his shell a bit under his father’s taunts, now goes back into it. Maggie becomes almost a secondary character as Brick’s brother Gooper and his wife Mae break the news to Big Mama that Big Daddy is indeed dying, then try to seize control of the huge plantation and the millions of assets Big Daddy will leave when he dies. They become almost cartoonish in their determined, grasping manoeuvres. But Ms. Semple and Mr. Blen dick are so powerful in their performances, and Mr. Williams emotional scenes are so rivetting that the audience is held spell- a a a a a a a a a a a a a a • {Christmas I & •Country a Blyth J 523-4820 10% OFF ANY PURCHASE WITH THIS COUPON Limit 1 coupon per purchase until Saturday, Sept. 16/89 j a bound with hardly a shuffle, hardly a cough for nearly three hours. The weaknesses seem to disappear when they command the stage. The two overshadow the others in the cast. Geordie Johnston as Brick has a difficult part and is not helped by the fact he appears just too young for the part of the faded football star. When he says at one point, “Not when I was too young and believing” you wonder when this guy, who looks like he could be in his teens, got old? Shirley Douglas as Big Mama is a sad creature as the unloved Big Mama, flitting and flustered as if in keeping active she won’t realize that her husband is bored by her and her sons don’t care if she exists. Anne Wright and veteran Blyth Festival actor William Dunlop as Mae and Gooper are cartoon char acters but Mr. Dunlop does man age to bring out the hurt of the older brother who seems almost ignored as a member of the family that dotes on the wayward Brick instead. Another Blyth veteran, designer John Ferguson has designed an elegant set, bringing the outdoors into the bedroom set through large screened windows at the rear and breathing some room into what could be a very claustrophobic sett ing. Seana McKenna, another Blyth alumnus, assisted Robert Beard in directing the show. From the Xmas Ganq • a a a a a a a a a a a a a a LOSE THAT i EXTRA WEIGHT | FOR THE LAST TIME... I JOIN ICOUNT-DOWN WEIGHT LOSS » & WEIGHT’ CONTROL SPECIAL OFFER ONLY $5.00 TO JOIN ONLY $5.00 WEEKLY Still no penalities for week^ missed WE MEET EVERY WEDNESDAY AT 4:30p.m. AT THE BLYTH UNITED CHURCH COME JOIN THE LOSERS AND GO HOME A WINNER SPECIAL OFFER VALID ONLY UNTIL END OF SEPTEMBER FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CALL KINCARDINE OFFICE 396-7005 Central Huron Secondary School’s Vice-Principal, Ralph Wareham attended the September 5 meeting of the Huron County Board of Education to report on the progress of 1989’s summer school. Mr. Wareham had been in charge of the program at Clinton this past summer. The Huron County Board has offered summer school programm ing in some form for the past decade. The original core program was designed to provide the oppor tunity for secondary school stu dents to attain or upgrade credit standing in courses already taken during the regular school year. However, in recent years the program has expanded to include: remedial classes for grades seven and eight English and Mathema tics; satellite programs for students with challenging learning needs; senior division subject tutorials for secondary student seeking single credits needed for admission to post-secondary institutions; tutor ial and. marking programs fot mature students and adolescents wishing to complete credits started in alternative education; adult day school and continuing education night school programs; and on one occasion, a special support pro gram was offered for certain learn ing disabled pupils. Due to these changes, the scope, [Sept. 17/89] 19 AT LAST! From Your Favourite Sisters! organization and delivery require ments for summer school have changed. Therefore, the board felt it was timely to review the current structure. In his report, Mr. Wareham stated that summer school is indeed a “valid exercise and a worthwhile initiative” that the board should continue. The Board decided to review the structure and report recommenda tions for 1990 summer school. WALTON INN | STARTING MON., SEPT. 18 NEW FALL 6 WINTER COFFEE SHOP HOURS MON. to FRI. 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. CLOSED ALL DAY SATURDAY OPEN SUNDAY 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. BREAKFAST SPECIAL Everyday 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. 2.25 2 DAILY LUNCH SPECIALS 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. 4.50 „d 5.75 SUPER SUNDAY SPECIAL 12 noon to 8 p.m. 7.95 WALTON INN, ---, „J BED & BREAKFAST CRAFT 6 COFFEE SHOP OPEN DAYS A WEEK Mon. to Fri. 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Sunday 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. 887-9517 AT THE MAIN CORNER. WALTON