The Huron Expositor, 1978-07-13, Page 10• SUNDAY JULY 23013
MINI-TRACTOR PULL
Sanctioned by the Canadian Mini tractor Otillers ,
AssotiatIOn.
Pulls begin at 1 :30 P.M.
7 Classes including .
1500 lb modified
1700 lb modified
6030 lb antique
(any tractor 25 years old or older)
1000 lb single Stock
1000 lb single stock
1000 lb single cyl open
1200 ib single cyl open
For I nformAtion call Maslen Vincent
527-0373 or 527-0120, Seeferth
SATURDAY JULY
6:00 P.M.
PONY
PULL
Presented by Essex County
Pony Puller Association
8 to 9:30 P.M. Play Bingo
9:00 P.M.
Dance the night away with
LINCOLN
GREEN
Play the games - Enjoy the ride'
STEEL BAND 'HERE SATURDAY-7-Diok Smith and
Syncoma, a iCaribbean steel band which plays often
at Ontario Place, will be featured at a big dance
Saturday night here on the arena, floor. Prom/ode go
to the new PA system and lighting and acirnisaion,
which is $4, includes a lunch.
Mystery show revealed for Blyth
The: artistic staff at the Blyth
Summer Festival has solved the
mystery of the fifth show. The
perfect play 'has been found. 'to
end the fourth 'season, a family'
comedy and musical. TWO
MILES OFF.will open on August
23 at 8:30'p.tn., and will play each
'night from AuguSt 28th to
Septeniber• 2nd.
TWo Miles Off is written by an
Edmonton group known as
Theatre Network, and is a light-
hearted and tuneful tribute to the
people of 'a small village, where
the train. doesn't stop, 'but it does
slow down! Although it is about a
small town in Alberta, ,the play
could easily take place in any
small village here in Ontario. It
tells the story of a town that is no
longer serviced by bus, train or
•plane because it is two miles off
the main highway, .and as a
result, has stopped growing. But
the hopes and dreams of the
people continue to flourish,, and'
their pride in their home makes
them determined to See it
continue to get bigger and better.
Two Miles Off is a- story for
everyone, whether from a small
town or not, because it looks at
Mrs. Martin's music
'The following are the ex-
amination results of the pupils of
Mrs. Winona Martin in the Royal
conservatory Pianoforte • Ex-
aminations held at Blyth in June.
Grade VIII First Class Honours
- Brian Armstrong, 80%, highest
in a class of 8 and only first class
honours Brian will receive his
Grade VIII certificate, as he
previously passed Grade 11
the lighter side of the problems of
`progress'.
pupils pass
Rudiments with First Class
Honours - 86%.
Grade VII Pass - Linda Michan
68%, Second in class of 3. Linda
will receive her Grade VII
certificate as she previously
passed Grade II; -Rudiments with
Honours, 77%.
Grade V Honours - Janice
Somers, 74%, second in class of
7.
At Seaforth Lion's Park - - Friday, Saturday, Sunday
JULY 21 22 - 23
',Family Fun For Everyone
FRIDAY
JULY 21ST
r . .0
8 to 9:30 P.M. Play Bingo
8:30 P.M. to 9:30 P.M.
Dominion German Shepherd Dog
Club will present obedience and
confirmation demonstration
9:30 P.M. Sing and Dance to the Sound of
TONY .
NOTHER
Play the games - Enjoy the rides
Ride The Double Decker Bus to. where the fun is Enjoy the Ridet
by Rosemont Amusemejiis - Try your lUck at .ganiesof skill -
See Displays of Cars and enjoy the food at the Lunch Etatits
Admission Friday night $10 0 Saturday $200 Sunday $25° Children FREE
Licensed under LLBO special accession permit
ENTERTAINMENT
Thurs.,,Fri. and Sat.
and
Sue
. -FRIDAY SPECIAL
Salisbury
Steak
COMMERC AL
HOTEL .
SEAFORTH
FINE FOOD
FINE ENTERT AINMENT
BOB & RUTH
,LAING
Invite their friends and
relatives to share in the
celebration of their
SILVER WEDDING
ANNIVERSARY
at a dance at
Family Paradise
on
Sat., July 15
9 p.m.
NO GIFTS PLEASE
WEDDING INVITATIONS
THE HURON EXPOSITOR
PHONE 527-0240 ,— SEAFORTH
The Family .
of
KEN & BLANCHE
PARKE
wish to invite their family,
"friends, and neighbours to
celebrate their
25th WEDDING
ANNIVERSARY
Sat•, July15
Hensall
Community--Centre
NO GIFTS PLEASE
kt
8 10 THE HURON EXPOSITOR JULY 13, 197 6 '
Serendipity
Tiger and Ned and Jac
,By Alice Glbb
If discomfort is good for the soul, and the Blyth Memorial Hall
had been a church rather than a theatre; then Friday night's
audience would probably have guaranteed their entry into
heaven.
Although the opening night audience came toe see the premiere
cf The Huron Tiger, a play about the treat 'Huron Ciiiinty
eccentric, Dr. William (Tiger) Dunlop, by London playwright
Peter Colley, the heat inside the theatre sometimes made you
wonder if you'd wandered into a metropolitian steam bath
instead.
But in the end, even perspiration failed to dampen the
audiences' spirits and The Huron Tiger, the Blyth Festival's first
commissioned work of this season, proved to 'be a hit.
Peter Colley has chosen to cram events over a number of years
in Dr. Dunlop's life into one brief four year period,a period in
which Dunlop's grievances against his employer, the Canada
Company, come to a head; the Scotsman narrowly manages to
_escape matrimony and he is eventually elected to the Legislative
Assembly, where his supporters hope he'll air the settlers'
grievances against Thomas Mercer Jones and the Canada
Company.
The Huron Tiger also explores Dunlop's attitude to the 1837
farmers' rebellion and to his older brother, Robin, a former naval
hero who is now a, mild-.mannered invalid, more interested in
tending his plants and cats than in the politics of the settlement
around Gairb .raid, the Dunlop, home just north of Goderich.
Although the telescoping of events in the Huron Tiger makes,
`Amore drarnatkp impact on the staie, it does diminish some of
, the historical impact of the work.
Terence Durand, the actor who plays Dr. Dunlop, gave us a
fiery eccentric with the sharp' Scots' wit and blustering manna e
we've come to 'expect from the man who tilled his house with
friends, and sometimes enemies, and liked nothing more than a
good verbal battle.
A Ready Quip
Durand portrays the Tiger' as a man with a quip for almost
every occasion - a. man whO is caught .shorthanded onlyin the
times he's required to respond to situations with true emotion.
Dunlop's brother Robin, played by actor Chris Kelk, is a
striking contrast to•his fiery brother, While Robin is certainly one
of the play's major characters, one wishes the playwright had
given more time. to exploring the. deep bond which obviously
existed between the two Dunlop brothers.
Elizabeth Hanna is the play's second fiery Scot - playing
Louisa, the housekeeper who ruled the two nicns' lives with an
iron fist.
In the play's opening scene, Lou is demurely telling Mrs. John
Galt 'that "it'S important to know your place, and I know my
place" when she suddenly turns and yells at poor Robin Dunlop
who's obviously •terrified of disobeying even one • of his
housekeeper's rules of conduct.
Miss Hanna provides the play's love interest and some of the
sharpest comic scenes arc the confrontations between her and
the "Tiger".
Although it's unlikely the settlers in Huron County..dvericiffiti
the antics of Thomas Mercer.. Jones, the land agent for the
Canada Company, humorous, Colley has chosen to use Jones as
the, butt r•of much of' the play's humor.
Balancing books
- Keith Knight plays Jones as uncouth, manipulating, a true
villain - a man who's like a "'r hinoceros in rut" and who cares
for'"nothing but balancing his book." In the play. Jones pursues •
Lou with a vengeance, and her one minor truiniph is forcing
proposal from the man on bended knee. Although Imes may
have purStiedlou in fact., for he was a notorious , womanizer, he
was actually married to Bishop Strachan's daughter, a move
which assured him of both some status in Goderich 'and
permanent affiliation with the Family Compact.
Other Members of the, cast were Barbara Snaith. as Helen
Galt, certainly the most down-to-earth of the characters, and
Steven Thorne, who played the impassieeed John Galt Jr., a man
intent on restoring his, .father's good name and bringing the
Canada Company to task. Like his father, John Jr. possessed the
right motives, but lacked the practical ability to carry them off,
1David"..Kirby, an apprentice actor with the comapny, was the
officer. •
Minet
The final member of the-cast was Millet, associate director
Anne lloy's cat who managed to grasp the role of Robin•Dunlop's
cat with true understanding'. , •
Certainly a wejeonie, addition to the play will be the theatre's
air conditioning system, slated for impediate installation.
• The Huron Tiger, which tackles an anThitious subject, reminds
us again'that Canadians have no lack of men of heroic stature or
of tnenas villainous as any we read about-in the history of other
cultures.
• Although director James Roy has chosen to emphasize comedy
in The Huron Tiger rather than the historical conflicts of the
period, the play more than survives on its comic merits.
Whether it's the age old conflict between the Scots and Irish "an
Irish regiment will last only until the taverns are open", Tiger
says, dr jokes about Tiger's prefenee for certain strong
beverages - he's calls his liquor cabinet the'Twelve Apostles and
says "it sure beats going to church doesn't it" - the play more
than gets by on its wit,'The implication that Dunlop is a flawed
character, who lacks'meral courage and cares far less for the
common people than John Galt, Jr. would want, is there for the
audience to grasp if they wish.
The Huron Tiger is a play that will appeal to both young and
old and a play that has very special relevance to audiences
familar with the stories of Tiger Dunlop and Gairbraid, Colonel
Anthony Van Egmond and the dastardly Thomas Mercer Jones.
NED AND Sack
A second paly which tackles the close relationship between
two men is Ned and Jack, written by Canadian playwright
Sheldon Rosen and now playing at Stratford's Third Stage.
The play tackles one night's confrountation between two men-
Edward Sheldon, one of American's most successful playwrights
during the early 1900's and John Barrymore, the flamboyant,
eccentric actor now remembered more for his drinking exploits
and his women, than for his carrer in the theatre and in
Hollywood's early movies. '''
WherlEdwardSicelden was in his thirties nad at the height of
his career, he was stricken with crippling arthritis and ankylosis,
spending the last 20 years of his life as a bedridden invalid.
Sheldon Rosen has based his play on one-fictional night when
Barrymore has just opened in his triumphant performance of
Hamlet and the playwright has just learned that his conditiOn is
incurable. ,
Ned and Jack is, in truth, a love story about the great
friendship between two men, a topic which has never been
explored on stage to the extent it deserves.
Jack Weatherall, the actor who plays the young lover in .
Stratford's production of As You Like It, is faced with the
difficult role of portraying a man gradually succumbing to the
crippling 'effects of arthritis - a proud man who is now almost
totally dependent on' .others to dress and undress him and
respond to his needs.
Wetherall, whose tanned, healthy-looking physiquebelies his
role as Sheldon, never seems comfortably in the part until the
final act of the play when the carefully controlled facade of the
playwright cracks and he sobs. out his anguish on Barrymore's
shoulder.
Alan Scarfe„ asthe champangne-guzzling Barrymore still
-af
•
dressed in' is Hamlet costume and black tights, who buries his
true personality in a "Buffoon's mask"' and chooses his poses
both on and off stage, gives a moving performance as ' a man
• for,ced to come to terms with the fact that success on stage leaves
him unsatisfied. and with 'the reality that Sheldon, the friend he
has always depended on for comfort from the world, is about to
spend the remainder of his life as an invalid.
In Bedroom
Ned and Jack depends very heavily on the intimacy of .
Stratford's Third Stage, for the play takes place entirely in
Sheldon's bedroom, with the audience crowded around the
stage..
The opening act is slow, and the play is built around
iarrymore's flamboyant personality, - a personality that
sometimes'threatens to overshadow, Sheldon's part in the action.
Sheldon is a man who has been creatively daring on stage and .•
who has counted a number of theatre personalities as his friends,
all •thewhile leading a mundance, ordinary existence himself.
Now suddenly he's confronted with the reality that playwriting,
the one thing which gave his life meanies, will be' imposiible
with his twisted fingers and the further 'realization that life isn't
sentimental the stuff his plays were made of.
Ned and Jack certainly has some major flaws as a dramatic
work but the relationship between the two men and between
Sheldon and his rough and ready caretaker, Danny, played by
Dears Hawes, is still compelling theatre - a play you can't forget
on the drive home.
Next slimmer, Sheldon Rosen will be Stratford's playwright-
in - residence and Ned and Jack promises that whatever topic
Mr. Rosen deals with, it will provide some provocative theatre.
Both the Blyth Festival and' the Stratford Festival are
providing _theatre goers with an opportunity to see work
produced in their country, by their own playwrights, and this is
something we've' been denied for many years. ,. •