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The dark at the foot of the stage

Stephen Park theatre graduate

It was the most chilling audition of his young acting career.

Stephen Park has become the third Doug- las College Theatre graduate in three years to be selected to attend the Na- tional Theatre School. Following in the footsteps of Patrick Gallagher and Derek Metz, 23-year-old Park says the news ful- fils "a dream that I’ve had for four years."

The prestigious Montreal school accepts less than 20 students annually from hun- dreds who audition. And while the selec- tion process is understandably nerve wracking for young performers, Park says his final audition offered insights into a

different kind of stage fright. It was a reminder that actors must reach inside themselves when playing even the most damned characters. In Park’s case, it came while portraying real-life English mass murderer John Reginald Christie in scenes from Howard Brenton’s Christie in Love.

"I selected ‘Christie’ because it’s crammed full of stark images and moments you could use as highlights," said Park. "But it’s a dark piece about an evil, evil man and playing that kind of role is not easy.

"I went to the library to do research and it’s surprising how many books they have on the criminally insane and sexual crimi- nals. I also watched things like Silence of the Lambs on video. I found that the per- sonality of someone like Christie is so dif- ferent that you can enter it only so far as an actor, especiallf a young one. You just want to come out of the experience with- out any scars."

While Park has explored the dark side, he has also played some lighter roles. He de- lighted audiences as Detective Justin Case at the College’s Murder Mystery Night and as the amorous neighbour in Secret Diary of Adrian Mole. Park became hooked on theatre while performing his own plays as a high school student in Burlington, Ont., and has serious aspirations of becoming a director. His most recent success has also provided a special

INside [Nformation

INside Douglas College is pub- lished the first Tuesday of every month by the Public Information Office.

Submissions are due Tuesday noon two weeks prior to publica- tion. Submissions on floppy disk in WordPerfect or ASCII format would be appreciated. Material may be edited for brevity and clarity.

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treat for retiring Theatre Instructor Dorothy Jones.

"I was very gratified because Douglas was the only college program that had two students at the National Theatre School, and now we have three," said Jones. "When I heard the news, I told Stephen I was very excited for him and for myself. It was a wonderful going away present." &

Moving right along at Thomas Haney Centre

More classes have been confirmed for fall at Thomas Haney Centre in Maple Ridge. The Commerce and Business De- partment is offering Accounting 110, Busi- ness 200 and 210, Computer Information Systems 110, and Economics 101 and 150. Developmental Studies (DYST) is of- fering courses in literacy, math, learning and study skills as well as practical writ- ing and research skills (DVST 100, 410, 441 and 450).

Staff at the Maple Ridge Campus are look- ing forward to moving into their new of- fices by September 4. The campus opens and classes begin after the Labour Day weekend on September 8.

An official opening ceremony is planned for the end of October. Watch for more details in INside.

Meanwhile, if you just can’t wait to see the Thomas Haney Centre, you can ar- range a tour by calling Pat Floyd, Douglas College Director at the Maple Ridge site— 467- 6811.4