aertiien

theatre Ky

AN EVENING WITH

MR. LEACOCK

John Stark
brings humorist’s
tales to life

I'M JUST back from

Another Evening with
Stephen Leacock.
“Stephen who?” you ask.

By Barbara Black
Theatre Review

Most people don’t know
Stephen Leacock from a hole in
the Canadian Shield. But the fact is
he was one of Canada’s greatest
humorists after the fashion of Mark
Twain. In fact, ii Leacock had
been born 50 years earlier Twain
would have had io suffer being
called the American Leacock.

In this Centennial Theatre per-
formance, Leacock is brought
back to literary lite by Vancouver
actor John Stark, who looks so
comfortable as the disheveled
university professor that you forget
he’s just pretending to be the
famous lecturer,

It's 2 one-man show, so pacing
is everything. Stark has mastered
the art of storytelling and shapes
the lectures to get the most out of
the audience. The show consists of
dialogue culled from the many
lectures and anecdotes written by
Leacock. Not all are done in their
entirety (after all,they were meant
to be read, not performed).

For the audience, it’s like sitting
in on one of Leacock’s lectures —-
he stands at his podium, with his
jug of water (or is that gin?) at
hand, telling us stories which we
ought not to take too seriously.

Leacock was a master of the tall
tale, king of the hyperbole and the
overstatement, but perhaps | ex-
aggerate. His was a dry wit and
sometimes it doesn’t sink in until
he has moved on to the next
sentence.

For instance, in a sketch about
building a summer cottage from
scratch: “That same night we
carried over jubilantly some rustic
furniture which we had found,
quite neglected, lying in a nearby
cottage, the lock of which oddly
enough, was opened quite easily

Redeem this coupon for
$3 off any take-out order

North Van Boston Pizza.

This offer not valid with any other

promotional offer. Only one

coupon may be used at a time.
Offfer expires Aug. 31/90

i

t

|

' 50% off any appetizer
of $15 or more at the menu item after 10 p.m.

1 Monday-Thursday at the

a North Van Boston Pizza.

|

'

i

t

This offer not valid with any other Ul
promotional offer. Orly one §
coupon may be used at a time.

Offer expires Aug. 31/90 1

JOHN STARK does a convinc-
ing portrayal of the Canadian
humorist and lecturer Stephen
Leacock in Another Evening
with Stephen Leacock.

with the key of Beryf’s suitcase."

This is theatre of the mind and
the ears. Let your mind drift and
sly litle turns of phrase will go by
unnoticed, unheard of.

Stark is at his best when he ts
moving about on the stage, acting
out the stories. As anyone who has
ever been to a lecture or sermon
knows, it is visually (sometimes
spiritually) exhausting to have to
fix one’s eyes on a Jecturer whose
only moving body part is his
mouth. The show would not suffer
from more staging to make it a
more dramatic presentation.

A clearer rendition of accents
would also improve the show. It
was not clear why Stark chose to
alternate between a British and
American accent. And sometimes
they mutated half way through a
lecture. Which accent did Mr.
Leacock in fact have and did he
sometimes put one on (he certain-
ly put one over) during his lec-
tures?

Most of the lectures were charm-
ing and entertaining, and at the
beginning of some familiar tales a
little sigh would go up from the
audience as if to say, “Ah, this
one!’

The addition of a dippy social
club president to the show, dress-
ed in the flapper style of the era,

t
i
Redeem this coupon for ' Redeem this coupon for
i}
t
i
t

one free children’s meal

with any regular priced

adult neal at che North
Van Boston Pizza.

was a quaint touch, i not bur
lesque. Played by Lara Stark, this
Character intraduces Leacock with
a singular lack of preparedness as
“Mr. ub... Peacock!” and later
provides some limpid piano ac-
companiment.

Only one lecture was a real
stinker, one about Smith the Mu-
tant. Unfortunately it aloo seemed
to be the longest. A Tew of the au-
dience members were not only
sleeping, but asleep (as Leacock
might say) and a few were acting
as if their theatre seats were up-
holstered in brambles.

Thanks to a microphone on his
tie (a luxury I'm sure Leacock
never enjoyed in the 1920s), Stack
was easy to hear, Some of the
memorable lectures included My
Financial Career, in which a man
unceremoniously extricates
himself from an absurd misunder-
standing in the bank; a session
with a fussy photographer who in-
sists that Leacock’s face is all
wrong, despite Leacock’s inability
to remodel it; and he and his
wite’s capers constructing a fan-
tastic summer cottage out of
scavenged (and stolen} materials
tor the minor expenditure of
$4.90. It's allin the telling

One of the most gripping tales
was Buggam Grange, a classic
ghost stury told under an eerie
green spotlight in almost a
whisper. Leacock goes to a
haunted estate and meets face to
face with Horrod, the butler:
“His faded black clothes, once
apparently a butler’s dress, his
white hair and advanced age left
me in no doubt that he was Hor-
rod,” indeed.

It was a small but appreciative
audience on opening night and
everyone returned for the second
half. If you are a Stephen Leacock
fan you will probably like the
show. You will also enjoy it if you
appreciate a clever turn of phrase,
a ripping good yarn or a good
humorous jesting.

Stark should be commended for
breathing life into one of Canada’s
many interesting but neglected
Canadian personages.

Aaother Evening with Stephen
Leacock continues to Sept. 1 at the
Centennial Theatre in North Van-
couver, Phone 987-PLAY for in-
formation.

iJ

|

' Bring ina friend and when
' you buy one lunch feature
§ you'll get_a second lunch
§ fearure of equal or lesser
® value for free at the North
@ Van Boston Pizza.

This offer not valid with any other 8 his offer not valid with any other
promotional offer. Only one 8 promotional offer. Only one
coupon may be used at c time. § coupon may be used at a time.

Offer expires Aug. 31/90

a Offer expires Aug. 31/90

Wednesday, August 22, 1990 - North Shore News - 33

Join us for Jazz
every Sunday night
Featuring Four Play

Tonite through
Saturday August 25

Gull

Van.
SSASESESS

We've been cooking for 16 years! To thank
you, we’re repeating the special that has
helped make us so popular at a price you
haven’t seen for years!

Famous
Tiger Prawn
Special

vegetables and bread i 0

ro Sea Mates

ma Seafood Restaurant

998 Marine Dr., N. Vancouver 980-1 21 3

Ciosed Mon. Dinner Tues.-Sun. Lunch Tues.-Fri.

Broiled with or without