Times Advocate, 1989-06-28, Page 16Page 16 Times -Advocate, June 28 1989
Donnelly play worth a look
By Adrian Harte
BLYTH - The Blyth Festival
Theatre opened Sticks and Stones
last'week, a play of considerable in-
terest to -this area. because it at-
tempts to unravel the mysteries sur-
rounding the 'Donnelly murders of
1880.
The Donnelly massacre has cap-
iured the imagination of Canadians
for decades. The Exeter Times de-
scribed the family the day after the
murders as having "the reputation
of being the most desperate, the
most revengeful, and the most law-
less family in Ontario, and the
most trivial act that displeased them
was sufficient to arouse their worst
passions..."
Sticks and Stones is by no means
an easy play to watch and is not
easy to review, but the Blyth pro-
duction definitely merits a second
look for theatre goers this season.
Author of Sticks and Stones
James Rcaney was one of my pro-
fessors at university, so it came as
a pleasure to finallysec some of his
workon stage.
The first of three acts opens with
music and an Irish drinking song,
but it is never mistaken by the au-
dience as lighthearted. A dark and
moody tension envelops the play
from the start - even stage props are
suspended by nooses. This tension,
however, docs have its drawbacks.
I noticed the audience laughing.dui-
ing a fight scene that ended in man-
slaughter.,
What Reaney docs with %his first
play in his Donnelly trilogy is
bring to life 19th century Biddulph
Township, while attempting to dis-
cover the emotional climate in
which a family .could be persecuted
and even massacred. Z
Unlike older popular accounts
which portrayed, the Donnellys as a
bloodthirsty criminal band, Reaney
portrays them in a sympathetic
light, and instead focuses on the
corruption, greed, and political and
religious hatreds surrounding the
family on one. of Ontario's. fron-
Heywood clan,
EXETER = The 21st Heywood
Reunion was held Sunday, June
25, at MacNaughton Park, Exeter.
The weather was with us. this year
and there was about 50 relatives at-
tended. ' • !
Following grace by Bobby Hey-
wood a delicious smorgasbord din-
ner was enjoyed by all.
Officers elected for the 1990 re-
union are: President Dave and Kar-
en Campbell, Vice-president Bill
and Sandra Struyke, Secretary Deb-
bie Heywood, Sports Donna Bell
and Shirley Lammie, Treasurer
'Jayne Consitt, Table Committee.
Don Heywood.
Youngest Baby - 7 1/2 months
Daniel Campbell; Oldest - Evelyn
Heywood 91; Most mileage on car
- 154,000 Debbie Heywood; Ladies
• with most coins in purse - Mary
Heywood; Man with most keys -
15 Bill Struykc; Something to do
with 21 - Laverne Heywood born
1921 and Joan Heywood birthday
June 21.
An exciting sports event was
convened by Janice Butson and
Jayne Consitt. Races 1-3 boys and
girls Ryan Campbell, Bevan But-
son, Amanda Law 4&5 bunny hop
boys and girls Krystle Heywood,
Joshua Heywood, Jenny Law 6&7
boys and girls bunny hop Aaron
Heywood, Danielle Gregoire, Justin
Glenn 8&9 girls Karic Consitt, Ni-
cole Keenan, Stephanie Rader 10-13
girls Lori Gould, Leann Consist.
Relay race boys and girls Leann
Consitt, Stacey Butson, Krystle
Heywood Nicole Keenan, Shane
Grcgoirre, Lisa Struykc; Throw the
shoe up to 5 Joshua Heywood,
Krystle Heywood, Shane Gregoirre;
Throw the show over 5 Lori Gould,
Leann Consitt, Stephanie Rader,
Wheel Barrel Race Aaron Heywood
and Stephanie Radar, Leann Consitt
and Jenny Law, Joshua Heywood
and .Lynette Heywood; Candy
scramble was enjoyed by all the
children; Adults Balloon Toss -
Jayne Consitt and Janice Butson;
Man kick the shoe - Dave Camp-
bell; Ladits kick the shoe Brenda
Keenan.
The 22nd Annual Heywood Reun-
ion will .bc held tit MacNaughton
Park, June 24, 1990.
United Church
enjoys picnic
EXETER - It proved to be a
beautiful day for this weeks wor-
ship in the park and for the ,deli-
cious potluck picnic lunch to fol-
low.
A reminder that beginning with
next Sunday, July 2, summer ser-
vices will begin at 10:00 a.m. Jun-
ior congregation will be held each
Sunday from July 2 to September
3 for children 10 _years and under.
Volunteers arc needed to assist in
the nursery during the 'summer.
Don't forget that our expenses
don't take summer vacation. It
would really help if you would en-
sure that your givings continue
over the summer months.
On behalf of the Public Rela-
tions and Communications Com-
mittee have a safe and happy sum-
'mcr. We hope to continue our
weekly reports of Exeter United
Church news tq you this Septem=
her.
1 ti
tiers.
In fact, Reaney parodies the
"Black Donnellys" perspective with
the use of Vaudeville acts within
Sticks ,and Stones, reinforcing his
sympathetic •view by making the
exaggeiiation of the family's crimes
both a Justification forthe commu-
nity's own sins and an .attempt at
common sensationalism.
• But Reaney does support his
theme with evidence. In fact, a
common thread of the play is the
use .of listsof building materials,
families,.farms and roads, all taken
from Reaney's years of research.
The play is woven together with
these facts, making the -creation of a
hardworking, misunderstood Don-
nelly family plausible.
However, this is also what makes
the play so difficult. Undivided at -
tenuon must be given to the drama,
or the audience is lost as the 11 -
member cast shifts characters,
moves back and forth through time,
and drifts in and out of reality. The
cues of costume, lighting and mu-
sic are all there and the audience
must be ready for them.
Reaney.agrees that his play is not
to.be taken lightly. He called its
tight packaging of facts, dates, and
characters "dense".
"It's good to give the audience
something they can get their teeth
into; he said: "You can't tell it in
a straight line, like a Neil Simon."
Densely packed or not, Sticks and
Stones keeps its audience riveted to
the story. Reaney called this Blyth
production "premier quality" com-
pared with other interpretations he
has seen since the play was first
performed in 1973.
The play encompasses the Don-
nellys' early years in Canada and
only summarizes the final massa-
cre. The final, and very cohesive,
act leaves the audience with a very
distinct impression of who Reaney
feels the Donnelly were, true or
not.
For more background to the Don-
nelly saga, we must wait to see if
rumours of bringing the rest of Re-
aney's trilogy to Blyth, The St. Ni-
cholas Hotel and Handcuffs, come
true.
As for this production, it has ar-
tistic merit, but the local interest
has certainly paid off. The box of-
fice reports' receiving many calls
from those asking for tickets, not
by, name, but for "the Donnelly
play".
Opening night - Author of Sticks and Stones, James Reaney
(right) is introduced to actress Michelle Fisk at last Wednesday's
opening by actor Jerry Franken. Fisk play Johannah Donnelly in
the production and Franken, who appears in The Perils of Perse-
phone this season at Blyth, was the first actor to play James Don-
nelly in the original version of Reaney's play.
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