HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1999-07-14, Page 19THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 14,1999. PAGE 19.
E ntertainment Bainton Gallery
showcases potter
Theatre review
‘Glenn’ smart, but tiring
4 faces of‘Glenn
From left: Paul Dunn, Duncan Ollerenshaw, Rod Beattie
and Richard McMillan play renowned pianist Glenn Gould
at four stages of his life in David Young’s Glenn now play
ing at the Tom Patterson Theatre in Stratford.
By Bonnie Gropp
Citizen staff
If you’re looking to be entertained
then the Tom Patterson Theatre’s
production of Glenn may not be
music to your ears.
The story of the renowned
Canadian classical pianist as
Prodigy (Paul Dunn), Performer
(Duncan Ollerenshaw), Perfection
ist (Rod Beattie) and Puritan
(Richard McMillan) was brilliantly
penned by David Young. But bril
liance can be exhausting. Young’s
words are intelligent; a narrative on
the death of a landed fish was pure
poetry. However as the four spew
forth verbose monologues, occa
sionally to each other, sometimes
together, what is asked of the audi
Festival hosts day on the greens
The Blyth Festival has
announced the first annual
Celebrity Golf Tournament on
Friday, Sept. 17. The Seaforth Golf
and Country Club will host the
Blyth Festival celebrity players and
their friends with registration
beginning at 12 p.m. and a shotgun
start at 1 p.m.
After playing 18 holes on this
scenic local course, celebrities and
friends will enjoy a delicious steak
barbecue and great prizes. All
proceeds will support the activities
Atwood Lions
Bingo
every Thursday
Doors open 6:30 p.m.
Starts at 7:00 p.m.
Jackpot $500.
on 54 calls
Pot of Gold $500.
on 50 calls
Loonie Bin
ence is to understand Gould’s psy
che, without really knowing the
man.
I kept waiting for the dialogue to
stop and the English Lit professor to
ask what the writer meant.
(Perhaps before I continue it
would be best to note that this
reviewer was exhausted upon enter
ing the theatre).
Glenn begins with The Puritan, as
he prepares to re-record his success
ful Goldberg Variations, looking
back at how he felt as a young man
approaching the same piece.
Vignettes, interspersed, interwoven
and occasionally intriguing trace his
life through the self-explanatory
Performer stage to The
Perfectionist, when Gould shuns the
“blood sport” of public appearances.
of the Blyth Festival.
The board of directors has
approved this special event as a
capital fundraiser for the Festival’s
Silver Anniversary. Attracting new
corporate partners and developing
new audiences for the Festival is
key to Blyth’s continuing success.
Tournament sponsorships for holes,
carts, and foursomes are available
along with other promotional
opportunities.
|| SURROUND SOUND STEREO
LISTOWEL 291-3070
STARTS FRIDAY
CINEMA 1 7 & 9:15 P.M. AA
THE GENERAL S 3
c DAUGHTER
JOHN TRAVOLTA
CINEMA 2 7 & 9:15 P.M.u BIG AA
n DADDY
n ADAM SANDLER ■
For the actors, playing Gould, a
tortured genius who was a morass of
contradictions, (“Hates the cold,
loves the north.” ) is a challenge. Of
the four Dunn and McMillan seem
to deliver best.
The former manages to capture
the manic mental meanderings of a
young genius while keeping a cer
tain naive vulnerability. McMillan
shows a reconciliation between the
man and his eccentricities. With
maturity, though the loneliness is
evident, there is also a calm accept
ance.
Ollerenshaw fails to capture any
of Gould’s humour, seeming to walk
the fine line between brilliance and
lunacy a little closer to the latter
than the others do.
His best turn actually comes as a
New York taxi driver.
Beattie on the other hand, seems
too self-assured, more like the calm
older brother to the other three than
one of them. Undoubtedly, as The
Perfectionist he is more rational, but
in Beattie’s portrayal he becomes so
at the expense of all other idiosyn
crasies.
While there are many things the
audience never learns about Gould,
what is no secret is his virtuosity.
His discussion with regards to
music shows his passion, while
musical excerpts allow us to hear it.
With much said, both in the pro
gramme notes and in the play
wright's words about the silence and
space within Gould’s music it is
interesting that there is little silence
in Glenn. The hyper-active mind,
the stimulated thoughts fill each
moment. While one admires the elo
quence of Young and the genius of
Gould it can be an exhausting affair.
Therefore, if you want an enter
taining look at the composer, stay
home. If you want to search into the
mystery of Gould you will enjoy
this penetrating though often didac
tic glimpse into the “unheard music
that empowered Glenn Gould’s
life.”
The Blyth Festival, led by
Artistic Director Anne Chislett, is a
not-for-profit Canadian theatre
organization, with a mandate to
develop and nurture Canadian
productions.
For more information about the
Celebrity tournament, sponsorship
and donor opportunities as well as
registration, please contact: the
Blyth Festival at 519-523-4345 or
fax to: 519-523-9804.
Seaforth area potter, Robert Tetu,
has long been known for his
beautiful designs in utilitarian
stoneware and porcelain. A veteran
of more than 25 years at his craft
(and ‘craft’ is what he calls it) his
work has always been inspired by
the graceful, classical forms of
ancient oriental ceramics. Some of
his fine porcelain pieces are found
in the permanent collections of
museums and art groups, and he
has won many awards for his work
including three Ontario Crafts
Council Design awards.
His new exhibition at the Blyth
Festival’s Bainton Gallery is a
definite departure from his usual
style.
The show, entitled Closing the
Circle runs from July 20 until Aug.
14 and is sure to change some
common perceptions about pottery.
Tetu includes some trademark
pieces in finely-turned porcelain,
delicately glazed and subtly
decorated, that would make any
clay artist proud. He then
introduced work that, while
obviously functional and visually
strong, appears somewhat primitive
in comparison.
Recently he has begun
investigating Shino glazes and the
history of the kilns built into
hillsides. The smokey atmosphere
and drifting wood ash inside the
kilns produced pottery which
Bake
cookies
at Doon
Come to Doon Heritage
Crossroads on Sunday, July 25
from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. for a fun
look at the art of baking the perfect
cookie at the turn of the century.
Explore what cookies were
popular, find out what kind of
cookies could be bought at the Dry
Goods and Grocery Store in 1914,
discover what ingredients were
different then, learn how those
timeless recipes can be adapted for
today’s use and sample some of the
villagers favourite cookies.
A great outing for all those
cookie monsters to Doon Heritage
Crossroads on Sunday, July 25.
Regular admission.
LONG OISTANCE? CALL 1-800-265-3438 FOR TOLL FREE MOVIE INFO
varied from bone white through
orange to grey and black with a
pewter lustre. It sometimes
acquired an orange-peel texture
while ash deposits created satiny
grey areas or flowing streams of
light green glass. The clay surface
would often show the marks of the
craftsman’s confident hands.
The spontaneous energy of the
form and the raw fury of the fire
created a product which showed the
bond between material, maker and
process.
Tetu’s show is a homage to this
art. His new pieces demonstrate a
loose, energetic quality and the
firing process is approximated in a
gas-burning kiln with Shino-type
glazes and applied maple ash.
Functional pieces such as teapots,
bowls, goblets and vases are
created in both stoneware and
porcelain, executed with a
confidence reflecting more than 25
years of experience.
As well, there are a few works
which precariously straddle the line
between utilitarian and abstract.
He suggests that the skill
involved in making the finest
porcelain is only one step on the
way to producing what appears to
be a less-sophisticated type of
work. The show represents a circle
of inter-connected processes.
Where the circle was closed is left
for the viewer to decide.
Closing the Circle is presented by
the Bainton Gallery at the Blyth
Centre for the Arts. Tetu will be
attending the opening reception on
Friday, July 23 at 6:30 p.m. The
Bainton Gallery is open Monday to
Saturday 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Happy 40th
Birthday
Randy
July 16th
Love your family
in Brussels