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NEWS photo Paul McGrath

DAVE MCINTOSH, Mark Gash and Stephen Courtenay give exemplary performances in the
unsettling but entertaining play, the Caretaker, directed by North Vancouver’s Bob Weakes.

Funny up to a point

Pinter classic
on stage

at Firehall
Theatre

F YOU haven't had a

good sit down at the

theatre lately, | mean
a proper sit down, if you
get my meaning, you'll
want to see The
Caretaker.

Some people find the
obscurity and elusiveness of
Pinter’s plays annoying and
manipulative, but properly
staged, as this production is, a
Pinter play can seethe with
engaging ambiguity.

This production rolls along
like well-greased machinery,
with strong performances by all
three actors, and insightful di-
rection from Bob Weakes. My
only quarrel is with Pinter
himself, who managed to
stretch this play to three acts
where two would have suffic-
ed.

I's a show where the au-
dience sympathy shifts from
character to character as we try
to second-guess their motives
and figure out their insecurities.
Central to the action is an
irascible, somewhat conniving
tramp, Davies, who attempts to
assert his presence in a room
occupied by a slow-witted
man, Aston. Dave Mcintosh’s
characterization is wonderful as
the depraved but pitiable
tramp. He elicits our sympathy,
and later our disgust.

Mcintosh brings humor to the
character, but never oversteps
the boundaries Pinter set for
the play, that it is funny “uptoa
point.” Beyond that it is a kind

BARBARA(S
BLACK

theatre review

of pathetic struggle between
people for power and respect-
ability.

The characters move in and
out of the room full of junk that
serves as a reminder of the in-
effectuality of each character's
existence. The half-witted Aston
fiddles with a broken plug
which he never fixes — there is
a general need for a Caretaker
to put things in order.

It was an interesting directing
choice to play the character of
Aston (played by Stephen
Courtenay) as very slow-witted
and speech-impaired. Although
it was off-putting in the first
scene trying to understand each
word spoken (the diction im-
proved), overall it injected an
extra dimension into an other-
wise flat character and em-
phasized Aston’s vulnerability.
And despite the character's
speech impediment, Courtenay
had the audience rapt during
his monologue in Act Two.

Aston’s brother Mick, piayed
by Mark Gash, is the very
substance of ambiguity. Gash’s
annoyingly equivocal stance
keeps the audience and Davies
guessing at what he’s really say-
ing. His ambiguity is a form of
tyranny over the tramp who
seems to have taken over his
brother's room. Davies’ am-
bigious speech, on the other
hand, is a defence mechanism
to prevent people from taking
advantage of him or from
discovering his identity.

The contlict of the Caretaker

is in the subtext — each char-
acter speaks of wanting to ac-
complish something but is un-
able to act upon it. Each tries to
assert his place in the room and
figure out who his allies are.
What passes for conversation is
really a cat and mouse game,
where characters, especially
Mick and Davies, try to assess
the other's motives while giving
away nothing of their own.

If it’s not done properly the
repetitions and pregnant pauses
can come off as a real bore.
Under Weakes’ direction, the
dialogue is electrically charged;
half way through the third act,
though, the repetetive dialogue
was wearying, like a dark
Laurel and Hardy routine.

Many smalt touches also
make this an enjoyable produc-
tion. Davies’ comical muttering
in his sleep, the business of the
unsuitable shoes, and the
Vaudeville-like juggling of
Davies’ bag from hand to hand.

The end of the second act,
however, had such a_ finality
that some people mistook it for
the end and left. This fault
probably lies more with Pinter
than with the production itself
and Pinter might have taken
more care to introduce some
new unsettling element in
Aston’s speech to give us the
impression that something re-
mained unresolved.

Pinter was a master at using
language to point to “some.
thing else’ and this production
certainly shows a sensitivity to
that something else. It's that
lurking undercurrent thal sus-
tains the audience's interest,
and, balanced with well-placed
humor makes for an unsettling,
piece of theatre.

The Caretaker continues
Sept. 25 to Oct. 6 at the Firehall
Arts Centre. Phone 689-0926
for information.

Wednesday, September 19, 1990 - North Shore News — 31

books ‘NOW.

Writers need
tools of the trade

N AN earlier column we

looked at markets for

writers. This week, in an
admitted bass-ackwards ap-
proach, we're going to ex-
amine some of the tools-in-
print that will allow writers
to work more effectively
and, hopefully, with greater
success.

However, not all of the books
surveyed would be of benefit ex-
clusively to those writers cancern-
ed with such things as novels,
short stories or periodical pieces.
Several of the titles are highly
recommended to anyone whose
work, study or leisure activities
demand clear, accurate writing:
business people, students and
others.

A goad example is The Oxford
Writer's Dictionary (448 pp.:
$14.95), the only style guide
viewed in Canada as an
authoritative source for formal
writing in general (the sole excep-
tion is the Canadian Press Style
Book which is employed by vir-
tually all Canadian newspapers,
wire services and many maga-
zines).

Which, for instance, is the
preferred plural form of ‘referen-
dum’: referenda or referendums?
Under what circumstances should
one or the other of the two plural
forms of ‘antenna’ (antennae,
antennas) be used? Which is pro-
per, cleptomania or kleptomania?
While ‘railcar’ is spelled as a
single, unhyphenated word, does
this apply to ‘rail-head’ (gee,
guess | gave that one away).

A useful complement to The
Oxford Writer's Dictionary is Har-

rapn’s English Idioms (Gage: $4.95).

Idioms are those odd word
groups that have a meaning not
deducible from those of the indi-
vidual words, such as ‘“‘part of
the furniture.’ Of course we're
not saying that someone is, liter-

ally, a chair, table or antimacassar.

What we mean is that he or she
“is unnoticed because he/she is
nearly always present.”

This would be particularly
valuable for anyone unsure of the
correct manner of idiom usage or
for those unfamiliar with English
who might otherwise be leit
wondering whether it would be
possible to nip down to the Bay

MIKE |
STEELE 4.

book review

tora set of living room Georges
and kitchen fills on the instalment
plan.

The Wordwatcher’s Guide To
Good Writing & Grammar
(Writer's Digest/Prentice-Hall; 296
pp.; $21.95} is one of several new
titles concerned with such things
as the difference between spoken
and written English, transitive and
intransitive verb forms, subjective
and objective nouns (who, whom)
and a few of the trickier nuances
of language which confuse many,
including the perennial pitialls of
confusing ‘compose’ with ‘com-
prise,’ ‘like’ with ‘as," etcetera.

The Wordwatcher’s Guide... is

not as thorough in its exploration
of written language as Oxford’s
excellent Modern English Usage,
but it does manage to cover many
of the more common problem
areas.

Hf at some point you're faced
with the often daunting task of
rewriting, editing or revising such
things as business reports, news-
paper articles, newsletter material,
essays or pretty well any written
work, Getting The Words Right
iWriter’s Digest/Prentice Hall; 215
pp.; $17.95) would be an ideal in-
vestment.

Writing clean, succinct and
unambiguous prose is an acquired
art but not a terribly difficult one
to master with a bit of practice.
Getting The Words Right will not
only assist you in shaping the work
of others but is equally useful for
honing personal writing skills.

Getting The Word Right ex-
plains, through step-by-step exer-
cises and numerous examples,
such processes as: identifying
paragraph limits, inconsistencies of
argument or ideas and gram-
matical errors; how to modify
sentences to make them leaner
without sacrificing content; and
how to make what you write say
what you intended.

See Books Page 35

NV soprano hosts opera nights

The opening gala includes a performance by lyric-
tenor Mark Dubois, followed by Delia Wallis and
Gary Dahl on Nov. 24, tenor Ed Wright and Helene
McDonald on Dec. 21, Philip Ens on fan, 19, Mary
Anne Barcellona, Feb. 23, and Sandra Graham on
Apr. 20.

for imformation phone 254. 1OG0,

NORTH VANCOUVER soprano tngrid Suderman has
a sound idea.

She's organizing a six-night opera secies at the now
Coast Atrium inn in Vancouver.

Beginning Sept. 28, 4 talented Cast or singers will be
featured at the hotel, wath pertormaoces taking place
about ance a menth