Other Press

Looking for a Change

It's a simple set and a small cast;
four chairs, two mothers and two sons.
There is really no place to run and hide.

It's that kind of up-front attitude
in Peter Gill’s Small Change that
attracted director Catherine Caines
when she was seeking the next
production for Douglas College's Studio
Theatre.

Set in working-class England, Small
Change stretches from the post-war 40s
to the late 1960s. In that time, it probes
the relationships between sons and
mothers as well as the children’s slow,
inevitable march into adulthood.

“This is the kind of play I most
enjoy, in which the actor is the centre
of the event,'“Says Caines. “There is one
set with four chairs so it’s up to the
actors to create the environments with
their words.”

The environments created weave
back and forth through time. We find
out about the Harte and Driscoll families
through free-flowing monologues and
dialogues that appear with the

“TS
ge

Small Change

randomness of our own thoughts and
memories. Those memories shift from
ones of poverty and despair to others of
love, humour and hope.

“The work functions like one
man’s memory, it’s like a series of verbal
photographs,” offers Caines. “It gives the
students the chance to work on a
wonderful script and allows the
audience a chance to feel instead of just

   

(L-R) Tyler Page, Lorraine Wilson, Daniela Viaskalic, Bryn Williams in

think.”

Small Change runs with 8 pm
performances on April 8, 9 and 12-16
as well as two-for-one 2 pm matinees
on April 10 and 16.

Performances are in Room 4140
of the New Westminster campus of
Douglas College, at 700 Royal Avenue.
Tickets are $8, and $5 for students and
seniors; call 527-5488 for information.

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pril 8, 1994