Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1984-07-25, Page 24i 4S?! 10A C9 R!^AFM!H,SIG7NAl w' Alt,2.0, 6 ENTERTAINMENT' eturnstQ stage in CakeWalk Dorothy Piner By Wendy Somerville CLINTON — Area resident Dorothy Piner, winner of a Dominion Drama Festival Award has returned to the stage in the role of Augusta Connors, in the Blyth Festival play, Cake Walk. Apart from acting, the seasoned per- former has assumed many "roles" over the past 44 years, including secretary, child care worker and auctioneer. Born in Sault Ste. Marie, she began her careen at 13 -years -old, performing in amateur productions with the Sault Ste. Marie Theatre Workshop. Dorothy said that here Ahe was able to develop into a better ac- tress thanks to the influence of a friend. "She helped mea great deal," the actress remembered. Comparing the Sault Ste. MarieMorkshopp and the Blyth Workshop, Dorothy said the quality of acting at the l3lyth Festival Chijdren's Workshop is ex- ceptional. F' "It is definitely, a!,professional operation," she said. She added that the Blyth people "seem to be quite positive." During the '60s, he actress appeared in countless dramas for Sault Ste. Marie au- diences. They included, The Importance of Being Ernest,,,Waltz of the Toreador, The Moon is Blue, the Glass Menagerie, Epitaph for George Dillon and Send Me No Flowers. Send Me No Flowers won Dorothy the Best Actress in the Dominion Drama Fes4,va1 Award in 1964. After moving to Toronto in 1965, she per- formed in two productions, The Emperor's New Clothes and Magic Planet. She also did two CBC Drama Festival performances; Mary, Queen of Scots and Variations. She also appeared in television commercials. One was an early Mutual Life commercial about hockey. In 1977 and 1978 she was in- volved at the Factory Lab Theatre, also in Toronto. Here she acted in The In- vestigators and Games People Play. This long term of performing fon Theatre and television ended in 1979 when the ac- tress decided to purchase a building in Bayfield and convert it into an antique and coffee shop called The Bayfield House. "I really just slid into the business," ex- plained Dorothy. "I'd like to say it was a The cast of BEDROOM FARCE now running at Huron Country and Eric House; and centre. Anthony Bekenn. Judy Leigh -Johnston Playhouse includes. lower left. Marcia Kash and Terrence Slater; and director Elsa Bolam. lower right. Shelley Peterson and Grant Roll; upper. Ann Casson g fromPlayhouse is latest offerin Farce BY JOANNE BUCHANAN The Huron Country Playhouse's latest offering is the Alan Ayckbourn comedy hit, BEDROOM FARCE. The action unfolds on an effective three-bedroom set by Terry Nicholls and deals with the lives of four couples as their evening plans go awry. Leading the cast are seasoned pros Eric House and Ann Casson as Ernest and Delia, an eldeqy married couple whose most exciting entertainment on their wedding anniversary would appear to be eating sardines on toast in bed. Marcia Kash is charming as the newlywed Kate. She and husband Malcolm (Terrence Slater) have a housewarming party which is THEATRE REVIEW spoiled by the feuding of self-centered Trevor ( Anthony Bekenn) and his neurotic wife Susannah (Judy Leigh -Johnson). They are clearly a drain on all their friends as well as Trevor's exasperated parents, Ernest and Delia. The already -complicated situation is made worse by Jan (Shelley Peterson), Trevor's f6rmer girlfriend. And Jan's ailing husband Nick (Grant Roll) is stuck in bed with back problems in the midst of all the confusion. Are you following this? Probably not. BEDROOM FARCE is a play you would have to see for yourself to comprehend all the crazy goings-on. Director Elsa Bolam does a good job of keeping the action moving'and of playing up the contrasts between the stability of the older couple's marriage and the erratic marriages of the younger couples. BEDROOM FARCE will continue at the Playhouse until July 28. CakeWalk has ingredients for Blyth hit BY JOANNE BUCHANAN A cake baking contest seems like a commonplace subject for a play. But there is nothing commonplace about the Blyth Festival's production of CAKE -WALK, a delightful comedy by Montreal playwright Colleen Curran. CAKE-WAI.K had its premiere at Blyth on July 17 as the Festival's third production of the season and it has all the ingredients for a successful run1ong with humor, there is romance, some suspense , and excellent characterization enforced by a talented cast. Anne Anglin, a Blyth favorite. leads the cast with her superb acting skills and dornic flair. She portrays Ruby Abel, a woman who is not above dirty tricks to win the cake baking contest. First prize is a trip. to. France and Ruby wants to win so she and her husband Buckey can have a second honeymoon. Laurel Paetz is another stand -out in the play as Sister Vivien Leigh Cleary who dresses like `•a lay person" and enters the contest in hopes of winning so she can send an elderly nun to I visit Lourdes. Complications arise when she falls in love with the only rrlan entered in the contest, an inept archaeologist named Taylor Abbott who calls his cake entry 'King Tut Coconut'. Andrew Martin Thomson endlears himself to the audience with his portrayal of the shy Taylor and has us rooting him on in his romance with the sweet and beautiful Leigh. Patricia Vanstone, ,Janet Land and W. Dorothy Piner round out the cast as Martha Britch, Tiffany Secord and Augusta Connors Secord. Martha is the owner of a health food restaurant in the town where the cake baking contest takes place. She wants to win the contest with her 'Heaven on Earth' carrot cake so she and her draft dodger husband can gain some respect from the local townsfolk. Augusta is a wealthy matron who enters her spoiled daughter Tiffany's wedding cake in the contest the day before the wedding. She wants the sense of achievement that comes from winning the contest. More complications arise as Tiffany attempts to change her mother's mind about entering her cake. The voice of (,KNX reporter Glen ('reamer keeps the audience informed 'via loudspeaker as to the goings-on outside the contestants' waiting room. Katherine Kaszas directs the whole production with just the right touch of humor and sensitivity as the relationships among the characters are formed. The set, a basement kitchen, by Pat Flood, is up to par with the general excellence of the Fest of the production. To find out who wins the cake baking conteslt, you'll have to go .and see this touching comedy for yourself. It runs in repertory until August 18. Kids doing Shakespeare Shakespeare in Blyth? Performed by children? Yes, that's what's happening. The Blyth Festival's Young People's Workshop has begun rehearsals on an adaptation oi. Geoffrey Trease's popular novel CUE FOR TREASON. Fifteen youngsters, aged 12 years and over, are involved. They come from the Blyth, Wingham, Brussels, Belgrave, and Clinton areas. CUE FOR 'TREASON has been specially adapted for the Festival by David Stewart Craig, the founder of Theatre Direct Canada and author of BOOSTER McCRANE, P.M. which 'p red1last fall at the Toronto Free Theatre. _.ele . tees place in Elizabethan England and revolves around a plot to kill Queen Ettlabeth I. The plot is foiled by two young boys, members of Shakespeare's ac- ting company. Jim Schaefer, a familiar name to Blyth audiences, is directing the production, assisted by .Judi Skinner and Michael Han- nigan. Jim was amember of the acting com- pany in the Festival's first season (1975) and has returned on many occasions as actor, director, and playwright. The production is designed and co-ordinated by Kerry Hackett and the children themselves. Members of the public are invited to at- tend performances of CUE FOP TREASON in the Blyth Lions' Park ( weather permit- ting) starting at 4:30 p.m. on the following nates : August 1-0-,11, 12,15 -and 1S In case of rain, perforrr►anees Wil? -be reseheiS ii etl mus ion isrr! . f e major decision but it really wasn't." Two years into the business, she decided to go to Iowa and receive her auctioneer's licence at Rjiseh• College of Auctioneering. Dorothy's aecision was, based on the fact that she was constantly attending auctions, looking for antiques for her store. "I thought I might as well give it a try," she added. In November 1982, Dorothy sold her anti- que business, but she continued to chant at auctions from "the Soo" to Huron County. Of auctioneering, Dorothy says, "It was an experience." Today, Dorothy'has left the auction world to return to the life of an actress. She says she considers herself a "working actress." "Working actors are not recognized by the public as stars," she explained. "They are really hard working talented people who don't get the money a star does." She said that there are literally hundreds of "working actors" who are simply scrap-• ing up a living, acting, The retired auctioneer would now like to receive a full-time position acting. Though she desciibes herself as "being in lirirbo," she said she will always have the urge to act. Her performance in Cake Walk premiered in Blyth on July 17. The play runs until August 18. After that Dorothy's future is uncertain, hut she will continue directing her talents and ambitions towards actin:( Billy Bishop is' Anne Anglin is hilarious as the scheming Ruby Abel in the newest Blyth play. CAKE - .WALK. Tho comedy. written by Colleen `_-L it:— revaiver m° +cnnI- .ra -- 3e --baking-- contest, next offering The great Canadian musical drama Billy Bishop Goes To War will be the second offer- ing of the Playhouse II Season at Huron Country Playhouse. Billy Bishop, the home town boy from Owen Sound, was a misfit cadet at Royal Military College, who, on the dawning of World War I, would have been expelled had not war started. Billy Bishop Goes To War is his story from his days as a cadet through st his firencounters with trench warfare to his discovery of airplanes. Then his moments of glory came as he went on to become a top ace and international hero. But the play is more than just a history class as it looks at the man as well as his deeds and presents us with a complex individual who sings and dances, exaggerates, fan- tasizes and finally copes with the truth about the war and his experiences in it. Billy Bishop Goes To War has everything needed to entertain — including a standout performance by Hank Stinson in his title role. Billy Bishop Goes To War will be in per- formance July 25 through August 4 in Playhouse II. 1. • 1 1 i' 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 WP. ON kw am ow Bring this C,'zpOn for aBonus Just for Participating in Our Portrait Promotion... Our Bonus Plush Toy is a high quality soft -stuffed animal made of the finest plush fib; — just the right size for your little one. .x10 COLON! . ,_PORTRAIT ONLY 88t' LIMIT - ONE SPECIAL PER SUBJECT No additional charge for groups. Additional portraits, and special effects portraiture, if available, may be purchased at reasonable prices. Poses our selection. Satisfaction guaranteed or deposit cheerfully refunded. Plush animal available In various designs of our choice. LIMIT- ONE PLUSH ANIMAL PER CUSTOMER July 25th, 26th, 27th & 28th 10 am - 8 pm - Wed., Thurs. & Fri. 10 am - 5 pm Sat. THE MET 397 BAYFIELD RD. SUNCOAST MALL GODERICH ONTARIO N7A 4E9 - ra MI to s; am r• . r• NM to - - MNraINN 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 PAPER lar the Good Looh 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 F Clinfield Elevators HILL & HILL FARMS LTD. VARNA and CLINFIELD ELEVATORS CONCESSION 2 STANLEY TOWNSHIP are both ready to receive your 1984 li. 3,4 M Hill & Hill Farms Ltd. •BA • WHEAT -Recent Renovations to our receiving facilities have increased our unloading capacity to 7500 bushels/hour. -Custom Combinin •. and Truckin • Available. Clinfield Elevator Peter Rountree 482 191 ill iltiE.Hull FARMS LimITE) VARNA ONT. HIl'1' & HilI Elevator Bev Hill 4824218