HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 2009-03-11, Page 11Bystander Effect questions
media motives at Livery
Gerard Graces
signal -star staff
What is the role of the media in an increas-
ingly impatient society? With so much readily -
available information on the Internet, how do
major media outlets keep their product viable
and competitive? Further still, who controls
what is said and how much advocacy is too
much in the day's top stories?
These questions and more were explored in
The Bystander Effect, a play by Steven Lind-
strom which wrapped up this past weekend on
the Livery stage.
From the opening scene, the audience is
introduced to news anchor Stephen Hob-
son (Gary LaRose), a journalist deed
to make a difference in the world, no matter
whose feathers he has to ruffle to do so.
Between himself, make-up artist Sam (Jor-
dan Henry) and producer Helen (Julie Gil-
lam), the studio is a hotbed of commentary on
the integrity of the expose and the dilution of
hard news by entertainment as ratings and ad-
vertising revenues slip.
Hobson begins taking a swing at child ab-
ductors in what should have been a cut and
dry news piece on bystander apathy, and goes
into a full -out Bill O'Riley-esque tirade before
being chastised by Helen.
Advocacy has no place in news, argues the
producer, and while that may be the. bottom
journalistic line, Hobson's character does raise
a convincing counterpoint that sometimes
lines need to be drawn in order to rally the
public to a common cause.
Case and point is a bank robbery captured
on tape by former government "plumber" Si-
mon (Gary Kilgore).
• However, Simon's attempt to expose the
thieves (a group of elderly American women),
backfires when he is put in the crosshairs of
Hobson and the Canadian Morning crew.
Lindstrom draws parallells between the
work done by the extortionist -for -hire and that
of the hidden -camera news crews. They don't
follow the nicest means to an end, but the re-
sults are generally for the public good.
It's a point not lost on the audience as they
see Hobson's advocacy turn against him in the
play's final scenes as he's mistaken for a child
abductor himself.
However, even his eventual downfall only
strengthens Hobson's resolve that even slant-
ed news can make a positive difference in the
world.
The play is presented in an interesting way -
a series of vignettes loosely overlapping as the
action progresses. However, it takes a while
for the second scene to make sense, as the play
jumps from a Toronto newsroom to a group of
old ladies plotting a bank robbery in Minne-
sota. f'owever Lindstrom is able to tie the two
stories together by intermission and the many
crass interjections of Claire (Wanda Keith)
keep the audience laughing in the interim.
A conversational scene between construc-
tion workers on a high-rise building furthers
the idea that even though the cameras are al-
ways on, if nobody is watching, their presence
is moot.
While the banter between actors is at times
very message -oriented, Lindstrom manages •
to make it seem natural due to the sometimes
severe, sometimes outlandish nature of the
characters.
Of note is the transformation of Helen, who
goes from lamenting the demise of hand news
in the beginning to telling the crew to "grab
the camera" as Hobson is being beaten in the
alley behind the studio.
Is the world of network news compromised?
Perhaps. But in the end, The Bystander Effect
leaves the audience with the feeling that some
freedoms (especially that of information) can
be sacrificed if it means society is safer.
The show's nm wrapped up March 7.
We are moving!
The Salvation Army
Goderich Thrift Store
1'
Goderich Signal -Star, Wednesday, March 11, 2009 - Page All
Photos used with appreciation
At left, Catherine (Sally Walker) plots a bank heist with her
elderly co-conspirators while construction workers Jim and
Hank (Dean Whalen and Drew Macauley) talk about what
true freedom is high above the city streets in Steven
Lindstrom's The Bystander Effect, which wrapped up
Saturday at the Livery.
•
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