32 - Wednesday, October 23, 1991 — North Shore News

aE

North Shore

Presentation House Theatre:
Mystery of the Rose Bouquet. A
subtle and absorbing work by the
author of Kiss of the Spider
Woman, Manuel Puig. Stars North
Shore actor Sheila Paterson. Runs
to Oct. 26. Res.: 986-1351.

Steel Magnolias, Presented by
Theatre West Vancouver, directed
by Carolanne Fenz. Opens Oct.
29, runs to Nov. 9. Tues.-Sun. at 8
p.m., Saturday, 2 p.m. matinee.
Tickets: $10/8. $7 for matinee.
Res.: 986-1351.

Elsewhere

Vancouver Playhouse: A Moon
for the Misbegotten. Kathryn Shaw
directs this tale of unrequited love.
Stars Janet Wright and Robert
Metcalfe. Runs to Nov. 2 Tickets:
873-3311 or Ticketmaster.
Arts Club Theatre: The Club.
Musical that focuses on an ex-
clusive men’s club in the early
1900's. Shows: Mon./Tues. at 8
p.m.; Wed-Fri. at 8:30 p.m.: Sat.

~ at 6 and 9:30 p.m. To Oct. 19.
Res: 687-1644.
Revue Stage: A Closer Walk with

, Patsy Cline. A musical revue by

North Shore’s Dean Regan. -
Mon.-Fri. 8:30 p.m.; Sat. 6 and

Puig’s |
Mystery

closing
. THERE’S STILL time to catch
Presentation House’s pro-

duction of Mystery of the
Rose Bouquet.

By Barbara Slack
New Reporter -

This is the Vancouver premiere
of the Manuel Puig play and the
first of the season for Presentation
House.

The play concerns two women,
a nurse, played by Trish Allen, and
her “charge,”’ an acerbic, older
woman (played by Sheila Pater-
son} who is bedridden due to
depression about her grandson’‘s
death — and more, as the play
unfolds,

Puig, author of Kigs of the Spider
Woman, interweaves dreams and
reality, as aspects of: the two
women’s lives impinge on each
other, Both have suffered from
poor relationships with family, and
together — although not necessar-
ily consciously — they come to
forgive themselves and their
“tormentors.””

Allen and Paterson perform ad-
mirably with the material given
them, but Puig’s play seems to
drift dreamily along with no sense
of structure. Although the bedrid-
den woman gets a lion’s share of
caustic lines, this “friction’’ is no
substitute for action.

There is a mysterious, unresolv-
ed element to the character of the
nurse, ts she a sort of impostor,
which the bedridden woman
believes, or are her self-effacing
ways for real? The answer is both,
but Puig doesn’t quite pull off the
ambiguity.

The set for Mystery of the Rose
Bouquet is well-designed and
functional and works weli with the
lighting to convey the dream se-
quences and shifts in reality.

The play continues to Oct. 26.
Phone 986-1351 for tickets.

9:30 p.m.; Two for one: Man, 8:30
p.m.; Wed, matinee 5 p.m. Info:
687-1644,

Kitsilano Neighbourhood

House: Coconut Theatre Society is
sponsoring Widowers’ Houses,
directed by Martin Millerchip and
starring North Vancouver's Cavan
Cunningham, as part of the Pacific
Shaw Festival. Performances are
Oct. 23 and 25. Presented in rep-
ertory with The Millionairess,
Tickets $12/9 at door or by phon-

ing 876-4200.
Station Street Arts Centre: Good

News Week: A Nostalgic Look at
1991. David King’s new play takes
on the Gulf War, Quebec, Elvis,
Middle Eastern cuisine etc. Runs to
Oct. 26 at 8:30 p.m. Wed. matinee
2 p.m. Res.: 688-3312.

Studio 58: Nymph Errant. Cole
Porter's musical extravaganza
follows the madcap adventures of

a wide-eyed Englishwoman as she
romances her way across Europe.

Runs to Oct. 27. Tues.-Sat. at 8
p.m.; Sun. at 3 and 8 p.m. Res.:
324-5227,

The Waterfront Theatre: Out of
the Silence. Forum theatre with
the urban aboriginal community,
presented by Headlines Theatre.
Oct. 29-Nov. 9. Nightly at 8 p.m.
except Sundays. Tickets: $10/8.
Res.: 685-6217.

~~

Park Royal: Paradise, Dead
Again, Ernest Scared Stupid.
Esplanade 6: Or:her People’s
Money, Frankie and Johnny, The
Fisher King, Deceived, Necessary
Roughness, Shattered.

Park and Tilford: Shout, The

See more page 34

The Port of Vancouver is a great learning
resource, giving my students an excellent perspective
on how the world does business. Port activity helps me
demonstrate the principles of global trade, and offers
areal life example of what it takes to move Canada’s
exports and imports to market. Port-supplied classroom
materials, tours and the Public Viewing Centre at
Vanterm give students a hands-on opportunity to see
transportation at work in Canada’s busiest port.

Harvie Walker, Teacher, Britannia Secondary School

Port of Vancouver

Canada’s
Front Door on the Pacific.