The Goderich Signal Star, 1976-05-20, Page 2A GODERICai SIGNAL -STAR., THURSDAY, MAY. 20,. 1876
tl , bestire
1t Sl1UILIY J.iELLER` `' "
Goderich Little Theatre's
final play' for the •1:975-76
• seaaon was the best one this
year. In fact, it may ,have
been the best effort the Little
Theatre. troupe has ptit forth
in several seasons.
The Hasty Heart, written
by John• Patrick, is the, story.
of ' the men. in one .con-
valescent ward of a British
General Hospital
"somewhere in Solidi -East
Asia" in the 1943. '
::The . main plot centres
around one • Scottish .soldier,
Lachlan ' McLaughlinwho
doesn't know that he is dying
from a.,kidney ailment. He is ..
Placed in
'l d' the ward with five
•
has'- always ', believed that a
"hasty heart reaps' sorrow",
finally .admits that he is
"afraid to - die. alone" and
elects to stay with his friends,
to the •end,•
a
•
•
•
talent and t
honor. His biggest problem on
the ward was that Sister
Margaret had no Yellow
thread and hehad to em-
broider all his buttercups in
blue.
e„ • While- Pshyk may not have
-felt : completely. .at home with'
'the English accent he had to,
a.dapt.for the play, he seeined
to bethoroughly enjoying his
appearanceOn stage — and
the • audience seemed to be
• enjoying it too.
Chris Cavanaugh' was
excellent as Digger, the quiet,
young soldier from' Australia
whose wife had just presented
' him with a new son. Dan
Worthy as Blossom, the black
natiVe; who spoke no other
he assumes, Bill's bedside
manner was; just right for the
army doctor' who had to tell
his patient he had only two
weeksio live,
• The first voice.' heard: on
stage was that of: Frank
Bissett inhis role as the . or-
derly..Although Frank had
very' few' ,lines, he moved
through: his' part ` with the
confidence that years of Little
Theatre. work has provided
him.'
The play wasdirected b3i
Jenny Black with special
assistants Kathy Jenkins and
Eileen Taraba. Stage was Ruth 'Leonard;
li:gliti,g , was by John
Reinhart and Jim Mulhern.
A new inovation which
should be continued was
the short resume about each
performer in the. Little
Theatre •'program. Many
theatre patrons poured over
these newsy little bits before.
Showtime, indicating this
personal touch was much
appreciated.
What will next year brg'
'ip.
Who knows? But with the
talent displayed this season
by Little 'I 'eatre.-, new faces
and old faces — the 1976-77
"^ season should be better than
ever..
One -question. Will caT
tackle anything as. 'ambitious
as a play about Goderich 150
' years ago . on .the occasion.
•. of the town's.150th birthday in
1977? '
.ouetry Pkiyhouse, torr
for sciitolf.kid.s.:
other soldiers _.-from • around word but Blossom?" sa
the globe who 'have been ' all with -his eyes and his ex eX--
' e -n- '
Made aware of his condition pressionless face.
and asked to "help" him.
Lachlan turns up in the.
ward as a ...stubborn,
argumentative, haughty
loner. He soon makes
enemies' of each one ,of the
men in the ward, despite their
efforts to be.friendly.
The nursing: sister on the
ward, :Sister Margarets : tells
the men they don't have to
like Lachlan to help him.
When the Scot ,s birthday rolls
round,. Sister- Margaret buys
for, him his family kilt, and
persuades each of the men of
• the ward, to- give him one
piece of the.outfit.
This proves to be the tur-
• ning.. point for . Laclan'. who
soon becomes "one of 'the
boys." What's more, .Lachlan
the vowed bachelor .
proposes 'm-arr•iage. to Sister
Margaret ' who accepts
saying; "God help' both of
us."• Thenthe doctor comes
to Lachlan 'and' explains that
-passage has been booked for
him ;on the next plane to
Scotland. When Lachlan asks
DON NICHOLSON
Don Nicholson as' Lachlan
was superb.: He managed to -
display the wide range of
moods demanded of. him
without -ever once losing his
Scottish "Br -r -r -r. -He,
seemed completely at horne
in the.part, he articulated the
difficult lines exceptionally
well and he brought life' and
substance to the total ' per-
formance. He's a fine actor.
In her first performance on •
the GLT stage, Joyce Kuran
was • remarkably
professional. She knew her
lines 'without a hitch,, her..
articulation was precise;. she
°was in control at all times and
kept the pace : of, the play.
moving; along smoothly,,: and •
she seemed a natural for the
warm and • witty.';' nursing
sister's . part. Little Theatre.'
audiences will-- want to see
much more of this young
woman. , •
Harry' Dykstra • whom
Goderich audiences - - have
seen' in musicals took on tl '
.3; -is bot l?ezag:r turued—d.ifficult,-''ole of=•:Yank; •the-- : r.
• • directly to his. regiment,_ the AMerican ` soldier who s -s -s
doctor tells Lachlan.' he. has Stuttered. Harry • showed the
only twoweeks to. live. The GLT audienc.ethee he has 'a
doctor also tells him that the ' .real talent for. acting. .
men and Sister Margaret • Whether it was a comical' •–
- knew of his condition all line, 'a tender word or a fit of
along. anger; Harry handled it with
ease and style. :He was
comfortable on stage . and .
from his bunk at centre stage,
seemed to. anchor 'the ' '
production in fine -fashion,
The supporting - •cast • was
just as strong As the.- main . .
characters.. In fact, it was this' -
consistent good quality of
acting In'ach and every
member of the cast that made • .
the play •so engrossing for the
audience.
Two actors in . the sup-
porting •roles stand out —
Police Chief Pat King as the
soldier. from •New Zealand
"Kiwi" And Bill Pshyk as! the -
Englishman "Tammy":
Pat King always turns in a
top performance—whether it •
is music, •drama or comedy.
This time as Kiwi he was just
great as the tall soldier whose
feet always . hung over the
bottom of the bunk and stuck
out of the mosquito netting
like two big blood:banks" for
th a pesky insects.
Bill Pshyk is new to
Goderich and to GLT. A thin.
Signal -Star ad man by day,. he
turned into an' obese com-
• pulsive eater .for-three.nights
last week: Suffering from a
wound in the butt caused
because he was sleeping on
his stomach throughan at-
tack, he received word he was
a hero in his home town, and
that ' the 'people there had
named a "puddin' " in his
HARRY DYKSTRA
A veteran and star of
Goderich Little Theatre
Bill Cochrane — took the role
of •Cobwebs, . the Colonel who
was Lachlan's doctor. Always
believable', in whatever part
•
JOYCE KORAN
Thinking' that his friends -.
and the woman • he loves "—
have only been kind out of
pity, Lachlan reverts to his
former self. He prepares to
. leave fof Scotland alone.
The • morning, of his
departure, Sister Margaret
tries once more to convince
him that she loves'him.,,She
offers to marry him im-
mediately. He rebuffs her.
One of the men in the ward,
Yank, `looses his temper. He ,
tells Lachlan he will be better
off dead because 'a man who,
won't accept friendship is
half dead anyway.
Sister Margaret urges
Lachlan to break down the
barrier he has built around
himself, and to say what is in
'.his heart. And, Lachlan, who
i
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Dracaenas, Tuberous Begonias, Hanging Begonias,
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Petunias, Pansies, Carnations, Coleus, Dahlia Unwins,
Snapdragons; Asters, Marigolds, impatiens, Por"
tulaca, Celosia, Alyssum, Ageratum; Salvia, Cieome,
Tomatoes, 'Spanish Onions,. Cabbage, Cauliftower,'
Broccoli, Peppers, Sinai! Perennials', Primulal,Shasta-
Daisy, 'Delphinium, L+upe�n , Mums. •
IUSSERI GREENHOUSE
'fit Eldon St. Opposite Race track
G sider'lclt ! • 524.4649
Peter Caldwell, Tour
. Manager of the -,Huron -
Country Playhouse Young
Players, has announced that
the Spring School' Tour has
been extended into June.
The five `.actors in the
company have taken three
separate productions to over
40• schools in Southwestern.
Ontario and will continue to
tour for two More weeks.
Engagements have been as
far -afield as Southampton the the north, Windsor to the
south and Guelph to the east.
Fantasy; by. James Saar,
was the - first production
'staged by the groupand is a
dramatization of ' Lewis
Carroll's Alice in Won-
derland. This play . involves
singing,dancing--and magic,
•and is for grades 1-4.
'Circus! was the group's,
second-offering;and this show
for the upper Grades'5-8, was
written and compiled by the 5'
company members and
James Murphy, "Artistic
Director`, of the.. Playhouse,
who also directed the Young
Players productions.
A third show was added to
the repertoire last month. My
Best Friend Is Twelve Feet
High, by Carol Bolt, ; was
performed by the Playhouse
Young Players in their 1979
School Tour arid .wasso
successful that it was revived
this year for about 25 more
performances. This
production was ideal . for
elementary schools who
wanted to bring all grade.
levels to only one show.
Caldwell announced that
the company has been
retained for the first week. in
June, because of many recent .
bookings received from
Lambton aEounty... The
Lambton County °Board of
Education at their March 29th
meeting voted to make a $500.•
subsidy available to Lambton
schools wishing to book one of
the Playhouse productions,
and so far 9 schools have
.participated:
BRUCE MACDONALD-
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