HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1997-07-30, Page 19THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 30,1997 PAGE 19.
Small town folk
Waitress Brenda (Beverley Elliott) talks to Sam (Dick Murphy) and Hank (Vernon Chapman)
in this scene from Blyth Festival’s There's Nothing in the Paper. The play is a first-time effort
by David Scott, editor of The Huron Expositor.
Theatre review
Fun romp in editor’s shoes
By Bonnie Gropp
Citizen staff
There's Nothing in the Paper,
which opened at Blyth Festival
Wednesday night, is a fun romp
through rural life in the shoes of a
small town newspaper editor.
Written by David Scott, editor of
Seaforth's Huron Expositor, Paper
is not without its flaws. There are
few surprises, either with charac
ters, who are all stereotypes, or
story, which is predictable. The
humour is a bit sitcom corny. But
the script and its writer show much
promise.
The story centres on the woes of
the embittered newspaper editor of
the Shadowville Examiner, played
by Jerry Franken, and his readers,
whose publishing date game is to
count the typos.
Enter big business in the form of
Bob Best (Brian Paul), who not
only plans to establish a rival news
paper in town, but steals the Exam
iner's advertising rep.
What follows is a satire of small
town narrow-mindedness and of
one man's frustration with trying to
please everyone.
It's obvious that Scott is familiar
with and fond of all of his charac
ters. While they may not be totally
defined, he does offer a glimpse
into how each became the person
they are. As he brings them to the
point where society splits between
what is sensationalism and what is
newsworthy we are invited to con
sider some weighty views. When or
does integrity and decency factor
into getting the story? Are there
just some things that the public
does not need to know, even if it
sells papers?
As Franken's George grapples
with this dilemma he also knows
that to print the story is the betrayal
of a friend's confidence.
Directed by Terry Tweed, the
actors generally get right into their
roles. However, we'll hope that all
the verbal stumbling on opening
night was just a case of jitters and
not a lack of affinity for their char
acters.
Casting was wonderful as each
certainly looks his or her part.
Blyth favourite, Franken is good as
the disgruntled editor. His George,
despite some less than admirable
traits, is a likeable fellow who has
you rooting for him right from the
start, even between swigs of
whiskey and signs of weakness.
Brian Paul, looks to be having a
blast as the sleazy Best, while Dick
Murphy as the eccentric Sam, and
Vernon Chapman as his curmud
geonly crony, Hank, are a countri
fied scene-stealing Lemmon and
Matthau.
Another gem is Beverley Elliott,
who, with sunny smile and earthy
charm, is fresh as homebaked
bread, as the hometown girl with a
heart, Brenda.
Less solid performances come
from Sharon Bakker as Nellie and
B | SURROUND SOUND STEREO~~||
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STARTS FRIDAY O
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CINEMA 1 7 & 9 pm H
MY BEST FREIND’S
□WEDDING (PG)G
-SUNDAY MATINEE 2 PM H
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Kirsten Van Ritzen as Joan. While
the pair do a good job, they seem
less confident with their roles than
the rest of the cast.
The set design by Shawn Kerwin
is well done, effectively incorporat
ing two sets, while imbuing each
with its own personality.
Scott obviously knows his sub
ject and it shows. The strength of
Paper is its familiar story and rec
ognizable characters. There is no
one to whom people can't relate.
While some of the newsroom
moments might not have been as
significant to the regular folk in
attendance this opening night, to
the media present it was as real as
another day on the job.
Which might explain why this
reviewer wasn't finding certain
spots as funny as those around me.
Somedays the shoes of a small
town newspaperperson aren’t all
that comfortable. Scott knows it,
yet makes the most of it with an
entertaining bit of theatre.
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