The Citizen, 2002-08-21, Page 19Fateful scene
Mercutio (Wayne Best), left and Nicolas Van Burek as
Tybalt tangle in Stratford Festival's Romeo and Juliet, while
Caleb Marshall as Benvolio tries to keep Romeo (Graham
Abbey) from intervening. (Photo submitted)
in the Italian' Renaissance period,
circa 1530, this production is fairly
true to the original.
Director Miles Potter created a
whole world within. the Festival
Theatre with great acting, transitions
Test Drive a play
at Blyth Festival
By Ashley Gropp
Special to The Citizen
This year the Stratford Festival has
produced its first period production
of Romeo and Juliet in 20 years. Set
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THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21. 2002. PAGE 19.
Entertainment Leisure
As. part of the New Play
Development Program the Blyth
Festival is presenting readings of
three new plays. The lineup this year
for this season's Playworks features
readings from The Perilous Pirate's
Daughter, a sing-along musical by
David Archibald and Anne Chislett,
Test Drive by David Carley, and The
Hippie Show by Kelly McIntosh and
Jonathan Garfinkel.
- These readings are available to the
public and will take place -in the
Blyth • Festival's lower hall.
Admission is free.
The Blyth Festival is committed to
developing new Canadian work, and
the readings provide the playwrights
an opportunity to hear the work read
aloud in a supportive and creative
environment.
A family musical, The Perilous
Pirate's Daughter explores the life
of Canada's Great Lakes pirate. Bill
Johnston and is slate4 tor production
in the 2003 season. Ai'ea high school
students will be participating in the
design and construction of the show.
The Hippie Show examines the
tenuous relationships-forged by local
farmers and young urban hippies
who tried getting "back to the land"
in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Test Drive is written-as a one-man
show. This reading features Eric-
Coates as 'the.talkative car salesmen
reflecting on his life and loves over
50 years. -
The itinerary is as follows: Friday
Aug. 23, 3 p.m., The Perilous'
Pirate's Daughter; Saturday, Aug.
24, I p.m.. The Hippie Show;
Saturday, Aug. 24, 4:20 p.m., Test
Drive..
No tickets are required for this
event.
For more information on any of
the new play readings, please call
the box office at 523-93(X) or I-877-
862-5984, or visit the Blyth Festival
online at www.blythfestival.com
between scenes, script editing and
use of the stage.
Performed with a brilliant cast,
Romeo and Juliet is an excellent
example of what can be accom-
plished with a script from the Bard.
Every performer in the production
was heaVily involved with their
character. Particularly impressive
were Graham Abbey, Lally Cadeau
and Keith Dinicol.
Abbey, who played Romeo,
showed himself very worthy of the
title role. Cadeau as Juliet's nurse,
played up the bawdy humour of the'
role with great enthusiasm and light-
ened the mood of what can be a very
depressing play. Friar Lawrence, as
played by Dinicol, was a thoroughly
.enjoyable character. His ability to
-play alongside and match the strong
Abbey was very noticeable.
Transitions between scenes were
smooth and interesting, with mini-
mal set changes which were often
worked into the scene. They were
executed with style and grace.
Edits to the script were also very
minimal and very well placed. No
important speech was overlooked
and nothing unnecessary was
added.
As usual the use of the Festival
stage was interesting. Entrances
within the audience were used as
were 'the stage doors and trap-
door.
Costumes were fabulously
designed, further transporting the
audience into a new reality.
Although the script itself is well
known and therefore more accessi-
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ble to a young audience than many
Shakespearean plays it is therefore
also more difficult to make this play
still exciting.
This has become even more diffi-
cult since the release of the Claire
Danes/Leonardo DiCaprio film ver-
sion. The cast and crew of this pro-
duction have succeeded in making
this play seem a little new again.
Perhaps that it was done in period is
part of why it worked. After all,
.modern adaptations seem to be all
that are done anymore.
The only real complaint one might
have is the overexaggerated bawdi-
ness of some of the speeches. Most
noticeably this happened during
Mercutio's dream speech where the
actual meaning of the speech risked
being lost by a few crude gestures.
All in all the 'experience at this
production of the classic tragedy was
an enjoyable one.
Romeo .and Juliet runs until Nov.
2.
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