HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1979-08-30, Page 11THE DEATH
OF TAE DONNELLYS,,—Karen
• r
Wiens, in the role .of
Maggie Thompson., dances up a storm as the Donnelly boys, actors. Bob
Collins, Paul KeJdin, \Milian% Puhlop and Layne Coleman, stand by
during, the 13lyth, Summer Festival's production of the play The, Peath .of
the Donnellys,.
B. Glahn and D, Kahl of
Detroit, Michigan, were the
winners of a $1,00 bill
Saturday, at the Zurich Bean
Festival. The draw was
•sponsored for the second
year by the Father Stephen
• Eckert Council, No. 5289, of
the. Knights of Columbus of
• Seaforth and District.
Second prize of 5200. was
won by Austin Hartman, of
Goderich, while third prize of
Lise Gunby �f Dungannone
the Durham College
journalism student who has
been working as a reporter at
the Expositor during the
summer, has returned to
She will be entering
her second year of the
journalism program. •
Jane. Allan, who also
•
5100. went to Margaret
Hansberger, R.R.2, Tillson-
berg, Assisting with the
draw were Past Grand
Knight, Phil Durand and
Rene Brochu, • Program
Chairtnan who chose a young
girl from the gathering to
draw the winning tickets.
Draw chairman John
Paul Rau, Council Activity
chairman, pointed out to'
those in attendance at the
worked as a reporter at The
Expositor for part of the
summer, has been accepted
into the first year of
University at Sir Wilfred
Laurier. Jane, who
graduated from Grade 12 at
Central :Huron Secondary
School in the spring, took two
university courses this
Festival, that the proceeds
are for the various charities
supported by the local
council and in particular to.
the Arthritic Society,
Those who supported the
project by purchasing .draw
tickets and all who assisted
with the sale of tickets were
extended a sincere "thank
You" by the chairman. in
making the project Such a,
success.
summer, and as a result, was
accepted into her freshmen
year,
Diane Van Dooren, who
Worked at the Expositor as a
receptionist, is starting
journalism studies this fall at
Conestoga College in
Kitchener.
Starts September 10
Arthritis Society needs hei
Acting earripaige chairman
of the local arthritis society
branch is Mrs. Betty Carndo
who says It is our re-
sponsibility as citizens to
help provide the money re-
quired to keep Canada in its
• present position of having
one of the best arthritis
control programs in the
world."
"We have ceme a long
way in the treatment of
arthritis in just a few yeari,"
18th Annual
PIONEER
THRESHER & HOBBY
ASSOCIATION.
REUNION
September 7, 8, 9
Blyth, Ontario
John Ellacott, President Simon Hallahan, Secretaty
London, Ontario • R.R. 3, Blyth, Ontario •
STEAM ENGINES. - TRACTORS -
SAW MILL -. OLD FARM MACHINERY. - GAS '
ENGINES •. SHINGLE MILL - , HAND •FED
• SEPARATOR - HAY PRESS -- ANTIQUE CARS.
. .ENTERTAINMENT etc. • •
'BANQUET - OCT. 19 - BLYTH MEMORIAL HALL
•says the chairman. "At one
time most patients with
arthritis. cou Id look forward
Only to a life *of pain and
disability. Now, disability
can be prevented in most
cases and pain can be con-
trolled."
"Give generously when
the canvasser calls," Mrs.
Canino said, as she urged
people to remember the.
Arthritis Society's slogan,
"Give more than a thought
to Arthritis."
The local canvas will take.,
place this year from
September 10th tp.
September 24th. If you can
help with the canvas please
contact Mrs. Cardno before
September 10th.
Sere • .•
•
• by Atice ••
The DeathofThe Ponnellys, A play'by Ted PlaYetl. bY Yeteran acto.r David Pea, ,stabs,
JOhns, and Theatre Passe Mutaille, which neighbour Pat Farrell. to death.,
opeped Aug, 21 at the• Myth Summer This history .of tile Donnelly family, from
Festival, is certainly one of the Most rousing . the "fiddle -playing cripple of a• Donneliar,
. •ptoduetions ever attempted on the Myth Wilf Played by Layne Coleman, to the family
stage. From the opening barnraising scene IngtiarchJohalMalt, Outlined in a musical
to the final slaughter of the family who number which .044 With an enthusiastic
mar ',Red tonfferoi the sensibilities of their slePdance, sure to. be popular with Huron
fellow Bidcluiph residents, the actors manage .County audiencee, Bet the seng paints a
to create vivid portraits Of the "burnin,' 'picture of the Donnelly family Which is
beatin'„ fightin' and feudin' Doimellys," centMuect throughout the play as a
Although the play's. author Ted Johns has :hard -drinking, fun -loving bunch. of "good
sacrificed histoticai accuracy TL order te de bOys" who simply weren't understeod
produce sone "high energy" entertainment appreciated by their neighbours. The Blyth
the main problem with this production isePt production missses the more complex issues
that the facts aren't always straight, but 'Of the Donnelly history inclecling the split
rather that the audience pan't keep op with between the two Catholic factions in
the Sustained pace for the three hours plus the 'Biddulpti, brought out from Ireland; .the
play takes to unfold, belief that the Donnellys were little short 4
The Death of the Donneuys is staged in the devel reiecarnated, and the tenet many
the best Theatre Passe Mtltaille traditiOns, felt whe theii)°nfiellY n4irie was lien°°nefl
starting with a stark. but flexible set Tab:ter:le:ha. bolt mthoereDinerigehltlyittonithigehftainhaiivye,
designed by Bob Pearson, Which can be
transformed from thc scaffolding and rafters and the justice of their puniahnient, but
of a barn to the • interior of the Jim ponneey instead, the writer and his cast have opted to
give us theattical spectacle, which
farmhouse. As in many Theatre Passe
Moraine productions, the actors take a sometimes falls little short of a circus.
variety oroles, and music and dance play Playgoers can't be blamed for feeling a little
f
important parts in moving the story of the shortchanged- the PelmellYs have heeeree
Donnellys to its tragic conclusion. , the stuff of which legends are made, and we
can't help wandering if the brood was as bad
The play opens with a rowdy barnraising, as history has painted th m
e •
with the Donnelly boys crawling in on the The Blyth production mixes slapstick in
scaffolding over the heads ef the audience, the play with stronger, dramatic vignettes
and the strains of the fiddle echoing the which show the strong family ties of the
changing Mood a the neighbourly party family. Particularly moving scenes included
turns to tragedy when big Jim Donnelly,. Johannah Dennelly's meeting with her
41"
THE HURON EXPOSITOR, AUGUST 00, 194 11
•husband Jim' After. .after his seven years i
Kingston penetentiary; the MO Stagecoach,
race. between, Will Donnelly and his
ompetitor's stage and .Johannah Donnetlyvg,
teacup reading., When she has a pre,.
sentiMent about the family's fate,
Janet Amos and David Posboth gave
strong Performances as the patents of the
brood who terrorized fliddulph. On opening
night, actors aonletimea tailed each other by
the: wrong nanles, and the habit of calling
Mrs. Donnelly both Johannah and Jolla
sometimes confused the audience, but the
mistakes were onderstandable.
John Jarvis was an appealing
Bob DOnnelle, playing the character as a,
punk kid with just a little to. much spite' for
Anyone's good and *lattice Linehan! as
particularly convincing in the variety of
character roles he played. The Other
Donnelly brothers were alt played with
enthusiasm by actors Bob Collins, Paul
Relmari, Sarn Malkin and Peter Snell.
WILL DONNELLY
Layne Coleman seemed slightly leas
certain in his role as the dreamier Donnelly,
the crippled brother Will, who manages te
survive the massacre by the Biddulph. Peace
Society. Will is more philosopher than
fighter, and in the end, he soonds the final
•eulogy of the play,
Other members of the cast were Karen..
Wiens, in the double role of Will's girlfriend
Maggie Thompson and the unfortunate
Bridget Donnelly; William Dunlop who gave
a strong portrayal as the slightly tipsy
William Porte and the three musicians
,
Pavia ret44,44n, Kim 'Vincent nntt Antme
Adams.
Perhaps the major drawback to the.
riling night Performancet and ***Whack
which As easily rerne4led by director ?nut
ThomPson, *.ns the play's length.
The play.ettempted to cOver -too long a,
span in the life story of the family. Scenes
Suchas the 'wedding of a friend's daughter
and other scenes in the play coold have been
either omitted or at least considerably
shortened. Also, any play On the Donnellys
IS battling the fact that most of the audience
already knows the outcome of the story.
. But despite some of the flaws in The
• Death of The Donnellys, it's likely this,
production wilt be the hit of die season, both
due to the popularity of Theatre fosse
Muraille itt Hume County and to the
fascination, those Itih 'rogues hold for us,
living just a stone's throw from Lecan and '
Whelan's Corners.
if there's one thing this production does
admirably. it to show tIS jest how exiting
• theatre can be. With the centennial Of the,
Donnelly massacre approaching nest year,
one can't help but hope Paul Thompson and
his players will tour this production at the
end of the. Blyth season,
'We only wonder why Canadian Mr11-
M4eM have let this story escape them. The.
Donnellys are as exciting as the James
Gang, Ma. Barker and her boys and the
infamous Bonnie and Clyde, all of whpin
have long since been immortalized on the -
Screen. ,
How about it? •
• 'du:hag:set is aarypeesatkmtionmthesfoofr xvIThateedmin°jsutne'eosth. common
harvest worker
itrwws how
to operate
13WruAssNeisTfEespt
- LIARS
farm injuries. Almost half of accidents are slips and falls. a piece of equipment just Sept. 22,1979
Ontario farm injuries occur back injuries, and machinery because you do," he says.
Miss Suzanne Stewart 4 Regina is visiting her August, September and Oct- "Machinery accidents
•Injuries peak:during harvest
grandparents Mr. andMrs James A. Stewart ober often occur because workers
Mrs. Ruth. Bell had the misfortune recently to fall and One reason is inexPeri- are unfamiliar with the .
•
break her hip and is confined to hospital in Burlington.
Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Scott of Oakland are visiting his
brother John F. Scott and Mrs. Scott.
Mr. and Mrs. Ben Hamilton of Whitby, ..former area
residents called on friends last week.
Mr. and Mrs. jack Ferguson of Sudbury viIitin towa on
Monday. Mr. :Fergusongnson is, a, well known former resident of
Egmondville.
Mi. Violet Elgie visited' hercotisin Miss Mabel Reid at
Pine Lodge, Lucknow and attended the funeral at the
McKenzie McCreath fimeral home LUcknow, of the late
Richard Kilpatrick of W ngham, to Dungannon cemetery:
Mr. and Mrs. Elmer. Townsend of. Harputhey Lane
returned from camping at.Devil's Glen, Mater Lake and
Sibbold Point and while at °aster Lake took the 30,000
. • island boat cruise .of -Parry Sound..
Mr. and Mrs. James F. Scott have returned from a trip
to the Eastern provinces..
• Mr. andMrs. Ken Gordon and Mrs. Jim. Downey and
• John of Calgary, Alberta visited with: Mr. and Mrs. Joe
Devereaux and faMily,
F.CJ. Sills has returned from visit to relations. in
Baltimore, Maryland .— While there he attended the
swearingan ceremonies for his cousin G. Joseph Sills who.
was Made Conimissioner of the Workmen's Compen-
sation for the State cif Maryland.•
• Mr. and Mrs. James Lone and sons -Jim, Scott and Jeff
arthredsafely in.Saudi Arabia, where Mr. Lone is engaged
as an engineer for a 2 year period in the building of Jubail,
a city or! Persian Gulf. ,
Mr. and. Mrs. John C. Crich have returned frornOttawa
• where they were visiting their:daughter.
• Mrs. C.L. Fraser, Miss Margaret Trou and the Misses
• Marion and Joan Sproat of Toronto and Mrs. G.C. Jarrott
and Mrs. J.H. Grant of Stratford visited Seaforth friends
eorirdcesicdziafatat7rormn, .nilabFoarr,insayssaLfaerryty equipment," pHowe,ms te.evnpetsr, ft soaar ymrseedr su rcc.eaSnwt take nn
farmk
m
Swinn, public relations co •
-
„many harvest welters Injuries: the key is planning..
have never worked in age,. Well before harvest, hire
culture before. Others have your seasonal workers, and
worked' only occasionally. OTI • make sure Your equipment is
with
th f.aMmanpyroacr:dourenfsa,mhilaziat. wthit;INIMy. ,:ydsc last
Workut mfarmersl avoid no:UrhdoSeuhri idnThat
ah aka tet
ards and machinery.” •
The high, accident rate is
• also caused by farmers who the time to train all harvest
'rush to complete their harv- help. Familiarize workers
esting. Poor weather con- with all machinery, hazards,
inions in September or and general farm raced
can also increase the ures.
risk of injury. "Don't assume that a
Youths hurt
• Two Seaforth people re-
• ceived minor injuries recent-
ly when the car they were
,travellingin was completely
demotished itt an August 17
accident
The Sound of Music, now
...".
Huron. •
Tavern
Wed.—Sat.
& Sat.
Matinee
REAL HAND CLAPPING, FOOT
THE FAMOUS STOMPING, BLUE GRASS MUSIC BY
hIskeyJa�E
Next Weekend '
Torr.
1
Centinnonet.EhterMilimeht from t to t am!,
1IGHWAY kit 3•434$20 '
S• *4 .0646.44011010
NoinalwaymmaWANWAWAINAWAWKammiwimmarworms.,
Open Daily frith 12 NO00.
Good Old-Fashlortild
Home -Cooked Moats
, in its second and final week
• at the Huron Country Play-
house, continues.t play to
standing room only
audientes. The showk which
is the final wart of the team
NOW
PLAYING'
Rodgers and Hammerstein,
may break all Playhouse
records for attendance, The,
September 1st performance,
a special closing night gala,
is a Playhouse Benefit and
not a regular subscription
WEDNESDAY TO
TUESDAY
AUG. 21TO SEPT. 4
RIDAY A SATURDAY ONLY - TWO SHOWINGS 7:101-1k4:141
SUNDAY TO TUESDAY ONE SHOWING $P.M. ONLY
If'sac
1
41
PLIAS
SPECIAL
SATIIIIDAY
MATINEE
AT TIES
event. The Sound of Music
marks the 28th and filial
production to be directed at
the' Playhouse: by founder
Jantes Murphy who retires at
the close of the current year.
.• Since the beginning of the
season over 1,600 children
of arages Italie attended the
Playhouse production of
Sleeping Beauty. The final
performance will be given on
Saturday, September 1st at
11:00 a.m. on the Playhouse
stage. Sleeping Beauty' is
performed by the Playhouse
Youth Theatre and is made
pOssible by a. grant_ from
Young Canada Works.
David Underwood, 18, and
passenger Jim Savauge, 15,
were injured when the stat.
ion wagon they were travel-
ling in along Con. 20-21 id
Goderich Township, left the
road and rolled into a north
ditch..'
The 1978 vehicle received
55,000 damages. "Goderich
OPP investigated the acci-
dent.
COMM ERCIA-1,
HOTEL
SFAF nf-4 TH
This week 8 Sat. Matinee
The Bounty Hunters
Next week 8 Saturday Matinee
Wayne Knights
The Branded Men
• !'
FINE F()411)
FIN NTI. I? I kINNIU:s4 I
BLYTH SUMMER FESTIVAL
presents
211:11 3):114.1tirli U.11'
traill'.DOV11141:1iliZZ
by TED JOHNS with
THEATRE PASSE MURAILLE
Stating
MARK HAMILL HARRISON FOND CAIVVE FISHER
Fruit, Posters To Kids - While Supply Lostal
EXTRA
SEE COMING ATTRACTION FOR
" THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK -
THE CONTINUING SAGA OF STAR WARS'.
0 THE SOUART Otagrarri
PHONE 5244811 subleOl
AlItCONDMONED 1PQ cba
•
HELD OVER TILL SEPT; 8
AUQ 1 - SEPT. 8
Performances added Sept. 4, 6, 6, 7, 8 tit 8:30
Matinees Sept, 2, 8 at 2 p.m.
TICKETS: Adults $C
Seniors $40 thildrei* SI
PHONE: (519)523-9300.523.4488
PadOltaat mama vitnNOule tild",tita
wn Donnell
r s'
.4f
. I •
Watch For
Krazy Eds
Bargain House
OPENING
in St. Colutnban
Thurs. Sept.61,
New Store Hour.'
Wod Thurs Fr/ 12 tog
S,,t 10 to 6
BOX OFFICE OPENS ATa: P.M
FIRST SHOW AT DUSK
For information Phone
482-7030
DRIVE -1N THEATRE
LIMITED
BEECH STREET-CLINTON
NOW PLAYING TO SATURDAY, SEPT.
E/ERNisommERTi•-ig CAEAN1 OP AMER ICAN YCit.11-1
GOESTG8UMNIER CAMP.. •
AND THE REST CO TO CAMP NORTHSTAR••
•
'ytooilhoPredut#a teNaagerValLAmpaRIatai ANIMAL IIQU
BILL MURRAY-
*oULT ENTERTANMENT'
"HURRICANE'
ADULT ENTERTAINMENT .
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2
DUSK -TO -DAWN
4 BIG SHOWS!
PI,IASE NOTE GENERAL ADMISSION
DUSK TO DAWN ONLY 15 '3.50
SAYE DUNAWAY IN
1. "the Eyes of Laura Mere
N. 4°
2. "Fairy Tales"
3. "Satan's slaves"
4. iiihicanny"
-- PLEASE NOTE
•.aftotandeolinuiik.to•ithiivii show.
Otuliti WoOkeinds onIV.
•