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Reservations Recommended 985TACO 1200 Lonsdale, N.Vancouver seoecosesecosenseco SOVeKeeeseCONGs: NEWS photo Paul McGrath ‘PLAYHOUSE ARTISTIC director Susan Cox selected this year’s roster of plays with Larry Lillo be- ‘fore his S untimely death in June from AIDS-related complications. ay ~ Susan Cox opens first season with Born Yesterday USAN COX bounds into the room, resplendent j in loud flowered lobe-shaped ear- tings and brightiy-colored “ purple sneakers. “Saw-reeel’’ she bellows in her trademark Liverpudlian accent to the reporter waiting in the chair ‘opposite her desk. _ The new artistic director of the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre — known for her spiked bleached- blonde hair — is late for a lun- -chtime rehearsal break from Born Yesterday, the Playhouse’s season opener that she is directing — and _ time is tight. Time, in fact, is something Cox has very little of since she took - over the helm of the Playhouse this past July. : She says she has so many ideas bouncing around i in her head that “it’s scary.” In addition to doing rnore musicals, the Lions Bay resident wants to open a second perfor- mance space to encourage up- and-coming actors, form a ‘‘Fri- ‘day Night Club” to solicit input from the larger community, col- laborate and commission work by lecal artists, and explore more non-traditional forms of theatre. -“'m very keen to give people hope — people who were feeling demoralized — so | feel pressure . to be seen to be doing things,” says Cox. “And | love my audience. They go to so much trouble coming out when they can just stay home and turn the knob. So | damn well bet- ter give them what they want.” Cox, who turned 50 last week, believes audiences want theatre thai reflects a sense of optimism. “What 1 mean by that is, despite the confusion in the world, human beings have the potential to be quite miraculous that goes way beyond our Ability to survive. I'd like to remind people how ex- Evelyn Jacob SPOTLIGHT FEATURE traordinary we are.” So this season, she will mount the Victorian music hall revue, A Litle of Wot You Fancy, If We Are Women, The Relapse ot Virtue in Danger, A Doll's House and Struggle of the Dogs and the Black. it won't be entirely her season, however; Cox and former artistic director Larry Lilla selected the plays together before Lillo’s un- timely death in June from AIDS- related complications, Next season, then, is where she will really shine. Although Cox was the unani- mous choice of the Playhouse selections committee, her decision to accept the new rolegame after much soul-searching. “in one's youth you think, ar- tistic director — that’s what you'd like io do, But when you get to my age, running an arts organization in the middle of the recession and all of what that entails isn't so ap- pealing. “And | was ata time when | was thinking of exploring the world. | was so enjoying my freelance work.” ‘Snitially, Larry said, ‘You must take over for me,’ | said, ‘I'll never cun a theatre. | love it but i'll never de it myseli.’ And now here tam doing it.’ Pausing, she reconsiders and says: “But I'm very glad i'm da- 2 it. The theatre has been very geod to me, and it’s time to give back and give it my best shot. “| want to be able to help peo- ple coming up bs:ind me, | want my grandchildre” nd my great- grandchildren to still be able go to ihe theatre, to see Swan Lake if they want to.” And Cox has plenty to give. She has been a brilliant comic actor, a director and writer for 30 years. Directing credits include Blithe Spirit and Gentiamen Prefer Blondes at the Shaw Festival this summer, last year's Playhouse production of Fallen Angels and Waiting for the Parade at the Ed- monton Citadel Theatre. Born in 1943 (the same year as John Lennon, she observes), Cox grew up in a lower middle class Liverpool neighborhood. Although she didn’t know it at the time, she was already grooming herself for the Playhouse job. “was the artistic director of our house and | organized all of the entertainment. We would sit around the piano and sing and laugh and faugh. The best thing was to get my dad and uncle to dress up in women’s clothing. Al- though the war dampened peo- ples’ spirits, those were really good umes.” At the make-it-or-break-it ave of three Cox decided on a career in the performing arts (she originally wanted to become a ballerina), and was damned if anything or anyone would stop her. Some of her more memorable roles include the housekeeper Dotty Otley in the National Arts Centre praduction of Noises Off, and Valentine Browne in her one-woman musical, for which she won a 1980 Dora Mavor Moore Award. In 1988, however, Cox gave up stage acting because she “got bored with myself, not with it.” Besides lack of time, Cox faces another challenge: haw to fill the shoes of the well-respected and See Lilio page 38 990 S6HHHHROFOHRFOFD320H008 NG seneoseceeseeeeess AT | HARRISON GALLERIES September 23 to October 2,93 Park Royal South, West Van. 926- 2615 | Come & Celebrate / — at Peppi’s on Dundarave Beach September 26th - October ord ae : : gt Live t music © nightly from cj 6:30 pm-9:30 pm during’ Oktoberfest Week with “SEBASTIAN” on his Zither, featuring tradi- tional German music. For reservations call 922-1414 PEPPrS on Dundavave Beat 25th Street, below Marine Dr. West Van