HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2001-08-15, Page 19Love in the air
The amorous Cindy-Lou (Bev Elliott) sets her sights on the town police chief, Ezekiel
McGillicuddy (Eric Trask) in Keith Roulston's new play McGillicuddy, onstage now at the Blyth
Festival. (Off Broadway photo)
go/a/kerning.
Atavaage
Ross and Linda Wilson and
Ernest and Elizabeth
Fleming are pleased to
announce the forthcoming
marriage of their children,
Tara and Chad. The wedding
will take place at the Blyth
United Church on Saturday,
August 18, 2001 at 4:00 p.m.
Open reception at Blyth
Community Centre 9 p.m. - 1
a.m.
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THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15, 2001. PAGE 19.
Entertainment& Leisure
Theatre review
`McGillicuddy' hilarious look at smalltown
By Margaret Stapleton
Wingham Advance-Times
Who knows more about small-
town life than the cop-on-the-beat
and who better to chronicle those
everyday occurences than a small-
town newspaper man?
The hilarious result of this collab-
oration of sorts is McGillicuddy,
which opened last Thursday evening
at the Blyth Festival Theatre, the lat-
est offering from playwright Keith
Roulston, Blyth-based newspaper
publisher and magazine editor.
Roulston says that the character of
Ezekiel McGillicuddy, police chief,
first came to life in a satirical column
in the Village Squire Magazine in the
1970s and subsequently on the festi-
val stage in 1979's McGillicuddy's
The Stratford-Perth Museum is
holding its annual Settler's Fare
Barbecue on Monday, Aug. 20 from
5 - 7 p.m.
Entertainment for the evening will
be provided by the Western
Entertainers.
There is a silent auction and guests
can tour the museum's three exhibits:
Made in Canada, Women of
Invention, and The National Ballet of
Canada.
All activities are scheduled to take
place in Upper Queens Park pavilion
and the Museum.
The hearty settler's fare dinner will
Lost Weekend.
"But after that very first light-
hearted production, there was always
the sense I'd missed opportunities to
deal with several issues and the idea
to resurrect the chief in a new pro-
duction stuck in the back of my head
for years."
With encouragement from Blyth
Festival Artistic Director Anne
Chislett and Director Layne
Coleman (the original McGillicuddy
in 1979), Roulston's ideas were nur-
tured and a new script developed,
with even more mayhem, law and
disorder than the first time around.
WHAT'S IN A NAME
When we first meet Ezekiel
McGillicuddy, he is a lowly consta-
ble on the Metro Toronto Police
force, with little chance of advance-
include a quarter chicken, all the
sweet corn you can eat — cooked in a
steam engine — salads, fresh farm
produce, roll, beverage and dessert
for $12.
A child's meal (13 and under) will
consist of two hot dogs, corn, salads,
beverage and dessert. The price is
$5.
Advance tickets only and take-out
is available.
Purchase tickets at the Museum,
270 Walter St., Mitchell District
Credit Union in Mitchell or at
Sinclair Pharmacy, Reserve by
phone at 27 I -5311.
ment under a cocksure sergeant.
So it's no wonder that when he
sees -an advertisement for a police
chief in a sleepy little Southwestern
Ontario town, his curiosity is piqued.
He imagines himself with time on
his hands, no serious crimes to
investigate, a chance to slow down
and smell the coffee.
So, he comes to town where he is
interviewed for the job by the mayor,
a Scotsman, who, although he has
lived there for 25 years, is still con-
sidered a relative newcomer.
McGillicuddy is talked into
accepting the job with promises of
fishing by lazy streams, weekends
off and the notion that he will be in
Control.
But he soon comes to realize that
the whole town council is cheap, his
force is in disarray and old names
and old money carry the real clout in
this town.
As for lazy days spent fishing by a
stream, it isn't long before he real-
cpagro4
KE:B
TWIN CINEMA
SURROUND SOUND STEREO
L1S'FOWEL 291-3070
MN
STARTED FRIDAY, JULY 27
NO
OM
IN
9 P.M. AA
SCARY MOVIE 2
izes that being a small-town police
chief means being on .duty virtually
24 hours a day.
It all starts becoming too much and
McGillicuddy is ready to throw in
the towel; that is. until a pivotal
event convinces him to stay and tight
any attempt by the "provincials" to
take over policing in his town. (This
is starting to sound very familiar.)
CHARACTER STUDY
More than 20 years spent working
on small-town publications, includ-
ing time spent as a court reporter,
have given Roulston a unique per-
spective and in McGillicuddy he
brings to life some very colourful
characters.
Although only three actors grace
the stage in McGillicuddy -- Eric
Trask, Beverley Elliott and Mark
Harapiak -- many more characters
bring the story to life, thanks mainly
to the versatile Harapiak, who plays
everyone from a 12-year-old con-
man, to the smarmy police sergeant
to the hapless mayor, to the slick and
slippery town administrator.
Harapiak is a marvel to watch,
slipping in and out of character,
sometimes with just an intonation of
his voice, a T-shirt and hat worn
backwards as "The Kid" or pure atti-
tude as the OPP sergeant.
Trask conveys the frustration and
humiliation that McGillicuddy must
feel as he is thwarted at every step to
see justice served in a small commu-
WEDDINGS
Performed - your location or our
indoor or outdoor chapel
(non-denominational)
For brochure call:
REV. CHRIS MORGAN
ALL FAITHS PASTORAL CENTRE
BENMILLER, 524-5724
CHRISTENINGS
Buck 'n Doe
ekti4
for
iCUIATit
Saturday,
Aug. 18, 2001
9 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Stanley Twp. Complex
Age of Majority $5.00/person
Music by D.J. Lunch Provided
nity, up against the established and
unwritten code of conduct. As the
main storyteller in the tale, he has
the lion's share of lines to deliver
and does so without a hitch.
Elliott is superb as McGillicuddy's
amorous next-door neighbour, who
would love to snare thistachelor.
McGillicuddy is n4t the first work
of Roulston's to grace the Blyth
stage. His first play, The Shortest
Distance Between Two Points, was
produced by the festival in 1977 and
his most recent offering,
Jobs!Jobs!Jobs! in 1998.
McGillicuddy runs until Sept: 15
on the main stage in Blyth.
gettlicaming
Atavtiage
George & Shirley Wheeler
are pleased to announce
the marriage of their
daughter, Carol
to Simon McAully,
son of
Jack & Sonni McAully
on Saturday, August 25th,
2001 at the residence of the
bride's parents.
Stratford-Perth museum
hosts settler's barbecue
CINEMA I 7 & 9 P.M. PG
AMERICAN
PIE 2
SUNDAY MATINEE PM
CINEMA 2 7 P.M.
SUNDAY MATINEE PM
CATS AND DOGS
Family
- „ow
PARK THEATRE •
GOOERICH 524-781I
amaum%
FRI,THURS.
AUGUST
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