ACTOR SONIA Norris stars in Tamahnous Theatre's Powder Blue
Chevy, a new work which examines the lives of twe Chinese im-
migrants as they grapple with a new culture in small-town B.C.

A MATTER OF
TIMING...

WY actor’s career is in sync

S THE old stage saying goes, “timing is
everything.’’

And former North Shore
actor Sonia Norris has learned that
tule holds true both on and off the
stage.

For example, if the role of
Marilyn in Wen Jee’s new drama
Powder Blue Chevy, a play about
the troubles faced by Chinese
immigrants in B.C., had come
along any earlier, she admits she
may not have been able to handle
it,

EVELYN
JACOB

spotlight feature

“If | had had to play Marilyn
last year | would have had a very
hard time,” says Norris, 25. ‘'l
probably would have disliked her.
| would have seen her as stupid.
Like, why does she go back toa
man who abuses her? I, as Sonia,
would never do that.”

An introspective year, however,
gave the blonde-headed Norris a
whale new way in which to relate
to a character she now says she
can play with confidence.

“If 1 deat with Marilyn (an
isolated soul who is dying to make
connections with other people),
from my head I can’t become her.
But if | stop making judgments
about her and think about what it
is she’s going for — that all she’s
interested in is being liked and be-
ing with someone — then it’s dif-
ferent. ! have to get my head out
of the way to become her.”

But that hasn’t been easy for
Norris, who grew up in an over-
achieving family that valued in-
tellect over emotions,

“Intelligence was something to
be proud of. It was something we
all worked at,”’ she says intensely.

“Then one day the penny drop-
ped and | suddenly clued in that
there was a whole other way of
dealing with situations.”’

For Norris, sifting through and
uncovering each character's basic
needs is what interests her most
about the theatre.

Her desire to get to the ‘‘base-
level of expression’ led her to col-
laborate with 10 other women on
a series of monologues for this
year’s Women in View Festival.
The work consisted of personal
stories of women’s lives, intimate
details like, ‘‘why you don’t like
your feet,” she says. It is personal
details like these that give theatre
its power, she believes.

A native of Hamilton, Ontario
(she points out she lived there for
only three weeks — ‘‘not a
highlight’), Norris grew up in
Toronto where she took theatre,
anthropology and psychology at
the University of Toronto before
joining the Vancouver Playhouse
School.

She appeared in the Playhouse’s
1986 production of Paracelsus and
later as Hermia in A Midsummer's
Night Dream, where she deve!-
oped a passion for movement
theatre — which has actors jump-
ing up and down and rolling
around on stage — something she
says she would like to get more
involved in.

Although theatre is her first love,
it hasn’t prevented Norris from
seeking out various T.V. roles in
MacGyver, Bordertown and Neon
Rider.

But her finest moments have
been either acting or writing for
the theatre. ‘The best thing I've
ever done in my life,’ she says
smiling, ‘‘was to write a play.
with a friend, called Big Poop in
the Sky, based on our fiendship
and the issues that were important
to us.”

As for the future, Norris is
determined to tough it out in the
unpredictable world of theatre.

NEWS photo Mike Wakefield

CARYL CHURCHES Viner
rom makes us Wester Canadian
professional debut at Vancouver
litle Theatre next) Wednesday
March 28.

Vinegar Tom ts a powertul play
that traces the connections be-
tween medieval attitudes to wit-
ches and attitutes to women in

21 - Wednesday, March 21, 1990 - North Shore News

Vinegar Tom makes debut

general, Set in an English village,
the play ws a raw and shocking d-
lustranon of a society that has
been taught that women are more
“carnal” than men and therefore
are more susceptible to the devil.
British playwright) Churchill
challenges dramatic conventions
by interspersing the historical ma-
terial with contemporary songs

that are occasionally crude and
sexually aggressive, in order to
examine the political themes in a
modern context,

Directed by 1989 Jessie nominee
Martin Millerchip, Vinegar Tom
runs until April 21 at 3102 Main
Street, Vancouver. For information
and reservations phone 876-4165.

The Birds fly to Capilano College

STUDENTS OF Capilano Cal-
lege's Theatre Department are br-
inging Aristophanes’ comedy The
Birds to the stage tomorrow night,
March 22.

Adapted for the stage by Walter
Kerr, the play relates the story of

two ancient Athenians who pro-
pose to two skeptical and
suspicious birds a plan that will
make the birds rulers of the uni-
verse,

Capilano College theatre stu-
dents incorporate into the play a

GASTOWN
15 WATER ST.

(10 minutes from the Seabus)
15

MAR. 21-24
Peter Kelamis
(Vancouver)

2nd ANNUAL TALENT CONTEST
Every Monday night, FINALS: April 1st

Doors open 7 p.m. Show at 8 p.m.
_ TRAVEL TO BURBANK VIA AMERICAN AIRLINES

_. THE: ORIGINAL COMEDY ‘NIGHT. CLUB’

Fri. - Sat. 9 p.m. and 11 p.m.

SHOWTIMES ae

Mon. - Thurs. 9 p.m,

Sunday 8 p.m.

Presents the

Y

MAR. 28-31
Barry Kennedy
(Toronto)

AA

AmencanAirsnes

combination of song, dance and
farce.

The Birds begins at 8:30 p.m. in
the South Cafeteria (south cam-
pus). For reservations phone 986-
1911 local 2592. The play runs un-
til April 7.

JAYS ¥ dD

|
3
ao !
t
2
01
1
Zza 1
Ose:
a i '
N i
Aes i
= if
Sz 1
Oe!
<"5¢
O
Zz
> !
a, !
J
|
i
|
_ i
So!
Vos
|
'
|
§
|
1
AWS 3 dlID 1