HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2005-07-07, Page 27THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY. JULY 7, 2005. PAGE 27
Entertainment $ Leisure
Theatre review
Ginkgo Tree’ kind of grows on you
Smith
PARK THEATRE
SATURDAY NIGHT BANDS
HANOVER DRIVE-IN
Violence
Disturbing Content
By Bonnie Gropp
Citizen editor
Jlawiape $‘Marriage
‘Forthcoming
You could say it grew on me.
Blyth Festival opened its 2005
season with Lee MacDougall’s The
Ginkgo Tree, a story of community,
love and business, big and small, set
in the gardening store Anything
Grows.
For the first 20 minutes I was less
than amused, often annoyed. By the
end of the first act, however, I was
enjoying the odd chuckle or two, and
by the second act I had actually
warmed to the characters.
The play begins with a flustered
Florence dashing into the store.
Played by Suzanne Roberts Smith, a
newcomer to Blyth Festival,
Florence comes across like Joan
Cusack with Tourette’s Syndrome. It
was her over-the-top antics, and
frequent shrieks that most grated in
the early going. However, she also
managed to become the most
endearing of characters, vulnerable,
flawed, and sweet.
That store owners. Rose (Sharon
Heidt) and Hayward (Mark
Harapiak) keep her employed is a big
question as she is unable to do any of
the tasks for which she has been
hired. Rose argues that it is because
of the kind of person Florence is,
something that’s a little difficult to
understand.
Several issues come into play on
this rather tumultuous day at
Anything Grows. A ginkgo tree,
ordered by faithful customer Ehrhart
(John Dolan) to plant in memory of
his late wife, goes missing. Another
regular. Pearl, played by Nancy
Beatty, is looking for ladybugs and
ends up first with none, then with
Florence’s lunch.
Meanwhile. Florence has missed
telling Rose about a call from a bank
loans and mortgages representative
who is planning a visit to check on
the number of employees. In order to
get a grant, Florence had falsified an
application claiming that the
business had hired a Native Canadian
student.
When the straight-as-an-arrow
banker arrives he becomes
enamoured with the eccentric
The children of Sheila and Doug Bauer
invite you to help celebrate tneir
25th Wedding Anniversary
MARY JANE RAWLS
and
RICHARD HASKINS
Saturday, July 23
7 pm - 1 arti
Brussels, Morris & Grey
Community Centre
Music by DJ
Lunch provided
Tickets: $6 each
Available at Chocolates &
Fudge, JR's or by
contacting Laura Haskins
at 887-8779
James Kuepfer
of RR #2 Bluevale , *
Z) and Colleen Kuepfer Q
• of London . %
* are pleased to announce
the engagement
i of their daughter, I
I Vanessa Colleen 1 I to 1
Stephen Oldfield,
son of • I
I Jim and Darlene Oldfield I
I of Brussels.
I The wedding will take place I
on Saturday, July 9 '
at the
• St. John's Anglican * *
1 Church, Brussels V .•___ v
_ ‘‘(ft. Happy 1s* .
Birthday
Ben (Speer)
July 6th
Happy 13th
Birthday
Uncle Brendan
(Stretton)
July 2nd
Very nice to meet you
Adrian Churchill and Suzanne Roberts
acquainted in Blyth Festival’s The Ginkgo Tree by Lee
MacDougall which opened the new season Thursday night
(Terry Manzo photo)
a Mt I y ^rant'C- i'i r 11
Smith ~ Haggitt
It is with great pleasure
we announce the marriage of
Christa Joanne Smith, ?
daughter of /y
Don and Christine Workman fej
and Robert SmithIO I
Michael William Haggitt,
son of fe-;
i Gord and Susan Haggitt.
?The wedding will take place La
& July 16, 2005 at
LyBlyth United Church/s .
'S
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Zz/Z/ ff f//'y
HANOVER 364-2066
SUNDAY NIGHTS
Roast Beef Dinner
^-^GODERICH
WEDNESDAY NIGHTS
Kids eat free
THE
BLYTH
INNH