Wednesday, September 11, 1991 - North Shore News - 27 At the fast and fest several noteworthy productions fromm week one Barbara Black THEATRE REVIEW RINGE BINGED all weekend. Here are some tidbits about productions with a North Shore connection. The Frog Gailiard, First Im- pressions Theatre, Venue 7 This is a gem of a play full of witticisms and warmth. Elizabethan poet Robin Greene lies on his deathbed eroding from the insides out from a bad batch of pickled herring while the rest of England dies of the plague. His death is exacerbated by the presence of one Wiily Shakespeare, upstart poet and playwright and annoyingly suc- cessful. The play takes place entirely in the bedroom where lies upon straw mattress the epithet-strewing Robin Greene (Alan George). George has great timing for the literary lashes his character delivers to his bed-mongers. And Darien Edgeler is a magnetic young Shakespeare. There are some cheeky inside jokes using Shakespeare’s lines such as “‘Is this a herring | see before me ...it is but a herring of the mind’’ and several other delights. Shakespeare (“that fastidious hack’), unhappy at his colleague Greene’s unceremonious exit from life, plans a more theatrical death scene for him, complete with am- ateur actors — the parasitical doc- tor and priest attending Greene's bedside. Hungry for the dramatic moment, the great bard fails to see the humanity in Greene's death. In the end we see Shakespeare as a man tortured by the prolific outpourings of his own mind. The staging is at times wooden, but it is a charming play, well- constructed, with good pacing and worth seeing. Mannequin: Women and Dress, Screamers, Venue Z Tilda’s New Hat, written in 1908 by Emily Symonds, js clever and concise. It pokes fun at cul- tural snobbery (in the form of a foppish man) and illustrates a woman’s need for dignity and identity apart from a man. ft also takes up the theme of clothing as both a sort of tyranny (for the fe- male wearer) and a powerful tool (to woo the man and demonstrate independence). The main character, Tiida Fishwick, played by the very wat- chable Kathleen Barr, is 4 woman of both grace and great inner strength, who rejects a suitor’s of- ferto “form her mind” and join the Mutual Improvement Society. At first in Competition with all other women as she plays for the attention of pscudo-intellectual Walter (nice character acting from Stephen Courtenay), she later joins allegience with her own friend Daisy whom Walter is two-timing. She offers Daisy her new hai Two Plays cf Adelphi black exotic feathers and her pret- ty blouse in an effort to make ber more presentable. She nat only relinquishes Walter to Daisy but shows Daisy the power of costume and its effect upon men. And while Daisy is willing to submit to Walter's paternal pandering, the playwright does not mock her, In fact, Tilda, for ali her boldness, ends up in misery, dignified, yes, but without a man — which remains the goal of every woman in Edwardian society. New Anatomies, by Timberlake Wertenbaker, was chosen os a modern twist an this theme of clothing and gender. Butat is a clumsy. confusing piece with la- horious dialogue, choppy scenes and heavy-handed feminist idealogy. The story, from what 1 can guess, is about one tsabelle Eberhardt, who travelled in North Africa disguised as a man, Si Mahmoud. It seems she had more freedom dressed up in man’s garb as do other various characters in , equation our customers are looking for — q Sports pack is better than gym SPECIAL PURCHASE S42 * Challenging all-star sports 3-pack Cycies is a motorcycle race ele In Fast Bivuk take to the court for fast-paced basketball action. Or try out your golf skills with Jack Nicklaus. 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Having women play maie parts is usually not very Convincing, and in this case it made the male cher- acters silly, since they neither Jooked nor moved like men, only like women imitating men. Tilda’s New Hat, although conventional, took a simple theme and devet- Smith Corona® XL 2709 typewriter SPECIAL PURCHASE 1792> Spell-Right® diction- ary. WordFind* and WordEraser®. 261-B001 Freach Version. With French dictionary. 261-8210 Handy starter kit. 261-8200 .. 43.49 Ribbon 2-pack. 261-8201 .... 13.66 Correction ribbon. 261-8202 .. 9.12 Listen to the news before going to school Mount the Kitchenmate’ 101 AM/FM radio under your kitchen counter and you'll be able to hear tite news while you eat breakfast. Features Rattery Backup/Sentine?. 12-1570 Hhatternes caimapites apuispment ot cesscarsees cat yim beech teomerphe alin pectoral erm bat epd fare irarace sfunenare the actual mefad prices eu lisse ol GST ani OWVISION @INTERTAN CANADALTD 6 Shaek : Check the white pages for the Radic Shack store or participating dealer nearest you nge oped « more theatrically without posturing, The uffian on the Stair, Kiwi Productions, Venue 10 Despite having two good actors, this mean-spirited Joe Orton play doesn't get off the ground, mostly because amateurish acting from the female member of the cast hampers the energy. Mark Gash still turns in his usual intense per- formance as the cuffian, but it's not enough to keep the play mov- ing. 's why we're at the head of the class. Koss® headphones are the bright oice + Lightweight headphon ° For ree portables Use them outside and watch as they change colour when exposed to the sun. 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