Appleby College - Argus Yearbook (Oakville, Ontario Canada)

Page 95 text:

actor is one of the most infectious things in a theatrical per- formance. It was gladdening to see, in the light of these good performances, a more-than-competent sup- porting cast. Where in many productions the stage belongs to just one or two actors who then shine even brighter in contrast to the flawed portrayals of whomever can be found to fill in the other roles, the students in the less important parts supported the show confidently and ef- fectively. One of the best of these actors turned out to be Frank Merrill, playing the self- important, self-made Lord Green. The success of Merrill ' s characterization is even more striking when one recognizes that Lord Green doesn ' t crack a smile in the whole play - and when have you seen a smile ABSENT from Frank ' s face for more than a few seconds? Andrew Newell was very good in his short ap- pearance, as was Doug Campbell in his longer one. Touches were added that contributed to the finish of the play; the constant interplay between the three committee members and their secretary Miss Hills, played by Catriona Wilson, and the sim- plicity and winning honesty of the jockey played by Nigel Day and of the trainer played by Paul Manifould: all these were sup- plementary effects that produced the final polish of the show. Apart from difficulty in hearing parts of the dialogue - a problem caused by moving onto the stage of the Oakville Centre without knowing it well enough - and the urmecessary and exaggerated banality of the attachment bet- ween Captain Trevor Jones and Lady Ursula Itchin, the audience ' s evening was entirely pleasurable and, at times, hilarious. One hopes that this standard and this feeling of ease and confidence on the stage, will continue in future productions. Mr. Snowden

Page 94 text:

The Jockey Club Stakes The performance of the Jockey Club Stakes was one of the most poised productions mounted by the school. For anyone familiar with previous shows, the evening was crowTied with the awareness that here was a group of actors that had some sense of itself - of its ovkTi capabilities and of the potential for drama in a scene, in a piece of dialogue, or even in a single line. Their timing was good, and their gestures were economical, devoid of the ten- dency to fidget which is the bane of schoolboy acting. The night on which I attended the play - the last one - one had the impression that the audience, with its usual predisposition to indulge the weaknesses of high school drama, found itself quite ambushed by the effectiveness of the acting and their ovm subsequent pleasure from the performance. The brunt of the action had to be carried by the three central characters: the Marquis played by Alasdair Halliday. Lord Coverley played by Charles Stacey. and Colonel Sir Robert Richardson played by Graham Leggat. During the whole play these characters are off stage for a few minutes only, but never did one have the impression that any of them wanted to be anywhere other than on the stage. These three are veteran actors on the Appleby stage, and it was for each of them the best per- formance I have seen. They have all learned a good deal in the past two or three years, an advance which showed itself most strongly in the subtlety that they drew from characters that were rather typical. Finally, there was that awareness that these actors were enjoying themselves - not because they were natural hams, but because they enjoyed acting well. This pleasure on the part of the

Page 96 text:

The Pirates of Penzance This year ' s operatic production was one which was enjoyed by actors and audience ahke. It combined a mixture of Uvely comedy with excellent orchestral and singing talent. The production played on three consecutive nights and attained a quality of professionalism which we have come to expect and appreciate at Appleby. The final night proved to be an ac- cum ulation of excellence, but this is not to say that the first two nights were below par; rather, in a production of this nature, the actors are invigorated on the final night, because it is the last chance they will have to perform. The plot, as typical of Gilbert and Sullivan, was simple yet in many places provided very humorous situations. One such situation involved the police hiding from the threatening pirates in the ruins of a chapel.