: Martin Millerchip THEATRE REVIEW ‘4 “CELEBRATION' ¥ SARY: CELEB] INNIVER “A a OEAIoON R wed ANCOUVER * Xxtra Depth" for your custom orthotics * Deerskin and calfskin leathers + 150 sizes and widths +85 styles q NOR BW ae nna feet a FOSTER’S SHOES 6178 E. Boulevard at W. 46% * Vancouver (604) 261-1120 Hours: 9:30-6: 00 Tues-Fri_ 9:30-5:00 Sat ‘World's Greatest Guy by Gary Jones and Shawn Macdonald. An Arts Club Reyue Theatre produc- tien directed by Pam Johnson. Reservations: 687-1644. . K IT’S not the world’s —_ dacaes play butl: don’t remember _ laughing so hard at. the Revue Theatre. Ever. “ A hit at the 1993 Vancouver . Fringe Festival, World’s Greatest Guy has been expanded by some 20 minutes by authors Gary Jones and Shawn Macdonald for this Arts Club date. Other than a stightly self-con- scious opening, the good news is that the play has become neither word-heavy nor slow ancl the great news is that the original director/cast team remains intact. Jones and Macdonald play fast- talking roomates Cooper and Harry, masters of 1,001 friendly put-clowns. - -Harry is gay, frustrated with his closet-hugging cates but generally in control of his fife. Cooper is straight, but running scared of all women. “I'm just gearing up to the thought of something possibly happening,” he says. He's “dating” a woman “who is not in this country as we know it,” a prison pen- pai and a lesbian. Enter Harry's brother Shelly (Randy Schoeley) with his brand new bride but first girlfriend, Gaye (Ellie Harvey). Shelly is the last member of Harry's family not to know that his brother is gay. Even the fami- ly's blind neighbor back in Regina had it figured out. - But the reason for Shelly's * Photo Glen Erikton COOPER AND Harry threaten Shelly's equilibriusa in more than, one way during World’s Greatest Guy at the Arts Club Revue Cabaret. Gary Jones (left), Shawn Macdonald and Randy Schooley star in a very funny play with an honest heart. anger at Harry’s revelation has - more to do with a persenal infer- no recently fired by his best man Dante than Shelly's more general red-necked machismo and small town conditioning. Gaye (she isn’t) also causes fur- ther tensions as she struggles to deal with always having “belonged” to Shelly and the action quickly accelerates to an almost farce-like pace. What keeps World's Greatest Guy from tipping over into stereo- type is the commitment of all involved to the vulnerability of the characters. Under director Pam Johnson's intelligent hand, the cast never pushes too hard to be funny while Jones and Macdonald are allowed the freedom to explore the extremities of their characters’ idiosyncrasies. Doug Welch's set is detailed | enough to cause comment at the minimalist Revue Theatre without the additional coup of containing a (small) change. Jones and Macdonald's play may not carry the emotional weight of the recently seen Lilies, but may well resonate with a wider audience. PARK ROYAL CINE |THE NORTH SHORE'S BEST ENTERTAINMENT VALUE | _NEW PROGRAMS STAR THIS FRIDAY ~ CINEMA 1 ~ SEPARATE ADMISSION FEATURES GUARDING TESS Nightly 6:50 IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER Nightly 8:30 CINEMA 2. SEPARATE ADMISSION FEATURES THE PIANG Nightly 7:00 SIRENS Nightly 9:05 - Restricted The less-liberated of this world are more likely to accept with a smile what they might reject out of hand in a more serious context. And the honesty with which World’s Greatest Guy examines all aspects of sexual precacity is worth the widest possible audi- ence, roe A quick plug for two other . good productions in Vancouver this week. At the Playhouse until April 23 is tngmar Bergman's adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll’s House. Tamsin Kelsey offers a lumi- nous portrayal of the child- woman kept in her place by soci- ety and husband, and if the sexu- ality that is part of that prison does not quite work all other aspects of this staging are supremely power- ul. At Station Street Aris Centre to April 30 is the Coconut Theatre production of N. Richard Nash’s The Rainmaker. Asentimental and occasionally chauvinistic play gets tender treat- ment from a strong cast and designers Kate King and Adrian Muir, ; Refreshingly heart-warming. CINEMA 3 SEPARATE ADNISSION FEATURES MRS. DOUBTFIRE Nightly 7:05 ; PHILADELPHIA Nightly 9:15 ; SEARRE: 6 pm no cover charge “EXCLUSIVE TO THE NORTH SHORE” 135 Pemberton Ave. 984-3 3558]