Other Press

February 26, 1990

Women in View

 

by Louise Richardson

Dynamic Diversity best sum-
marizes the seven varied perfor-
mances I saw on Saturday,
February 3, at the Women In View
Festival. The multiple genres and
venues offered twenty-seven pos-
sible viewing choices on Saturday
alone. The three day festival gave
everyone a chance to see a favorite
performer and many new and inter-
esting works.

Inside Saint James’ Church,
the setting sun bathed the first per-
formers in a soft glow, adding a
slightly hushed mood to the "Eight
Facets of Womanspirit," an offer-
ing of poetry interspersed by organ
music. Thoroughly enjoyed was
the introductory drums. Also, the
flute, English horn and trumpet,
possibly because each of these in-
struments was so alive and
stimulating. Disappointingly, the
organ and poetry lent themselves
too well to the church atmosphere
and melded into past patriacial and

religious experiences. The

 

speaker, while very polished and
poised, continually spoke and
looked above our heads, hardly ac-
knowledging our presence. We
watched but did not relate very well
to the context directed beyond.
"ellemental sectrets" roused us
completely with its sometimes
bawdy humour, very effective be-
cause it poked fun at all aspects of
men, women and relationships.
Nothing was sacred as all the ele-
ments of creation, up to and includ-
ing modern womanhood, were
demystified with laughter. This
secular performance involved and
connected well with the audience.
Lee Saunders, from Montreal,
must be congratulated for her
dramatic representation of the
major events in a woman’s life,
titled, "The Great Push Pull." In-
tamacy was the subject matter, and
intamacy with the audience was
also powerful. The theatre could
hardly contain the tension
prompted by this combination of
dance, movement and voice. The

stark contrast between the spot-
lighted woman in white surrounded
by the dark stage established nearly
hypaotic fascination and created an
atmOsphere of heightened senses
whieh were then manipulated by
her haunted, eerie cries and
screams. Introduced to budded in-
nocence, blossomed sexuality, in-
ter@purse, pregnancy and old
womian in turn, she challenged us to
identify, and we did--unforgetable!

The next three performances
of “Four on the Floor" were fas-
cinafing as well. Each individual
theme offered another artistic inter-
prefation, using unique music;
body movement and dances
vibfantly portraying emotions from
exuberance to constrictionfirage:to
despair.

The final performanee forthe.
dayjand a sold out oné) was’ Moon
Lodge." We were immediately cap~
tivated by a Native storytellerof the
highest degree, Margo Kane, Her
language was simple, deceptively
so, as her intimate conversational
ton touched us all. She presented,

vith song, dance and boundless

Time To Kill

Written by Leslie Darbon

Vagabond Players Theatre,
Queens Park, New Westminster.

by Christine Heal

What is justice? Through a
bizarre and suspenseful murder
trial, the characters of "Time to
Kill" portray their definition of jus-
tice.

Vagabond Players Theatre
presents Leslie Darbon’s British
"urban shocker," directed by the
well-known Dale Kelly, in which
four contriving housewives decide
to pursue "justice" where the law
has failed. The intricately or-
ganized trial centres around the
death of Rosemary Mancini, for
which a local gigolo, Alan Sexton

_(Ben Odberg), is being tried.

The "ring leader" is Maggie
Parkes (Isabel Mendenhall), a
somewhat mad yet devious
housewife who acts as prosecuting
lawyer. Her husband Don (Martin
Shepherd) is a business-concerned
career man oblivious to his wife’s
scheming. The "court’s" impartial
judge is played by the sinister Jane
Abbott (Ginette St. Denis). "Dizzy
Lizzy" (Debbie Tom) is the
epitome of a vain, stereotyped
"pirdbrain" whose appointment to
court clerk is both comical and ex-
asperating. Helen Francis’s (Hilary
Newman) tightly pulled back hair,
worried manner and generally
reserved actions act as a contrast to
the other extroverted characters.

Alan realizes that this mock
trial is for real , and subdues his
cockiness in a desperate attempt to
defend himself. The women’s
relationships toward Alan are ex-
posed as the trial progresses and the

energy, a common bond between
herNative: Indian-experience and
our mostly -whitecone, Sometimes
sad, sOme@times humourotis;. Kane
left us encouraged.rather:than/guil-
ty, hopeful rather than ignorant and
full of admiration for hér and her
history, includifig»what.she ‘¢con-
tributes today,

The Women In View:Festival,
in just its second year, has already
proven to be of exceptional’quality,
richly divefse- and“ socialty sig-
nificant an.alternative theatre ex-
perience not to be misséd‘next Year,
by anyone-who still: has excitement
and hope for the future:

seriousness of their plan for "jus-
tice" is revealed.

The plot is too full of action to
be realistic, but makes a fantastic
storyline for theatre. One patron
commented it was “suspenseful
and gripping," keeping the
audience trying to analyze the char-
acters and determine the outcome.
The characters are extremely
typecast: the four housewives who
have nothing constructive to do, the
chauvenistic breadwinning hus-
band, the simple-minded vain Liz,
the conceited gigolo. As this was
Opening Night, there were some
technical problems and a few of the
Seniors had some difficulty hearing
the characters, but the producer
corrected this during the intermis-
sion. Ben was recuperating from a
near case of laringitis, yet no one
seemed to notice him straining his
voice.

Vagabond’s is a small theatre
(177 seats) located in Queen’s Park
(entrance at Third Avenue and First
Street), New West., with a friendly
hometown atmosphere, but big-
city quality performances. If
you’ve never experienced live
theatre, this is a great time to make
your debut! Ticket prices are very
reasonable: $9 for adults, $8 for
students, and $7 for Seniors, with

$1 off each ticket on Wednesdays |

and Thursdays.

"Time to Kill" is being performed
February 16 to March 10, Wed-
nesdays to Saturdays, at 8pm.
Seating is on a "first come, first
serve” basis. Tickets are pur-
chased at the door, but you can
ensure a seat by leaving a message
on the 24h reservation line at 521-
0412.