Bid.

 

 

Dead and forgotten, the story of Imperfect
Douglas cast takes a look into local history

about. They were the weak, the
handicapped, the unwanted and the
exiled. They were imperfect.

From the 1920s until the late
1950s, Woodlands School for the
mentally handicapped served as a
home and a final resting place for all of
society’s outcasts. Parents who could
not look after their children relied on
this institution on the outskirts of town
to care for, feed, dress and teach their
offspring.

But Woodlands was far from
productive with its “inmates.” Children
suffered sexual and physical abuse at
the hands of the staff members and
stories and rumours began to surface.
The mentally handicapped became
sicker and their condition often took a
downhill nosedive until the end of their
lives. Woodlands was not a place to get
better, but often, it would be a place to
look after the imperfect until they died
a quiet and unnoticed death. In 1976,
after the completion of Queens Park
Hospital, the Woodlands cemetery had
each headstone removed and thus, the
once final resting place was turned into

I: 1976, 3065 people were forgotten

a mass grave for its 3065 members.

Society is often measured by our
strengths and our weaknesses. This is
the latter; we’ve forgotten out history
and with it, many human lives.

Imperfect, put on by Douglas’
theatre program, ran from March
20-28" and for the first time, brought
life to a dark part of New Westminster’s
history. A collaboration between many
Douglas faculty members, Imperfect
was written by former creative writing
chair Mary Burns, and directed by
theatre coordinator Allan Lysell. With
music written by composition instructor
Doug Smith and sets built by the

 

stagecraft department, it truly was a
100 per cent Douglas College effort to
get this play up and running.

While sometimes slow and long
drawn out, the play itself was enjoyable
for such a dismal topic. Cast members
often doubled or tripled roles, shifting
characters at ease. Most notably was
Scott Button, who played both a Down
syndrome patient and the subconscious
of a patient. Tirra Dent played a
spasming “inmate,” a parent and a
lawyer consulting the case.

Tom Stevens has multiple roles
as a parent and a fresh-out-of-school
nurse learning how to care for the

 

imperfect. The nursing staff consisted
of Diva Gould, Callie Wallace, James
Forrester, Christine Bortolin and
Melanie Reich who had great chemistry
as the inner workings of the Woodlands
Society. Kimmie Kidd and Kelsey
Wood did fantastic jobs as the mentally
unable as did Sarah Gawthrop, Jordan
McChesney and Corey Horton.

In total, this was an ensemble
effort and each cast member had their
characters’ interactions beautifully
memorized with excellent chemistry
that kept the play afloat. Changes
between characters were done
effortlessly proving that talent flows
through the halls of Douglas College.

The Woodlands School stood for
another 50 years before being burned
to the ground by teenagers or squatters.
While only the land and a small portion
of the building remain, the memory is
still present in every citizen of New
Westminster. Next time you take a
drive down McBride Boulevard, take
a stop by the Woodlands memorial
garden to pay a visit to the 3000
forgotten members of our society who
are now forever laid to rest.

 

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly By Jay Schreiber

 

LIVE IN

LEONARD COHEN
IVE IN LONDON

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Good

Leonard Cohen is still in top form as he
releases his new album Live in London to
accompany his world tour (including a stop
in Vancouver) and proves that the Canadian
great still has what it takes as a musician.
The legendary songwriter has had a long
career since the mid 1960s, performing with
only an acoustic guitar and later adding

a tight-knit rhythm section. Cohen is 74

and still regarded as one of Canada’s top
musical exports

Jane’s Addiction are releasing a B-sides
collection entitled Cabinet of Curiosities.
Jane’s Addiction, who got their name

from one of their groupies’ drug habit, are
headlining Lollapalooza later this year.
Another name on the list of great Canadians,
Neil Young, has a new release, Fork in the
Road, and still sounds like a woman.

 

 

The Bad

 

Metrosexual counterpart to Michael
Jackson, Prince, is releasing a new Target-
exclusive album entitled LOtUSFLOW3R/
MPLSoUND. While the little dude in Purple
has made a career out of lawsuits, weird
names and being spoken for by Beyonce,
his new album is more of the same outdated
music that was popular for a week in the 80s
that nobody cares to remember.

Bow Wow’s latest album New Jack City IT is
a bit too much for anyone to handle. I don’t
know where New Jack City is, and quite
frankly, I’d be damned if they had a sequel.
It was kind of cute when you were Lil’

Bow Wow, but now that you’ve grown up,
your career has gone right down the shitter.
This New Jack City obviously only has a
population of one.

Rascal Flatts have a new album out. Anyone
care? No?

 

 

The Ugly

Recently, Method Man’s Lincoln Navigator
was repossessed by the IRA over $50,000

in unpaid taxes. As an excuse, Method Man
blamed it on his excessive marijuana use, and
openly admits to his stupidity. In the words of
Afroman, “I was going to pay my taxes, but
then I got high...”

Rap star T.I. will serve a year and a day in
prison over charges to buy machine guns

and ammo out of a parking lot, and was
busted by undercover police officers. Having
already been put under house arrest for
violating probation, it was only a matter of
time until the rapper was put away in the big
house. In his defense, he said “I am a man of
integrity, I’m a man of morals, of standards, of
Green Day has made a deal to turn their
2004 album American Idiot into a stage play.
The pop-punk outfit from Berkley is citing
influences such as the Who’s Tommy for
turning this album into a performance. Five
years later and they’re still using the same
material? 15-year-old girls everywhere are
screaming wildly.

 

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