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GH The Antic. The Pearls and Thiee
Fine Girls by Jenniter Brewin,
Leah Cherniak, Ann-Maric
MacDonaid, Alisa Palmer and
Martha Ross. At tse Vancouver
Playhouse until Now. 7. Box
office: 873-3311.

vy orapressiant and
Favne. the muddle sister, has made a
earcer at he: SESS HY napa
henry
Bat chars pretty much it, tots
Youd think that with tive authors a
hte more information, a litt: more
somplevin might be forthcoming
other than some passinus references
to sess
Tt transpires dhat the five naniecd
atthors tre the originate cer CPO bars:
three actors, a director and the writer Ann
Mane MacDonald whose pliv Gueditabi
Deatemona (Good Moruimag Juliet won bon 3
Governor Generals Award and a Chalmers.

Under the auspices of Theatre Columbus
which abo spawned the physical comedy Ptr
slnaer in Erne aad Ernestine) the original pro-
duction in Toronto and Ontswa was, reportcdiy,
a sold-out success with audiences. fr would
obviously have been directly connected to its
root and had, E would judge fram reading
about it, a considerably more intimate feel than
the sprawling, cartoony shaw on stage atthe
Playhouse.

I Jiked Ken MacDonald's bold set and it’s
playtal drops but P question whether it, the
commissioned sound score and the large acting
best serve what is ultimarely a very slight text.

T must emphasize that] intend no criticism
of actors Susinn MeFarlen (JoJo), Gina
Wilkinson (Jayne) and ‘Fabitha St. Germain
(Jelly). (Leslie Jones was playing Jayne until a
knee injury knocked her out of the production.)

Phey are all consistent and committed in
their choices. In faet, St. Germain, who has
such a set of babyish mannerisms I kept expeet-
ing her to suck fron: a bottle, is worth the price
of admission alone if you're an actor interested
in physical characterization.

Bur, like everything else in this production,
they are a little over the top.

Ie’s as if director Leyshon took her cue from
the physical traditions of Theatre Columbus
and the toyboxs in the attic of the Fine home
and said “Let's romp.”

The problem with romping, as any parent of
young pre-schoolers will cell you, is that things
get broken.

OTT. It’s one of those
theatrical shorthands as in
(director to actor) “That
was a littl OTT, darling.”

The initials stand for “over the
top” and describe something that has been
pushed se hard that it is no longer natural, or
no Jonger funny, or shows the actor's work
rather than the character portrayed.

OTT is my overwhelming reaction to the
current Vancouver Phyhouse production 12
Artic, De Pearls and Unree Fine Girls, and 1am

surprised and

disappointed

that director

Glynis

Levshon
allowed this one to get away on her.

Tr’s as if every piece of physical improvisation
explored in rehearsal, every “ood bit” has
been kept as gold in a determined effort to
keep the show “playful.”

On the face of the script, thar would appear
to be a good choice.

The Fine girls of the tide are three estranged
sisters brought back to the house of their child-
hood by the death of their father.

The youngest sister, Jelly, has been home-
nursing the man in his last months. Her sisters
give no thought to what this might have
involved and immediately revert to treating her
in much the same Sshion as they did when chil-
dren.

Flashbacks continue to establish what went
on in the attic of Mrs. Dressup so many years
ago while the present reveals, oh astonishment!,
that the girls have pretry much fulfilled their
childhood role playing.

If you are interested in the psychology of
sibling placement there is an article in the pro-
gram that provides a quick introduction to the
theories of Alfred Adier and Clifford Isaacson.
it also underlines the rest of what passes for

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Friday, October 30, 1998 — Nortn Snore News — 27

Photo David Cooper

SUSINN NicFarlen (clockwise from top), Tabitha St. Germain and Leslie Jones
{now replaced by Gina Wilkinson) star as the Fine sisters in the Vancouver
Playhouse production of The Attic, The Pearls and Three Fine Girls.

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