The Funny Pages:
laughs to the left,
laughs to the right

What happens when mainstream
conservatism goes crazy?

That’s the question posed in The
Funny Pages, the mainstage production
by Douglas College Theatre and
Stagecraft departments, set to premiere at
the Performing Arts Theatre, New
Westminster Campus, March 14.

BC playwright Frank Moher says he
enjoyed updating his late-80s play Prairie
Report for a new audience. “It caused
quite a sensation when it was produced in
Alberta,” he says.

Poking fun at media colleagues comes
fairly easily to Moher, who spent a
number of years as editor of Alberta
Report. He now lives on Gabriola Island,
writing on Western Canadian themes for
Saturday Night and other magazines.

This version of the play focuses on the
corporate takeover of a small conservative
BC magazine. The corporation doing the
taking is based in the east, but Moher
denies he’s spreading an anti-Ontario
message.

“It’s a comedy about corporations and
institutions and the media, and the people
involved,” he says. “It’s like a sitcom.”

Visiting Director Robert Metcalfe
agrees. “The characters in this play
are so outrageous and well-

rounded that when they are forced to
examine their own lives, you realize that
they’re all hypocrites, no matter what their
outlook.”

The complexity of Moher’s characters
has posed an excellent challenge for the
Theatre students in the play, as has its
sharp political content.

The cast has had to pay close attention
to current issues, particularly the rise of
right-wing politics and the increasingly
powerful role of the media.

Metcalfe, who directed Village of
Idiots at Douglas College last year, has
also found the play to be a challenging but
rewarding experience.

“Its been fascinating to watch this play
develop,” he explains. “The more the
actors delve into the issues in the script,
the funnier it gets,” he says.

The Funny Pages can be seen in the
Performing Arts Theatre March 14-22 (no
shows Mondays). Tuesday’s performance
is 2-for-1; Saturday matinee at 2 pm,
evenings at 8 pm.

 

Tickets are $5 for students and seniors,
$10 general admission. For more
information and reservations, call the
Theatre Box Office at 527-5488.