en:every-d =
Z man

THUNDERBIRD LANES

420 W. 16th St., N. Van. (1/2 bik. west of Lonsdale) 988-2473

FA-S-7 COLLISION REPAIRS SSISi9,,

FREE COURTESY CARS
QUALITY WORKMANSHIP
PRECISION REPAIRS
SATISFACTION GUARANTEED

Photo David Cocpar

LITTLE BIG man Harry Brock discovers education is a difficult thing to control. Stephen E. Milier,
Megan Leitch and John Moffat (left to right) star in the Playhouse production of Garson Kanin's

Born Yesterday.

on

Megan Leitch superb as the ‘bimbo with smarts’

Born Yesterday by Garson Kanin,
directed by Susan Cox. To Oct. 23
at the Vancouver Playhouse. —
Tickets and information: 873-
3311.

LL THE bad things in

the world are bred

by selfishness. Some-
times selfishness even gets to
be a cause, an organized
force, evena government.
Then it’s called fascism.”

The morals of Born Yesterday
come right at you like the slap
Harry Brock delivers to the face of
his “girl,” Billie. .

This is not surprising in a play
written for a Broadway that was
proud of its country for winning
the Second World War but begin-
ning to ask ‘“VW/here do we go
from here?” ;

But it is also the weakness in
Garson Kanin’s construction.

Kanin was better known in 1940
as a director of films and plays
(The Diary Of Anne Frank, Funny
Gir) and a screenwriter (Adam’s
Rib, Pat and Mike.

Certainly he knew how to write

“a seamless plot and set up the
laugh line.

But his characters do not, in this
production, always have the
depth, complexity and strength to
sustain such slabs of ideology as
“4 want everybody to be smart.

As smart as they can be. A world.
full of ignorant people is too dan-
gerous to live in.”

The message is worthy, the me-
dium that of a morality tale.

But it’s an entertaining one with
a lot of verve and laughter and an

Thanksgiving
Dinner

3 course for $12."

aWest Vancouver
1495 Bellevue,

926-5115 f

Martin Millerchip
THEATRE REVIEW

absolutely superb pertormance by
Megan Leitch as the chorus girl
who learns to think for herself.

Falling somewhere between
Pygmalion and Educating Rita, the
plot chronicles the efforts of
scrap-merchant Harry Brock
(Stephen E. Miller) to conquer the
ultimate frontier; Washington.

“Monarch of all he surveys,”’
this self-made millionaire seeks to
expand his appetites for war-
surplus money without interfer-
ence from governnient.

Until now, the steel fist inside
the velvet wallet has gotten Harry
his every wish. But Washington
puts great store on a respectable
front so Billie, who is more
rhinestone than diamond in the
rough, must be polished.

Conveniently, there is a young
journalist down the hotel corridor
who has impressed Brock with his
independent thought and whose
price Brock correctly assesses as
$200 a week.

Can you guess who outgrows
whom and who falls for whom?

Thought you couid.

That it’s so much fun to watch is
primarily due to Leitch and Miller.

Hers is a total performance of in-
telligence and emotional truth

grounded on dialect and body
language that never misses a beat.

Leitch and director Susan Cox
craft a consistent logic for their
version of the bimbo with smarts,
if not brains, and cleverly succeed
in making sense of Billie's relation-
ship with the abusive Brock
without sacrificing her sense of
self.

Miller, too, is quite perfect as the
petty tyrant who, like a dinosaur
threatened with extinction, is
perfecting the art of destruction
rather than adaptation,

If 1 stint my praise of Miller's
work slightly it is only because |
would have liked to know whether
Brock ever experiences doubt or
car.

Which brings me to a whole line
of stones that Cox refuses to turn
over.

John Moffat plays journalist Paul
Verrall with an innocent sweetness
that would have probably worked
better in 1946 than if dues now.

lam ata loss to understand the
subtle updating of Billie to suit a
modern sensibility while ignoring
similar possibilities with the char-
acter of Verrall.

{am not arguing for mod-
ernization here — the play exists
quite pleasantly in its simpler
world. But an examination of lust
and cynicism would surely add to
the texture of Verrall.

The same lack of depth is ap-
parent in Allan Gray’s Ed Devery.

Devery is Brock’s hired (legal)
gun. He spends the entire play
drinking but there are no real
clues that setf-disgust at what he -
has become might be the reason.

It could be argued that Devery
reassesses his allegiance to Brock

See Cast page 29

TF ce ESTE 7 Sana FORMATION
REE ESTIMATES & 252-8000 f

CONSULTATIO

Don Taylor

Temific tastes and sensctionel prices ~ it’s a Dungeness

CRABFEST every night in October. Six mouth-watering

appetizers, nine fabulous entrees. Values? A cob

and sirloin dinner with fresh vegetables, steamed
fotoes, onion aisps ond butter for dipping is yours

or just $9.99! CRABFEST ot the Boathouse in October.

Join us for the tustes, the savings, the smiles!

Your Neighbourhood Seafood Bar & Grill

BREW WEST WHITE ROOK
900 Quayside Dr. 14935 Marine Br.
525-3474 536-7320

RICHAOND
8331 River Rl
23-7018

HORSESHOE BAY
6695 Nolbon Ave.
921-8188

cr Le ee eee eee ee gm gm

(6 OZ. TOP SIRLOIN)

Dinner includes Garnish,
Rice or Potatoes and
Sourdough Bread. Lobster

1 is broiled with or without
garlic

I
I
OR SLIPPER LOBSTER DINNER
i
]
i

ONLY

(SLIPPER LOBSTER)

Offer ends Oct. 13/93
Only one coupon ver party

4
a @ ; oe
wep, 18.95 Sea aires
SEAFOOD RESTAURANT ;
980-1213 CLOSED MONDAY 998 Marine Drive, N.Van.

Dees ane ta tare me fone tee sso et cree en nd cae ed OD cm es nc cy Gm) Ys cum CAD AD my sms wT mms mn ms CS et ED

7.) 2 ome te RD ce ee