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The Citizen, 1996-12-11, Page 23THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1996 PAGE 23. E ntertainment Band plays Theatre review So much plot, so little time In stitches Douglas Campbell provides delightful moments as The Aged Parent in the Grand Theatre's adapatation of Great Expectations, now playing until Dec. 28. By Keith Roulston There are difficulties turning a piece of literature into drama for the stage and nearly all of them are evident in the Grand Theatres ver- sion of Great Expectations in Lon- don. Despite the problems, however, the production yields its rewards. The Charles Dickens classic is adapted for the stage, and directed, by Grand Theatre Artistic Director Michael Shamata. In his notes, Shamata says he was drawn to Great Expectations because it offers a discussion on the moral choices people make, how some people are born with much, but descend into lives of selfishness, hatred and abuse, while others are born with little and suffer greatly, but still stand for goodness, kind- ness and honour. The discussion focuses on Pip (John Ullyatt) who is raised by his harsh, older sister and her kindly blacksmith husband. He is taken as a youngster to play with a beautiful young girl in the care of a wealthy woman, the twisted Miss Haver- sham. Later he is given a chance to escape his lower class beginning through the generosity of a mysteri- ous benefactor who pays for his schooling. Pip becomes ashamed of his roots and for a time selfish and arrogant before rediscovering the virtues of his upbringing. Among the rewards for people who have regularly attended the Blyth Festival over the years are several familiar faces in key roles. First among them is Kate Trotter, whose connection with Blyth goes back nearly 20 years, first as an actress, later as a director. In Great Expectations, she plays Miss Haversham, who was abandoned at the altar by a gold-digging fiance and has literally shut herself off from the world, haunting the dark- ened halls of her mansion like a ghost, still wearing her rotting wed- ding dress. It's one of the few roles in the adaptation that gives some scope for acting, but even Trotter, one of the country's best actresses, is hard- pressed to break through the static- ness of the part. There is a physical limitation because she spends most of the play on a catwalk raised and lowered from the stage ceiling, which is supposed to represent her remote mansion, high above the lives of Pip and his family. There is also a character limitation because there is little opportunity for us to see Miss Haversham develop before our eyes as characters in drama must. That's one of the problems of turning a novel into a play: the main characters in a drama must be altered by the circumstances of the dialogue on stage while the wider scope of a novel allows us to know what is going on in characters' minds or a narrator tell us what is going on. Shamata turns Pip into narrator here but the amount of plot that is involved in the sprawling Dickens novel (it takes place over 25 years and many locations) means that too often he's having to tell us about things that have happened and too seldom we get to see those things happen before our eyes. The scope of the play causes problems for designer John Fergu- son (who's work at Blyth included Quiet in the Land) whose bare stage didn't really provide the solu- tions the director and actors needed to convey the sweep of the plot. Kevin Fraser, another Blyth Fes- tival veteran, provides the lighting design. Oliver Dennis, who appeared in Blyth in-Yankee Notions and I'll Be Back Before Midnight in 1992, plays two of the most loveable characters in the play, the black- smith Joe Gargery and the clerk, Mr. Wemmick. His real-life wife Deborah Drakeford (who last appeared in The Tomorrow Box and This Year Next Year at Blyth in 1995) plays Joe's sharp-tongued wife as well as a maid, Molly, who never speaks but has played a major role in the dilemma of the play. These multiple roles can prove confusing to those not used to this style of theatre. This became obvi- ous when a family behind us spent the intermission trying to straighten out who was who. Particularly con- fusing is the use of Kristen Thom- son as the two young woman in Pip's life, the cold-hearted, unattainable Estella who he yearns for and the warm and wonderful Biddy who he can never see as more than a friend. (Hilda Steele plays both as children, equally hard to follow.) There's no confusion when stage legend Douglas Campbell switches between his two characters Abel Magwitch and The Aged Parent, however. The characters are so unalike, and Campbell appears so different in each (particularly the delightful Aged Parent) that proba- bly many people didn't know he played both. Also in the cast are Ian Deakin as Uncle Pumblechook and Corn- peyson, Michael Hanrahan as Mr. Jaggers and Jonathan Higgins as Herbert Pocket, Pip's best friend and teacher. While act one of Great Expecta- tions suffers from the problems of adaptation, the second act is stronger and skips along quickly, despite switching from one location to another. This act, and getting to see the characters adapt and change, provides the rewards of the production. It still doesn't work perfectly as a drama, but if Shama- ta could make act one work as well, he'd have a much more successful drama. Continued from page 22 discussed, and illustrated, problems which may arise in our yard at school, and talked about the different ways in which we could deal with these situations, as peacemakers. It was a very informative, and worthwhile day. THE SANTA CLAUS PARADE By Lori Jewitt The band represented our school very well in the Clinton Santa Claus parade on Friday, Nov. 22. They braved the cold to entertain a sizeable crowd of spectators along the parade route. The band worked really hard on three songs: Jingle Bells, Up on the Housetop and Jolly Old St. Nick. Special thanks goes to Keith arid Don Allen, and Al Bosman for decorating and pulling the float, and to Barb Bosman for the extra hand. Everyone involved had a very enjoyable evening. By Tina Muehletholer Remember our Christmas concert is Dec. 12 at 7:30 p.m. Everyone is welcome. Mrs. Moore's Grade 7 class has been very busy working on many CAPITOL THEATRE Adult (Age 16 & over) $6.00 Child (Age 15 & under) $4.00 Senior $4.00 Tuesday (All Tickets) $4.00 291-3070 LISTOWEL Dolby Surround Sound Stereo STARTS FRIDAY December 13 - 19 7 & 9:15 P.M. Sunday Matinee 2:00 p.m. STAR TREK FIRST CONTACT PG (Violence) HAPPY 40th BIRTHDAY December 10 Gary for parade things. In Math we arc doing fractions. We have just finished our unit on explorers. We also did projects on them. Many kids learned a lot. In last week's Art class we made candleholders out of 'tin cans. we all enjoyed doing that. 14W'Rre*axerc*oWre*0)-t741 VA, Our Gift To You Every Jean ft.' tt Everyday No Tax! •Calvin Klein •Guess *Buffalo 3 •Manager •Bullet •Silver •Esprit if EXTENDED HOURS 1Fg FOR CHRISTMAS 4 Monday, December 16 to Friday, December 20 10 am-8 pm Saturday, December 21 10 am-6 pm Monday, December 23 10 am-8 pm Tuesday, December 24 10 am-6 pm o From Lunch... Friday Lover! 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