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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1981-08-05, Page 12THEATRE REVIEWS 410 Jessica Booker, left, and Doris Petrie as the Brewster sisters in Arsenic and Old Lace which continues at the Huron Country Playhouse in Grand Bend until August 8. Arsenic and Old Lace an average production BY CATH WOODEN Arsenic and Old Lace, showing at the Huron Country Playhouse until August 8, is an average production. It is directed by James Saar whose name is familiar to Goderich after staging Goderich Little Theatre's Witness for the Prosecution last winter. The play concerns the charming Abby and Martha Brewster, spinster sisters who feel they are doing a service to lonely old gentlemen by killing them off with elderberry wine laced with arsenic. Their nephew Teddy buries them in the Panama Canal which is being dug in the cellar. You see, Teddy believes he is Theadore Roosevelt. Played by Peter Purvis, the Teddy character is a delightful one although not difficult to play for an actor with the right physical bearing. Purvis drew the ,most giggles from the audience with his duck walk and"Charge!" up the staircase. Abby and Martha are portrayed solidly enough by Doris Petrie and Jessica Booker respectively, ,although Petrie leans heavily on the Ruth Gordon old lady image. The sisters fail to see why nephew Mortimer Brewster is so distraught at discovering the ladies' twelfth cadaver in the window seat. Mortimer is played by Joseph Matheson and is the most tiresome of all the characters. Saar had a chance to make Mortimer more than a stereotype like all the other characters through his love in- terest Elaine Harper, played by Erica Kohl, and his job as theatre critic on the New York Times. But Matheson over- played the frantic Mortimer. The third nephew arrives on the scene with a cadaver of his own which gives the plot its crisis. Jonathan Brewster (Jim, McNabb) is a big Boris Karloff hood with a whining Peter Lorre sidekick named Dr. Einstein (John Heath). Heath. gives a funny performance as Dr. Einstein, complete with hilarious body movements and is a good foil for the straight man Jonathon. McNabb rarely .strays from the Boris Karloff routine which makes his lines tedious. Like Mortimer's character, he had a chance to add'depth to the character but Saar again stuck to the stereotype. John Carrollgives the best performance of the secondary characters as Lieutenant Rooney, in charge of wrapping up the play. This he cbes With gusto and the head - shaking confusion of one confronted with many crazy people. The set design and lighting were quite nice, and the five exits give the play the movement it requires. All told, Arsenic and Old Lace may tie . worth the price of the theatre ticket but it doesn't . warrant driving 30 'miles to the Bend to see. Plays like Tomorrow Box. make Blyth Summer Festival so successful BY JOANNE BUCHANAN It's plays like the Tomorrow Box that have made the Blyth Summer Festival such a success with local audiences. Indeed, it features characters which could have been plucked right out of the audience and set on stage. The Tomorrow Box, written. by Anne Chislett who also wrote Quiet in the Land for the Festival this season; is a comedy , about the very serious subject of marriage and women's rights. At last Wednesday evening's performance, it received a standing ovation. Maureen Cooper ( Anne Anglin), a 60 - year -old farm wife and mother who has always let her husband make the decisions during their 40 years of marriage, stands up for herself at long last when he decides to sell their farm and retire to Florida. She doesn't want to leave her friends, her home, her Women's Institute, her children, her grandchildren and her Royal Daulton figurines to spend the rest of her life visiting Disney World and going deep sea fishing with her husband. She is encouraged to take a stand by her daughter-in-law Alice (Kate Trotter) and Alice's sister Lisa (Diana Belshaw) who are both lawyers. Maureen's son Joe (Layne Coleman) and her husband Jack (Dean Hawes) are confused by her stubborn stand. After all, what woman wouldn't want to retire to Florida? ' Jack is an Archie Bunker type who calls his wife Mother and his son Boy. Maureen is an Edith Bunker type who is always trying to please. When Jack wants a cup of. tea, he bangs on his cup with his spoon and Maureen hops up from the table to get it. Alice tells Joe to get his own. Theirs is a 'modern marriage' following two years of living together. The play takes place in the present time near a small village in rural Ontario. The set by Tony Abrams is excellent. It represents the cluttered mobile home which is the temporary quarters of Alice and Joe Cooper. Some of the home's tacky decorations come from a Tomorrow Box– a type of surprise package which one buys at an auction sale today and finds out whit's in it tomorrow. The title can also refer to the institution of marriage–people get married today 'and find out what surprises (pleasant or otherwise) that marriage holds for them tomorrow. Besides being a play which local audiences can strongly identify with, the Tomorrow Box also has the advantages of a well-chosen cast and sensitive direction by Janet Amos. Because the Tomorrow Box is so • cleverly written and locally set, it doesn't come across as cliched or boring even though the women's right -marriage plight theme is somewhat worn. The Tomorrow Box runs August 6, 7, 12, 13 (at2p.m.), 15 (at2 p.m. and8:30p.m.), 17,18 and 21. Don't miss it. You are sure to recognize yourself as a Maureen, Jack Joe, Alice or Lisa. unlo BY JOANNE BUCHANAN G,oderich's Huron County Pioneer Museum attracts thousands of tourists each year and is a very important part of this town and its history. But how many local residents ever visit the museum? . It may be hard to believe, but there°are people living in this town who have never even set foot inside the museum. And, of course, there are many people here who don't visit the museum often enough to keep up with the new exhibits' constantly being added. With this in mind, curator Raymond Scotchmer and his staff organized the first annual Tiger Dunlop Days last year, a two- day event to attract local residents to the museum (and named for the founder of this town, Dr. William 'Tiger' Dunlop). Since the museum contains old-fashioned items, the event featured old-fashioned demonstrations, contests and en- tertainment and it all added up to old- fashioned fun. It was a moderate success too, considering the fact that it was a first- time effort and that a Sportsfest was being held in -town on the same weekend. S are oi This year, the second annual Tiger Dunlop Days has been planned for Saturday, August 15 and Sunday, August 16 and it is hoped that it will be an even greater success. Terry Marshall, a . post -secondary student from Goderich and one of two students hired through the town's tourist committee to work at the museum this summer, has been concerning herself exclusively with the organization of Tiger Dunlop Days. She has handed out brochures and tacked up posters all over town. Presently she is busy working on a large painted wooden sign to put up on Victoria Street about a week prior to the event. And she has written to the town for permission to close off Bruce and Trafalgar Streets for the length of the museum grounds so that various events may be set up in that area. For entertainment, Terry' has lined up the Klompen Dancers ,from Monkton; the Goderich Squares and the Huron Strings; the Wheel 'n Dealers and the Old -Time Square Dancers from Clinton. These groups will perform both days on a stage 3 -time fun set up outside on the museum grounds. Inside the museum on boot days at specified times, there will be demon- strations of spinning by Harriet Boon of Jamestown; weaving by Ruth Knight of Goderich; quilting by Mrs. Adams of Goderich; rope making by Cain Maguire and Jane Smith of Goderich; and candle making by the museum staff. Foithose with a competitive spirit, there will be a nail driving and bag tying contest on Saturday and a sheath tying and log sawing contest on Sunday. Winning participants.will receive cash prizes. For those who like to eat, the Lions Club will have a food booth set up. And on Saturday from 5 to 7 p.m. there will be a beefon-a-bun barbecue looked after by the local Cadets. Other features will include an outdoor display of antique cars supplied by a Kitchener antique car club as well as the Goaerich club. Georgetititely ofGodericb, will play his Wa rlitzer Band instrument. Dave Hoote}n of the Milton Museum will have a steam engine on display. Children will be able to take pony rides and there the derich SIGNAL will also be buggy rides for adults offered by Don Sowerby andArnold Young. On Saturday, Mayor Harry Worsell will be piped onto the museum grounds by piper Bert McCreath and on Sunday„ Huron County Warden Fred Haberer will be piped tithe event by piper Sid Lawson. The admission to Tiger Dunlop Days is $1.50 for adults; $l for students and senior citizens; and 50 cents for children, This includes entry into the museum: Beef barbecue tickets can be bought separately. Tiger Dunlop Days is not a money- making venture but rather a promotional event. Admission collected will merely cover casts. Terry Marshall says she has been having a lot of fun putting Tiger Dunlop Days together., When it is all over, she will complete her job by writing up a report on the outcome of the event for her successor. With thg help of Goderich residents she will be' able to write 'big success' in that report. How about it? Have you visited the museum lately?, STAR 133 YEAR -31 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5, 1981 Stephen Sturdy tacks up his poster and waits for the crowds. He hopes to raise more than $100 for muscular dystrophy. Brennan Mulhern takes aim in the lawn dart game, one of many games featured at the carnival. SECOND SECTION Backyard Carnival for MD becomes a family affair BY JOANNE BUCHANAN Stephen Sturdy, 10, of Goderich is following in his older brother Jamie's footsteps. After five years of running his Backyard Carnival for Muscular Dystrophy, Jamie retired last year and turned the event over to Stephen who raised $100. This year Stephen is hoping to top that goal. His carnival has been running for two weeks now.at 122 West Street and will continue tomorrow and Friday from 1:30 to 4:30 PIM. It features fortune telling, refresh- ments and games like the soccer ball kick, lawn darts, the big looper, the horse shoe throw, the ball roll, the sponge throw, the balloon break .and the milk bottle drop. Books and toys are also being sold. Stephen has lots of helpers to run the. games. They are Andrew Scott, l%o'bbie Dempsey, Shawn Currie, 'Tim Connelly, - Jason, Robin and Mark Stabbings and Brennan Millirem. As of last Thursday, Stephen estimated that they had looked after about 20 cut- somers and they are hoping for lots more tomorrow and the next day. Stephen hopes to keep the carnival going for another seven years. Afterall, it's for a good cause. When you're the youngest, you always get used as the target but Mark Stabbings says he likes the sponge throw game. He sits quietly while Tim Connelly demonstrates. .1, These cans don't stand much of a chance as Stephen Sturdy, Robbie Dempsey and Brennan Mulhern bear down on them to demonstrate one of the many backyard carnival games to, raise money for muscular dystrophy. -A Andrew Scott is in charge of selling refreshments at the baekyard carnival. To are also heft sold. Tine Connelly, one of Stephen's eight hetpers, demonstrates the horse shoe pitch.