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BS - Wednesday, December 17, 1980 - North Shore News

GEE entertainment

Following directly on the
heels of We Won't Pay! We
Won't Pay! and Some Kind
of, Saviour, Tamahnous
Theatre is pleased to present

Samuel Beckett's classic
comedy, Happy Days featur-
ing the distinguished talents
of Ronnie Gilbert.

Happy Days provides one
of the theatre's § most
challenging of female roles.
The character “Winnie”,
buried up to her waist in the
scorched earth in the first
act, and up to her neck in the
second act, contrives, non-
theless, to hold the attention
by a daily routine of

gestures, prayer, song and,
above all, by her words
which express the most
human of fears and uncer-
tainties and touch upon pro-
blems that have preoccupied
thinkers for many centuries.

Her blend of reiterated
optimism and more searing
insight into the nature of ex-
istence reflects the harshness
of human life but also it’s
courage and dignity.

The play opens Wednes-
day, January 7 at the Water-
front Theatre for a limited
run to January 24.

Samuel Beckett, presently
in his mid-seventies, is

touted as one of contem-
porary theatre's greatest
writers. Besides Happy
Days, he’s known for such
classics as Waiting For
Godot, Endgame, and
Krapp’s Last Tape. His Hap-
py Days was written as a
comedy, though it might bet-
ter be described as a tragi-
comedy.

Ronnie Gilbert is a mature
artist with an astounding list
of credits. Most will
remember her as the female
voice in the ‘Weavers’ folk
group which toured interna-
tionally from 1947-64. Last
month the ‘Weavers’ re-

a " ’

united for two sold-out per-
formances at New York's
Carnegie Hail.

Her stage credits are no
less impressive. She was an
original member of New
York's Open Theatre, form-
ed in the early 60's. She was
in America Hurrah! which
performed for many months
in New York and London's
Royal Court Theatre; The
Man In The Glass Booth
with Donald Pleasance,
directed by Harold Pinter;
and worked extensively with
Peter Brook’s company do-
ing such pieces as The
Tempest for the Royal

Shakespeare Company.

Ronnie immigrated to
Canada in 1975 and settled in
the West Kootenays where
she was a founding member
of Theatre Energy. Last
season she joined
Tamahnous in their collec-
tive piece, Fool Proof,
before returning to New
York to work with Joseph
Chaikin and the Winter Pro-
ject for which she was highly
acclaimed by New York
critics. This January is Van-
couver'’s chance to see her
extraordinary talents in Hap-
py Days.

Larry Lillo will direct this
challenging work and Glen

Pi Se Se i a) ee emi ae |

ppy Days

Thompson will play the role
of “Willie”. Larry was last
seen perfoming the roles of
everybody else in our com-
edy smash We Won't Pay!
We Won't Pay!, and receiv-
ed critical acclaim for his
direction of Some Kind of
Saviour written by Jeremy
Long.

Glen Thompson has writ-
ten two Tamahnous hits, Li-
quid Gold and Night Train.
He’s remembered for his ex-
cellent characterizations of
‘Giovanni’ in We Won't Pay!
We Won't Pay! and the
‘father’ in last = season’s
Metamorphosis.

Stratford Festival Theatre in major trouble

SEATTLE (UPC) - Con-
troversy over the artistic
directorship of the Stratford
Festival has become
“volatile, even desperate”
says John Hirsch, the leading
candidate for the job.

Hirsch, consulting direc-
tor of the Seattle Repertory
theater, was one of five
Canadians approached, after
the government refused a

work permit to Briton John
Dexter.

In an interview published
in the Seattle Times, Hirsch
said he was approached
about the job but might not
be able to take it, and called

the increasingly bitter strug-
gle the “worst screw-up” in
the history of North
American theater.

“I told the festival board
that I had contractual
obligations to the Seattle
Repertory Theater and
under no circumstances
would I not fulfill them.”
Hirsch told the Times. “I in-
tend to stay im Seattle at least
through July 1.”

Dexter, director of pro-
ductions for New York City’s
Metropolitan Opera, was
named artistic director Nov.
10, but Immigration Minister
LLoyd Axworthy refused to
give him permission to work

in Canada. Jf

Axworthy’s decision came
after Canadian Actors’ Equi-
ty Association objected to
the Dexter job offer and
threatened a boycott of the
summer Shakespearian
festival if the post was not of-
fered to a Canadian.

Subsequently, the festival
created a search committee
to look for a Canadian to
serve as artistic director.
The committee has been
talking with Hirsch.

“The situation now is
volatile, even desperate, as
far as the festival board is
concerned,” Hirsch told the
newspaper.

VSO in better financial shape

The Vancouver Symphony
Society recorded a loss of
$77,738 for the 1979/80
season, outgoing president
Gerald A. McGavin has
announced.

During the 1979/80
scason, revenue increased to
$4,202,253.

The accumulated deficit
of the VSS now stands at
$362,148

McGavin statcd that m
spite of the loss, the VSO 1s
in a better financial position
than most Canadian or
chestras. It has the largest
number of subscnbers in the
wortd and gencrates 47% of
tts budget from ticket sales.
one of the highest levels in
the country

In tenms of raising moncy
from the private sector the
VSO 1s one of the top four

performing arts

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However, funding from
the federal government
continues tobe a Major arca
of concern. McGavin
pointed out that in the past
few years moncy available to
the Canada Council has not
even kept pace with in.
flauon, and he thanked
Council for domg what it
could to start correcting the
disparity that exists between
the level of funding for the
VSO and that of most other
Canadian orchestras

In the 1979/80 scason.
Council gave the VSO a
special one tame grant of
$30,000 in addition to its
regular grant

“However.” Mi Gavin
slated, “our widcly reported
problems with

continuc” and the

federal
funding

VSS as) stall receiving some

TAKE

OIANE KE ATON.

$200,000 less than its fair
share .~

He said that if the VSS
were receiving the average
level of support going to
other Canadian orchestras, it
would not have a deficit.

Another area of Concern 1s
the lack of adequate funding
coming from municipalities
im the greater

Vancouver

regional distnct

“The whole situation is the
worst screw-up in the history
of the North Amenican
theater,” Hirsch said. “l
would hke to help them out,
but right now I don't know
how I can.”

Hirsch said, for him, there
were “two issues at stake.
First, does the festival board
want me to take over a ar-
tisic director when I'm
ready and available? Se-
cond, what will happen with
the festival's 1981 season?”

Hirsch is currently in
Toronto directing A Funny
Thing Happened on the Way
to the Forum for the St.

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Before taking on the job in
1978 of consulting artistic
director to the Seattle
Repertory Company, the 50
year-old Hungarian-born
Hirsch was head of CBC
drama for two years. He was
a co-founder of the
Manitoba Theatre Centre in
Winnipeg which he left in
1966 to work as a director at
Stratford and in New York.

Carousel -
Theatre

presents

“PLUM
PUDDING”

a holiday entertainment
tor the whole family

Christmas & Chanukkah
& other seasonal defgnhts

Dec. 20, 11am & 1pm
Dec. 22,23,24,26&27

Calt: 986-1351

tor times and pnces
Presentation House

EF OOOOOOOO*

Make your Christmas
connection with Rahma

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