avend snowball to succe WELL KNOWN Canadian actress, comedienne and self-admitted eccentric, Nicola Cavendish br- ings her talents and versatility to the stage this holiday season with Jt’s Snowing on Saltspring. Cavendish, who recently moved to the North Shore, not only wrote this play, which will open Dec. 9 at the Arts Club Theatre on Seymour, but she also ap- pears in three roles. It's Snowing on Saltspr- ern ing, Cavendish’s second play, cuts across the present grain of holiday productions which have all but gutted the Christmas spirit. Instead Cavendish takes advantage of the heightened USE STR soars expectations of holiday au- diences in exploring the warm, light-hearted side of Christmas, domestic rela- tions and tough times. Set on one snowy Saltspr- ing Christmas Eve, the play centres On a young couple, their overdue baby, their ec- centric friends and a trip NEWS photo Stuart Davis SURROUNDED by props and dressing room paraphernalia, Nicola Cavendish prepares for the Monday opening of the play she wrote and stars in It’s Snowing on Saltspring. The play is being presented at the Arts Club Theatre on Seymour. ° e Holiday Children’s Shows A sensational hit at the Vancouver and Seattle Children’s Festivals. Kids love 'em! A holiday celebration for the entire family! DEC. 11 - 15 @ Matinees & Evenings VANCOUVER EAST CULTURAL CENTRE 1895 Venables at Victoria RESERVATIONS © 254-9578 i $100 Mini Microwave Oven with sunimum order REFACE & SAVE !!! Get a new-Icoking kitchen by changing only the doors and drawer fronts. All exposed surfaces refaced ¢ with durable Formica. Ask about our $1130°° special endorsed by Bob Bye of CKWX. cabinet: refacing ‘ plus REPLACE & SAVE !!! Get an all-new kitchen at manulacturer-lo-you $z.v- ings. Do-it-yourselfers wel- come or take advantage of our expert installations. You won't beat our prices!!! 3510 Kingswa 430-3667 © . Mon.~Sat. Coping with visits © PAGE 60 S with Santa to the North Pole. To Cavendish who spent a year on the island, Saltspring is ‘ta magical place that con- jures up nice images.’’ As in her first creation North Shore Live, Caven- dish set out to explore ac- tors’ talents in It’s Snowing on Saltspring. “Versatility. Actors have it and it's not used,’’ said Cavendish, who has been a professional actress for 12 years, and played 26 dif- ferent roles in North Shore Live. . Since leaving her childhood village of Kaleden in the Okanagan Valley, Cavendish has zig-zagged across the country acting on stage and television. Since beginning the ‘tultimate challange’? of writing, she totes her scripts about the country working on them at least two hours a day in dumpy hotel rooms — “the dumpier the better.’ Cavendish says she “hacked away" at It’s Snowing on Saltspring through a year of dumpy hotel rooms. o S It’s now being produced in both Vancouver and Calgary. While Calgary will premiere Jt’s Snowing on Saltspring, opening one night before it does in Van- couver, Cavendish predicts the intimacy of the Arts Club Theatre will give it the edge over the New Perform- ing Arts Centre in Calgary. But Cavendish isn’t waiting around to see the success of her new play. Two scripts are already awaiting her busy 1986 per- forming schedule and more dumpy hotel rooms. The first is based on the comic strip characters Nan- cy, Sluggo, Archie and Veronica and the second, which she refers to as “the big project’’ is the challenge of a one-woman show. Cavendish, who says she sees things in heightened re- ality, is a people watcher. She draws inspiration from those she sees and writes from character and situa- tion, not themes. Terrified of ‘mall people,’ Cavendish says: “I’m a self-admitted eccentric and proud of it.” @20699O9 SEG 00389008 9SOCSGSG9 SeSSCocseeesennsesged a) i yA" | Ee, SCROIEPHSEGSASISESHHOVSSEASVECESOCE e ® e ° ® @ ® @ @ ® 8 @ ® 6 e @ @ ® ® 6 e e poahiind @ Free Draw for one eo @ @ ® s @ @ @ @ c @ @ * e 2 & ® g ® & & @ @ & pair of Vuarnet Sunglasses Come meet Wayne Grouden Vuarnet’s local representative Friday Dec. 6 from 6-9 pm Vuarnet Sample Sale TiMiE OUT SPORTS 980-9211 or 980-0116 Lynn Valley Centre ze VESCaGsgaeOdGHSGOGITHBOOH ee °