K-W & Beyond

Shaw Festival 2008

Spring is cooler this year than usual, perennials gradually coming into bloom, but Niagara-on-the-Lake is ready for visitors. The gardens are meticulously done, the landscaping fully completed, the merchants ready with attractive wares and theatres welcoming the public. Five plays already opened, the rest will be opening in July.

An Inspector Calls by J.B.Priestley

Highly anticipated, An Inspector Calls just opened under the direction of Jim Mezon filling in for Neil Munro who had health problems.

An Inspector Calls is the most frequently staged play of J.B.Priestley, very skilfully constructed, full of suspense and unexpected turns. It is set in Europe just before the First World War in the well-off family setting of ambitious factory owner Arthur Birling (played by Peter Hutt, excellent performance) celebrating the engagement of his daughter Sheila (Moya O’Connell) to Gerald Croft, (Greaeme Somerville) a son of his friendly competitor. It is obviously another step up in the successful family history. As they happily look forward to the wedding, there is an unexpected call from Inspector Goole (Benedict Campbell) who has questions related to the suicide death of a young woman in the city infirmary. The plot thickens, as the Inspector implicates each and every member of the family in having made some decision which affected the victim and led to her suicide.

Priestley was a socialist, and the course of the events are presented both as individual careless incidental decisions as well as routine actions taking place in the society of that time: losing the job at the factory, being fired for perceived insolence, turning to prostitution, asking for charity help, finding herself pregnant and homeless. Everyone in the family somehow participated in it and is therefore responsible. The setting is sparse, the production traditional in its presentation of the social issues. The acting of Peter Hutt is specially worth mentioning; maybe the mysterious inspector could be more developed.

As I have personally been a long-term admirer of J.B.Priestley and his Time Plays I am hoping for more of his plays to be staged again. An Inspector Calls is a fine production, very much worth attending. It is running at Festival Theatre till November.

The Stepmother by Githa Sowerby

It is an unexpected jewel recently discovered by Jackie Maxwell dating back to the nineteen twenties period, staged only once in a private theatre club. It is surprising that it has not been shown since and was buried and forgotten. It is an excellent play, totally not about the usual subject of conflict between stepmother and stepchildren but rather concerning the status of a married woman in the society.

In the prologue of The Stepmother we learn that around the time of the first Mrs. Gaydon’s death, the governess of her two daughters, young Lois Relph (played by Claire Jullien) inherited a very substantial amount of money. Consequently she became an object of pursuit of the widowed father, Eustace Gaydon (Blair Williams) and eventually the stepmother to the girls. Lois Relph is very devoted to her stepdaughters, having a pure and honest understanding of her place and her duties: she genuinely loves her stepdaughters, cares for them, looks up to her husband and trusts him – as was common in that era – with all her inherited money signing a power of attorney to him. Over a 10 year period as she struggles to start a business she is absolutely unaware that Eustace Gaydon, a real piece of work, is wasting all of her inheritance and even mortgaging the house. Blair Williams is excellent in this role bringing gasps from the audience.

The costumes designed by William Schmuck based on fashion of Madeleine Vionnet bias cut dresses deserve noticing. Overall: it is a very good play, the North American premiere, hard to believe never staged publicly before, and more complex and thought provoking than expected. Ladies, do not sign power of attorney to your husbands!

It continues at the Court House till October.

The Little Foxes by Lillian Hellman

Another play about money: this time it is Southern USA family (what a wonderful southern accent they speak!) of two Hubbard brothers, their sister Regina (Laurie Paton) married to Horace Giddens (David Jansen), sister-in-law Birdie (Sharry Fleet) married to one of Hubbard brothers and their children. There is a business deal to be closed, money is needed and Regina’s husband in very poor health is not willing to provide any. The brothers get scheming; the next generation (Leo Hubbard played by Gray Powell) is involved in it, the greed and dishonesty being the family trait.

Some portrayals are specially worthy of praise: Birdie played by Sharry Fleet, a broken dreamy soul longing for the past days, Regina played by Laurie Paton, determined, heartless and greedy in the tradition of Bettie Davis and Elisabeth Taylor,

the Hubbard brothers, the mean Oscar (Peter Krantz) and the shamelessly greedy Ben (Ric Reid). David Jansen as Horace Giddens seems a bit young for his part, perhaps not as terminally sick as he is supposed to be.

As Eda Holmes, the director, says in her notes "Civil War had left the South with little political and social structure, and thus it was a perfect place for people with voracious desire to succeed to become rich". With little moral principles everything is attempted.

Little Foxes continues in Royal George Theatre till November.

The repair work on QEW around St.Catharines and the connections from Lincoln Alexander Expressway near Stoney Creek have been completed, it is an easy drive, the theatres and the town is waiting for you. Shaw Festival 2008 Guide can be obtained by calling Shaw Festival Box Office at 1-800-511-SHAW or through the website www.shawfest.com. The local Chamber of Commerce is very helpful in assisting with the reservations be it Bed & Breakfast or the local hotels. The telephone number is 1-888-619-5981 or www.niagaraonthelake.com.