28 ~ Sunday, June 11, 1985 - North Shore News ENTERTAINMENT NORTH SHORE TALENT WELL-REPRESENTED AT AWARDS CEREMONY Local director nominated for Jessie NORTH VANCOUVER director Martin Millerchip is pleased with his Jessie Award nomination for best director of George Bernard Shaw’s Candida, but he says awards are not what his work is about. By ELIZABETH COLLINGS | News Reporter “The problem with choosing is that one has to start deciding who’s best. Theatre is really about moving the audience.” Millerchip and North Shore Jessie nominees John Moffat, J. Douglas Dodd and Larry Lillo will be at the Arts Club tonight where the winners will be announced. The Jessie Awards, named after late actress Jessie Richardson, honor productions which originate in Vancouver. It’s unusual, Millerchip said, for small equity co-op efforts such as Candida, produced by Coconut Theatre last June, to take four ma-. jor Jessie nominations when com- peting against large theatre pro- ductions. “It got major critical raves — The Sun, Province, CBC. Everyone was surprised that such a small company could put on such a detailed production. And that the production would have such a glossy look.’’ Alsc nominated from Candida is Patricia Andrew for best support- ing actress, and Mara Gottler for best costume design. The play is further in the running for best overall production. Millerchip is up against director Larry Lillo, for the Vancouver Playhouse production of Lie of the Mind and Sandanho Schultze, for Class Enemy, produced by Pink Ink Productions. But Millerchip said he isn’t con- cerned about winning the award. “The nomination didn’t change the faults that were there (in Can- dida). I didn’t vote for myself. I voted for Larry Lillo.” Set in the 1890s, Candida is about the upset of a marriage be- tween a socialist minister of the church, and his wife, Candida, when an idealistic poet interferes in the relationship. The play is complex and difficult to produce successfully, Millerchip said. “After Saint Joan, Candida is the most written-2bout woman character of Shaw’s,” Millerchip said. He said he researched Candida: extensively, reading both critiques and Shaw’s thoughts on the char- acter before returning to the script and cast. Shaw originally claimed Candida to be the ‘ultimate mother fig- ure,”” Millerchip said, but later appeared ‘‘to move away from this idealized concept towards the crit- ical consensus of the day — that Candida was a fortune seeker, a gold digger.”’ Thursday only LUNCH OR DINNER La a Sole. RESTAURANT 235 - 15th Street, West Van g Lunch Monday-Friday B 11:00-3pm 926-6861 | Dinner Monday-Saturday § - From 5:30 p.m. ; Millerchip, a contributing news reporter for the North Shore News, has lived on the North Shore for nine years. He came to Canada from England after completing a teacher training course with a major in drama, but has never taught. Although Millerchip directed his first play at 16, he said he only became seriously involved with theatre 10 years ago. Since that time, he has been busy as an amateur freelance director in B.C., until 1985 when he turned professional, spending a year as assistant director at Nep- tune Theatre in Halifax. Millerchip’s next production is 1837: The Farmer’s Revolt, which will play at UBC, July 19 to Aug. 4. Get a jump on next season... Basketball for boys & girls Volleyball for girls ‘Enter to win one of 20 camps. NEWS contributing writer Martin Millerchip ...nominated for best director. Starting May 17th, the News will award 4 camps each week. For the past 20 years Dan Miscisco’s All Star Camps have been providing high quality instruction in Basketball and Volleyball at week-long camps conducted throughout the North Shore. For boys and girls in Grades 5-12; each day involves 32 hours of intense fun-filled instruction. There are more than seven convenient locations on the North Shore, with weekly sessions throughout the summer. ‘ For detailed information about the camps call 925-3759.