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Dancing away my younger days
A fantastic Douglas College production of ‘Dancing at Lughnasa’

By Angela Espinoza, Arts Editor

‘s the theatre dimmed over the
audience, a single light shone

down on the set. Our stars
stood silently in place, while Michael

P*

fore ef

 

Mundy (Joshua Martin) stepped into
the light, reminiscing over one faithful
summer in Ireland, 1936. Things
seemed much simpler to Michael, who
was then only seven, but as he—and
the audience—learn over time, the lives
of the five Mundy sisters were anything
but.

In Dancing at Lughnasa, La
Lughnasa—an annual festival —is
taking place once again. As the Mundy

returned from a missionary retreat

in Africa, consistently obsesses over
their ceremonies and rituals, having
since left his Christian beliefs behind.
Putting further stress on the family is
the women’s understanding that both
work and men are equally hard to come
by—even with the return of Michael’s
father (through Chris), Gerry Evans
(Jake Gillespie), who has not been seen
in over a year. Over the course of that

“Over the course of that particular summer, difficult truths and
circumstances are placed upon these poor five women, some of
whom pull through, and some of whom do not.”

sisters—Chris (Emily Zaporozan),
Rose (Shawnali Ogle), Kate (Larissa
Sampson), Agnes (Alexa Carriere) and
Maggie (Claire Pollock) —now in their
mid-20s to late-30s, go about their daily
routines, they recall how much fun they
used to have at La Lughnasa. When
their wireless set manages to work,

the women excitedly frolic around,

as they would have back in the day.
However, Kate puts it upon herself to
keep the family together in a traditional
state—something tested by her

sisters’ girlish antics, and Father Jack
(Joshua Milad), with whom they are
staying. Father Jack, who has recently

particular summer, difficult truths and
circumstances are placed upon these
poor five women, some of whom pull
through, and some of whom do not.
Right away, the sheer effort
put into this play can be seen in the
set alone. The cast—with the aid of
interchanging lights— moves and, of
course, dances from their cozy kitchen
to the yard outside. The Mundy sisters
are portrayed exceptionally by their
respective actresses. Each of these
young women brings something
special to the table, whether they’ re
enthusiastically breaking out into
song and dance (with or without their

wireless radio) or have come to a
crippling realization.

As for the men, Milad and
Gillespie are fantastic, as Father Jack
and Gerry are secured as opposites;
Father Jack is a lovable elder, cane and
all, who is frankly dying of malaria
when we meet him, and Gerry, whose
intent remains somewhat unclear
throughout, leaps, sways and shimmies
every chance he gets. Then there is
Michael, who provides commentary
throughout the play, appearing as both
the now mature narrator, having since
escaped his dreary life, and as the
clever boy he once was (in spirit).

All in all, an excellent presentation
was put on by these Douglas College
Theatre and Stagecraft students.
Dancing at Lughnasa will continue
playing throughout this week, and I
highly recommend to go check it out.

What: Dancing at Lughnasa (presented
by the Theatre and Stagecraft
Departments)

Where: Douglas College, New West
campus, Rm. 4140

When: November 4-12 @ 7:30

p.m. (Noon and 2 p.m. matinees on
respective dates)

Cost: Students, Seniors and Matinees—
$8; General Admission—$12

 

Stratum verbatim

An interview with artist Teressa L. Bernard

By Dylan Hackett, Staff Writer

he Amelia Douglas Gallery is
[essay home to, from now

until December 16, the Stratum
Art Gallery. The Gallery features the
acrylic and watercolour works of
Teressa L. Bernard, along with a set
of sculpted pieces by Nancy Brignall.
The opening reception took place on
Thursday, November 3 and was met .
with enthusiastic pondering of the
works displayed, sips of red wine, and
soft piano music providing a backdrop
to the late afternoon opening reception.

I had a chance to chat with Teressa

regarding herself and the works on
display.

Of the works featured in the gallery
here, did you have a particular

. favourite?

I do. I like “Strata,” the
centrepiece, the larger one. I like that
I had a concept and it evolved exactly
as I wanted it to. It wasn’t a chore.
Painting can be a chore.

How long, on average, does it
usually take to finish a work of that
magnitude?

That one took me two days
of labour, and many hours of °
contemplation. I’ve been doing some

6

work on my computer, as far as

digital artwork and so manipulating
photographs, drawings, and things that
I’ve already done and coming up with
new concepts. The paintings don’t turn
out exactly like the digital art, but it’s
inspirational to me to do something and
be inspired by it. So it has the hours of
work I put in on the digital component
and the actual labour of it coming
together, and it came together in a way
that made me happy.

So it’s a joint process? You use the
digital to imagine?

I have in some of my new acrylic
large paintings and one small one:
the little “Blue Tulip” over there was
a digital image that I created. Then
I painted it; I made a painting of it.
Once again, I made six different digital
images based on those shapes with the
different colours and everything and
I chose that one to follow and still it
doesn’t look like the digital image. If
it did, I’d be unhappy! Every time I
create something it turns out different.

Different from the canvas in your
mind?
Yes, yes, exactly.

~ How did the gallery here come about?

I heard through a friend. She’s

sitting behind you (laughs). They had a
call-out for artists to show in a gallery,
then I had to put a portfolio together
and a proposal of what the show might
be like, and I came to them and they
selected me! It was very exciting!

And you’re an art instructor
yourself?

Yes I am. I teach classes in the
Lower Mainland and all over BC,
and workshops too. I have.a website
so I usually get the contacts for the
workshop through [there]. They see my
work and like it well enough to start

_ aconversation with me about coming

up. I’ve been to many places, like
Fort St. John, Quesnel, Prince Rupert,
Kamloops, Nanaimo, Salt Spring
Island—I’ ve just been everywhere,
like all over! Other places as well, but
mostly.in BC.

Do you have a favourite acrylic piece
that you’ve done over your career?

No, I don’t. I get a favourite, then I

move on to another favourite!

How do you feel about the general
state of arts in the city at the
moment?

I’m a little bit ambiguous. I just
came back from New York; I went on
a gallery trip in January and it really

opened my eyes to the variety of art
that we don’t have. Not that it’s not
here, but people don’t accept it like
they would over there. In my art, when
I did a lot of these pieces, I knew that
it would appeal to the masses, but it’s
where my heart is so I wanted to just
display something nice!

You can find the piece of the
gallery’s namesake, “Strata,” up on the
fourth floor of the New Westminster
campus, along with the rest of Teressa
and Nancy’s work, until December 16.

Teressa L. Bernard