The Citizen-Blyth Festival, 1999-06-23, Page 26PAGE 6. BLYTH FESTIVAL SALUTE. WEDNESDAY. JUNE 23. 1999.
Beautiful story, great role entieed Davis to Blyth
By Bonnie Gropp
Citizen stuff
For Eric Davis, when it comes to
Blyth Festival, the plays are the
thing.
“They enticed me. David
French's play (That Summer, in
which Davis plays Paul) is such a
beautiful story and my character is
a great role.”
Paul is a 19-year-old in the
1950s, who’s grown up with some
serious family problems, in an era
when such pressures didn't exist to
the same extent as today. His
divorced parents are both actors,
the father an alcoholic, the mother
living with someone quite close to
her son in age.
“Yet, he’s got a lot of character.
I'll remember
this summer
when I'm 80
Continued from Pg. 5
challenge playing Sylvia, who’s
28.”
The two characters allow Wilson
to be two very different people.
Whereas Maggie is an endearing
innocent, Sylvia has grown up
wealthy, familiar with power.
“She'd be more of a climber.
Status is more important. In that
way she is the extreme opposite of
Maggie.”
In the close-knit world of
theatre, it is interesting that Wilson
has the same actor playing her
boyfriend in each play. “We get to
have two different relationships all
summer.”
Speaking of her co-star, Eric
Davis. Wilson, who has never
worked with him before says his
portrayal of Paul is a guidebook
for every man. “All the men in the
audience should be bringing a
notepad to this show, to jot down
pointers on how to really woo a
woman.”
Having the chance to create
these new characters is about as
exciting as it gets for the Toronto
resident. “It would be corny to say
I'm honoured. But I am. When I
am 80 years old I can still look
back. I’ll remember that summer
for the rest of my life,” she says,
quoting a line of Maggie’s. “That
was important to Maggie to
remember that special summer.”
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a lot of heart,” says Davis. “Up
until this point he’s never had a
deep meaningful relationship until
he meets Maggie.”
Davis says he was drawn to the
part, because of Paul's complexify.
“Although he’s a typical 19-year-
old, curious, (with a) healthy
libido, he still has a romantic side
to him."
Paul loves the poems of Robbie
Bums, that his father recited to him
as a boy. “The fact that he relates
to these poems is uncommon for a
19-year-old boy. There is more to
him than girls, beer and baseball.”
While the 26-year-old actor has
limited knowledge of the 1950s,
preparing for the role wasn't
difficult. “I listened to a lot of old
music.”
“Also, my parents had a romantic
meeting and relationship and I've
heard all those stories. We all have
experiences and memories, some
fleeting, some concrete, that affect
who we are for the rest of our lives.
That is something we can all relate
to.”
In Every Dream, written by
James Nichol, Davis gets a little
closer to his age, playing a 30-ish
character who has been frying to
make a career as a lawyer, but is
failing. “Even though he’s young
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Eric Davis: The plays are the
thing that attracts him to Blyth.
he’s already washed up, and trying
to come to terms with how to
continue his life.”
Though the age may be closer,
however, Davis says he relates
better to Paul. “He is more like me.
There is a lot about him I relate to
directly. But I wish I’d been as
confident as he is at 19.”
Davis, who graduated from
Concordia’s theatre program in
1996 and has lived the past seven
years in Montreal, has found his
first season at Blyth very exciting.
“It’s wonderful to come here and
get away from the city for the
summer. I have a lawn as opposed
to a fire escape.”
He is also enjoying the challenge
of being the first to put a new
character on its feet. “The writing
is wonderful. It’s a joy to get up
and work with characters that have
a lot of levels, lots of past.”