&

Lettice and Lovage by Peter
Shaffer. An Arts Club production
directed by Tom Kerr. To Feb.
26. Res: 687-1644,

ETTICE AND Lovage.
Looks like a salad,
doesn’t it? :

Indeed, there was a time
when every kitchen garden of an
English estate grew lovage as an
aromatic and flavorful herb.

. But the Lettice in Peter
Shaffer's comedy is short for
Letticia Douffet, an incurable
romantic whose heart yearns to .
inhabit the rich panoply of
European history... ,

Lovage is the secret ingredient
in her “quaff", a'drink guaranteed
to loosen the corsets, if not the
hairline, of the sternest bosses.

Nicola Cavendish is Lettice
«and Shirley Douglas is Lottie
'. Schoen, Lettice’s disapproving
boss. 7 . :

- - With these two marvellous tal-
"ents itis no surprise that director

* Tom Kerr has tossed.a salad with
-a'delectable'sparkle. °°.
<a Shaffer's play is no heavy-..

vaight dramatic entree, but if
» you like'crisp and crunchy come-
“sdy, the Arts-Club menu for.’
“February is guaranteed to enter-

“:.. We meet Lettice.as she tows a -
- group of bored tourists through’: --

. Fustian-House dispensing snip- .

pets of knowledge and history. © :.,
» Unfortupately;‘Fustian House :

is the dullest stately home.in. -

JAMIESONS. RUN:CHARDON. °

in this dish

_ Three facing a charge of attempt-

Martin Millerchip
THEATRE REVIEW

England. Nothing ever happened
there. ; ;
That is until Lettice employs
fantasy to enliven the vacuum of
fact.
By the time she perfects her
story the central staircase of
‘Fustian House has witnessed the
entire gamut of human joy and
misery and spellbound tourists
are tipping freely.
However, not everyone shares
her enthusiasm for the three E's
__ enlarge, enliven, enlighten —
and finally the bureaucracy of
the Preservation Trust catches up
to Lettice’s free-spirited revision
of history and fires. her. .
The agent of this small-mind-
ed exactitude is Lottie Schoen,
who, having done the deed, is
immediately sorry and subse-
quently attempts to make amends
by. placing Lettice in another job. :
. An unusual friendship devel-
ops but, like everything in °
Lettice’s life, does not run.
~ smoothly and Lettice begins Act

* NAY-1992 $16.95 (Australia): 2".

.The Land of.Oz continues to.
e the source of scme of the best
‘values for your‘drinkable’dollar:

‘.. This new. product isn’t exactly.
“bargain basement, but it’s very’;
polished.‘ Hints of green fig and":
apricot nicely mellowed by. a bit... -
of-nap in small oak casks;.who- |”
-.ever's doing the making knows. .
what he’s about.-Less overblown,

More elegant than-some similar-

iy-priced Oz chardonnays. Use
x get a

e'good crysta
WOLF BLASS ‘PRES!
SELECTION’

THE NORTH SHORES BEST IN

CINEMA 1-

|, SEPARATE ADMISSION FEATURES -

“GRUMPY OLD MEN

’ Nightly 6:45pm; Sat./ Sun. 2:45pm

, oo Matures:

<. JHE PELICAN BRIEF:

“Nightly 8:40pm; Sat/ Sun. 4:20pm
ete eS Mature .

John Mocre
‘WINE SPOTS
-TRALIA SHIRAZ 1989 $18.95

This is a new listing I'm just,
“too stupid to find in the Guide.

3: This wine used to be marketed as’

“Brown Label” Hermitage in Oz

PARK ROYAL

4

a: x

cies

CINEMA 2
THE AIR UP THERE
Nightly 6:50pm; Sat/Sun. 2:50p)
* Mature co
~ TOMBSTONE |.
Nightly 8:45pm; Sat/Sun. 4:30pm
.. Restricted - a

ed murder.

To reveal more of the play's
slim plot would be to give too
much away, but the real interest
lies in the effect Lettice has on
those with whom she comes in
contact.

The greatest change occurs in
Lottie, of course, but even.a
dusty secretary and a grey-suitec!
solicitor are lit up by Lettice’s
incandescence, .

Wendy Donaldson, as the sec-
retary, and Bernard Cuffling, as
the solicitor, provide super’
comic cameos, but the most diffi-
cult role in the play has to be that
of Lottie.

It would be so easy to dismiss
the flowering of Lottie’s inner
beauty as a convenient script
device in the hands of a lesser
actor. .

But Douglas succeeds in *
retaining her character's integrity,

supgesting softer depths ather .

sternest moments and thus mak-
ing it possible for us to believe: .
that Lettice’s naive romanticism
will capture her, too. ~
Cavendish swashbuckles her
way through a lot of the action,

but also finds the vulnerability

implicit in such an impractical
spirit in an emotional scene near
the end of the play.

It.is so pleasant to give an
unequivocal toast to this hand-
some Arts Club production. :

Here’s to Lettice and Lottie,
enemies of the “mere.”

Long may they light up the world.

from Down Under

“and a bottle | had there last year

was one of the most fabulous

. wines I’ve ever had ‘the pleasure -
of pouring down my neck. As-:

: dense raisiny and ‘complex as an
old Amarone, I-hardly dared”

hope this. new label and name
would disguise its, reincarnation,
but {I’m a believer now.

Too young to‘drink, almost

“dumb”, as the great shiraz wines

~ of the northern Rhone are apt to

- play for at least five years, this <
wine promises to be every bit as

tongue-stunning as its ancestor in

a few years, If you can’t find it, :
make a spectacle of yourself. at -

yourlocal LDB.

1 SHORE'S BEST ENTERTAINMENT VALUE ||
NEW PROGRAMS START THIS FRIDAYS Se]

fa
+ CINEMAS
 SHADOWLAND

Nightly 7:00pm; Sat./Sun.2:55pm

a General :

; MALICE

Nightly 9:15pm; Sat/Sun. 5:05pm:

: - 3 14.Years :

Greater

Vann

47h Production

StAGE Dinecron: Kern Siescn
Music Dinecton: Bart’ Honson se
CrHoneociariiens Nowman : pl
Stewant FAiniv apes BOX OFFICE :
984-4484,

Sev Destanent

f The Music Man is presented trough special arrangement with and
fail authorized perfomance moteciats: are supplied by: Music
E Theale intemational, 545 Elenth Aniiue, New York, N.Y, 10048;

SUNDAY, Febr

BOOK, MUSIC & LYnICs BY
MEREDITH. WILLSON

_ STONY bY

“MEREDITH WILLSON
_& FIANRLIN LACEY

Feb 24-26 ©
Mar 2-5.

8pm

day, Feb 27 |
oe  Ratinee of
oo Spm

Licaatr

at ae
Teen

performed by the’

PRO NOVA ENSEME
Join us in the relaxed atmosphere of.
MOUNT SEYMOUR UNITED CHURCH

on boo. +

wary 13, 2:30 P.M.

and listen to chamber music'the way.

Telemann © Purcell © Mozart ¢ Conway Ba

it was meant to be enjoyed ae

Featuring works by’

Performed by

ker.

The Pro Nova Ensemble with guest artists”

Marlin Macaulay (flute) , and Marcelle Nokeny of
(violin). Ensemble members are Aurora Felde, Audrey

Nodwell, and Hans-Karl Piltz.

FREE ADMISSION

This concert will be repeated February 17, 7:30 pm
at the Ferry Building, West Vancouver

"Mt. Seymour United Church is at 1200 Parkgate, North Vancouver
(North off Mt Seymour Parkway just west of the Mt Seymour tumoff) 9:

UND POETEC z

t

‘CENTENNIAL|
THEATRE |