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The Wingham Advance-Times, 1983-06-22, Page 15leisure, features an Serving over 25,000 homes In Listowel, Wingham Mount Forest, Milverton Elmira, Palmerston, Harriston, Mussels, Atwood, Monkton, Millbank, Newton, Clifford, Wallenstein, Drayton, Moorefield and Arthur. STRATFORD'S 31st SEASON—Shakespeare's well-known "Macbeth" and little- known "Richard II" were two of the opening productions at Stratford's Festival Theatre. In the scene from "Richard ll" (above), are, from left: Lewis Gordon as John of Gaunt,. Rosemary Dunsmore as Queen Isabel and Brian Bedford as King Richard IL On the left is renowned actress Roberta Maxwell as Lady Macbeth_ (Photos by Robert C. Ragsdale) Obscure `Richard 11' is gripping theatre by Ruth Tatham He wasn't much of a king, by anybody's standards. He reigned from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399, and then he was mur- dered urdered in 1400. He was probably used as an example of the adage, "They that live by the sword shall perish by the sword!" because he certainly lived by the sword, or some other method of obvious or hidden violence. All during his reign, hut particularly in the later years, onlookers, including his family, suspected or even accused him of arranging the deaths of several relatives who stood or might stand between him and the throne. He was determined to be the king of Eng- land, and yet he did nothing lin the job which was of any great aid to England, except per- haps to quell the already -inflamed situation in Ireland This was Richard the Second; in his "historical" play entitled "Richard II", William Shakespeare takes great liberties with the facts of history ... as he often does. History for Shakespeare was frequently a means to an end, and here his "end" was to demonstrate that villains can be charming, villains can be loved by their wives, and sometimes it takes another villain to de- spose the first one. Historically, and in this play, there is evi- dence that Richard's overthrower, his first cousin Henry Bolingbroke, the man who be- came Henry IV and inspired two of Shake- speare's plays, was himself no paragon, but was a strong and ruthless man who knew what he wanted, and what he wanted was the throne of England at all costs . _ _ if it happened that such a course would be better for England, then that was a bonus. Shakespeare carries his cousin -war farth- er than does history, when he assigns a fairly prominent rote to Edward, the Duke of Aumerle, who aids Henry to get the throne but is treacherous through almost all dealings, even at the end with him. Edward `Macbeth' opens Stratford's 31 st season by Marion 1. Duke "Macbeth" Shakespeare's tragedy of ambition and treachery, opened the Stratford Festival's 31st season on Sunday, Junes. It was an evening for magic. The days and days of rain had finally cleared and the weather was glorious. The usual crowd of onlookers and Festival first nighters en- joyed the pre -play festivities which included a talented harpist located on the first level of the entrance to the theatre, a good brass band and Scottish bagpipers who set toes to tapping and the blood to racing_ And when the evening was over, if "Macbeth" didn't gtIite catch fire, this production by Des McAnuff, featuring Nicholas Pennell as the tortured Thane of Glamis, etc., etc., and Roberta Maxwell as equally tortured lady. certainly had some gripping moments. There is no need to recap the story of. Macbeth, the iIth century Scottish clan leader who is tricked by witches into murder and treachery in order to fulfill the promise of the attainment of the crown of Scotland, The story is known to people who have little more than a nodding acquaintance with Shakespeare. The story is dynamite. So it is then that the interpretation and the direction of "Macbeth" has become the thing for playgoers. A Director Des McAnuff has given his "Macbeth" some new, clever and plausible twists. The three weird sisters, played splendidly by Paddy Campanaro, Seana McKenna and Elizabeth Leigh -Milne, are much more than opportune apparitions in this play. They take an active part in the Banquo murder scene for example. One of the sisters is a third murderer and arranges for the escape of young Fleance, the son of Banquo, thus ensuring the truth of the prediction that Banquo "shalt get kings, though thou be none". At the same time McAnuff has diminished Macduff's children, "All my pretty ones?" to just one mouthy son and an unborn child — and hints at the illegitimacy of the fetus. This serves little purpose other than to also question the strength of the character of Macduff himself. The big disappointment of McAnuff's "Macbeth" however, is Roberta Maxwell's playing of the Lady herself. For some reason that isn't made clear in this production, McAnuff has allowed Maxwell, described by Time maganne as "one of the to best actresses in America" and who has been admired and respected for her previous roles at Stratford; to turn Lady Macbeth into a dreary drudge. Not only does she become unsexed, she loses all emotion, emptying herself of passion, and even remorse. Every time this Lady Macbeth appears on stage the play slows toa crawl. As Macbeth. Nicholas Pennell who is now firmly fixed as one of Stratford's treasures, turns in a solid performance. As the season wears on, it could well turn into a great performance. It most certainly will if Pennell can inject the kind of cynical treachery into a few more lines than he does into his "Twas a rough night," comment following his murder of King Duncan. As has become the fashion with "Mac- beth", designer Susan Benson has dressed these ancient Scots in homespun and fur. The colors are drab and earthy — quite in keeping with 1 Ith century Scotland. As far as theatrical effects are concerned, there are some donzies in this "Macbeth" with its lightning flashes and ground fogs. Most spectacular is what has happened to the famed trap door. It has been turned into a circle which can be raised about three feet above stage level. Me.Anuff uses it as a witch's attar for the body of the murdered Banquo. That altar in seconds becomes the banquet table of Macbeth. The ghost of Ranquo enters as one of the waiters with his back to the audience. takes the empty chair as the horrible, hacked victim. He disap- pears and reappears, as if by magic, from under the raised circle. It's wonderful theatre as are the fight scenes throughout the windblown castle — and Macbeth's bloodied sack of a head, raised on a pike. This "Macbeth" although somewhat uneven is dramatic and thought-provoking. rt's well worth the time, the effort — and the cost — of seeig it. It's solid fare, and like meat and potatoes, it will stick with you. serves a strong dramatic role for the play- wright but was l kely insignificant in history, although, as the son of the Duke of York, he was living in Richard's household. "Richard II" is a rarely -performed play. It has no truly comic scenes, those little gems which lift the heavy drama and relieve tension. It has no strong female roles . Shakespeare has written some superbly difficult and rewarding parts for women, but not in this play. It has no coronations, weddings, or batik scenes, and only one important night scene. So what is its strength? Its strength lies in its scope for two very expert male actors: Menne of the king him- self is given an absorbing touch of innocence in its stubborn pursuit of the monarch's position, as shown by Brian Bedford. Here is a little, almost frail chap, boyish and petulant, professing that he has been given his job by God and that therefore, whatever he does, says or wants, Must be so. Somehow, this Plantagenet king sounds more like the first of the Stuarts, with their "divine right of kings" theory. And yet, when he sees, all of a sudden, that his cause is Iost in battle, that the people do not want him, and that he must bow to his cousin, Henry, he throws away his right to anything, and abdicates almost on the spot. Mr. Bedford makes this credible; the play is almost a one-man show _ .. it could be totally so, when Richard is as welt-por- trayed elt-portrayed as he is here. But another actor must be reckoned with: Cedric Smith, a one-time minstrel at Strat- ford's "Black Swan", spotted by the astute Michale Langham, and set on the road to treading the boards of the Festival's apron stage. Mr. Smith gives a very controlled and satisfying performance as Henry Bolling - broke, the man who would be king, and had the qualities to lead a country to discard a king to make him the new one. in every way, Mr. Smith breathes life into a role which is given few good lines, but con- siderable time and space by Shakesppeare. because indeed, this play could as easily have been entitled "Richard II and Henry IV, Part r and then the later Henry plays could have been Parts II and III. The excellence of his performance lies in Mr. Smith's ability Vol make Henry real, well -noticed, yet not so obvious that we ever feel the important thing could be just who is the king. The important theme in this play "is the examination of two naonarelis of a tong -ago and poorly -chronicled time, men who were fascinating examples of the corptexities of the human mind and spirit when pursuing power. "Richard II" may well be one of the best evenings at this year's Stratford Festival. Wednesday, June 22, 1983_ Psychic teaches others to develop their `sixth sense' She's an English lady who still prefers her tea. She's a mother, grandmother, business woman and wife now on her own. A soft- spoken, petite woman, she can still create a bit of a stir just by telling people what she does. "I'm an English medium — in Canada I'm called a psychic," she told a group of busi- nesswomen at a recent luncheon and nobody just smiled and nodded. The reactions were varied from disbelief, to barely concealed tolerance, to a real desire to learn more. Margaret Dickson is accustomed to those reactions in her adopted Canada. In Eng- land ngland there is a little more acceptance of her ability- People in Canada, where she has lived for nine years have tended to as- sociate psychic phenomena with devil wor- ship or with the so called "fortune tellers" found at fairs and carnivals. "I'm not a fortune teller," the Cambridge resident tells the startled women. "Please don't associate me with some you may have heardabout." "I'm not in the same League as tea leaf readers," she said during a recent inter- view. "I've been called and asked if I'm the fortune teller and I tell them they have the wrong number. I refuse to see people who come for a giggle. If you need help, then I'm willing. I can feel when people are lieing on the phone," she adds_ Mrs. Dickson considers herself more of a psychic counsellor — knowing the future can help us prepare to cope with whatever we have to face, she says. But she doesn't believe there is anything mysterious or odd about using what she calls her "sixth.sense". "A psychic ability is an extra sense. Everyone has it. More wom- en admit to having the ability than men but just as many men have it- Men call it a gut feeling. Women call it intuition. "My intuition, I get behind it right away." Just as some people are born with a special musical talent — such as four year olds playing piano with no lessons — that is how Mrs. Dickson"de`seribes her talent' She was born with a "highly developed sixth sense". "Some people are born, in fact a lot are born, with a special gift whether music, arcs — go into any area: They've never been trained. You can liken that to the psychic area. Some are destined to use that gift." And like those who must learn to use the piano or paint because they weren't born with a natural ability, people can learn to use their pyschic or sixth sense_ Theteaching of how to recognize and use the sixth sense is what Mrs. Dickson is spending a lot of her time doing these days. She still takes readings but comments that her ability cannot be turned on and off like a television. "Things just come to me — I don't ask for them." She teaches eight-week study groups in . which students learn to meditate or "tune out the world and tune within". Sometimes a person may have trouble telling if a feeling is imagination or psychic in nature. "Take notice of the depth of the feeling," teaches Mrs_ Dickson: "A psychic feeiing will repeatedly come back and get stronger_ Imagination is something you work at — psychic feelings come to yen_ It's a sensing." If you are the type of person who is frightened by hunches which become true or if you are highly emotional, it may not be a good idea to explore your psychic talent, says Mrs_ Dickson. She believes that many people in mental institutions don't have mental problems but have psychic- problems. They were not able to handle or understand their experiences_ -There have been one or two times I wished I didn't know but very seldom. As I get older I don't let it bother me. I respect my gift." She says many people draw back from de- veloping their ability or talking about it be- cause of the fear of the unknown and of be- ing ridiculed. As a youngster she was teased but she had an understanding mother, although no sup- port from her father, when she began dis- playing her talent at age two. "When I was younger people would back away from me. But soon I realized I was normal — it was others who were out of tune." "I always had an inner spiritual feeling. I believe there must be a God or a cosmic con- sciousness- We make our own heaven and hell. I believe God is within nature and everybody." She also believes in life after death "be- cause I have seen it". "When I was nine I saw a man walking down the street towards me and he was being buried at that moment_ I used to see people as a child; it was natural to me I realized they faded but they were real. I learned at a young age to be diploma- tic. The sighting of that man frightened me but it was the only timet was frightened. I also frightened my sister with my com- ments:" Mrs. Dickson has also felt guided. Anyone who "opens the door of their mind" needs a belief, something that will protect them, she emphasises. "I trust that I am guided- I don't worry. I feel I'm looked after." She doesn't mean she leads a charmed life but she feels safe in opening her mind, that she is able to cope with whatever will happen. Mrs. Dickson also sees auras — the color that is said to be around each of us indicat- ing our type of personality or feelings. She mainly sees the aura when a person is ill — a brown hue will appear over the area that is causing a problem. Althoigh she doesn't anymore, when in England Mrs. Dickson also did faith healing "An authentic' healer will ask you to be under a doctor's care," she adds. "I don't feel faith healing replaces medicine but it can work with medicine. The doctor needs to treat the whole patient_ "I never tell anyone they can heal them- selves or that faith alone can heal them." Dreams can be a forewarning but Mrs. Dickson cautions that some dreams only in- dicate what has happened in the dreamer's life recently and some are due to indi- gestion_ "If a dream is clear and strong and if you feel it means something, write it down and leave it. Go back to it later when your mind is clear and the interpretation will come. Watch your thoughts as you read it over." Another warning: "Some people take everything to be psychic and that's wrong You can't make yourself have that feeling." Mrs, Dickson has spoken on several radio and television programs and she wrote a column for the weekly newspaper The Cam- bridge Times. Due to illness she has slowed down in her work somewhat but she never has advertised. "This is more like a hobby — I play it low key," she explains_ "Skeptics don't bother me," she says, ""But those who treat it lightly and as a curiousity, I'm not interested in them," Like any businesswoman she feels her reputation of over 40 years' experience speaks for itself_ And on the lighter note she says one of the problems with having such a highly developed sixth sense — -Your family can never give you a surprise!" e 9 x Aa • 4 MARGARET DICKSON is a psychhic medium with 40 years experience. What she likes to discuss today and get involtred with is the teaching others to recognize and use their sixth sense or psychic sense, something she says we all have.