Pickering College - Voyageur Yearbook (Newmarket, Ontario Canada)

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The title role was shared by Philip Nieukirk and Garry Price. The former played his part against the background of Fat Dutchy's bar, and did well in establishing Little John Sarto's initial hardnessg he followed carefully Mr. Price's development of the character in the monastery scenes, and struck a moving and consistent note in his death scene. A similar high point of acting was reached by Mr. Price in his prayer to the Virgin which had great audience appeal and balanced effectively his forthright handling of comedy lines else- where. David Rose 's portrayal of the bar-tender, Fat Dutchy, had steadiness and an assurance evident in voice and movement. The correct air of un- pleasant toughness Was given to the rival gangster, The Gimp, by Tom Van Royen, an air complemented by the nervous tension with which Bill Taylor im- bued Freckles, The Gimp's right-hand man. Brian Purdy's cocky Solomon and Alvin Davids cruel and stolid Dum-Dum, the liatchet-man made up the remainder of the gang. Liveliness and colour were given Dominic Battista by Simon Dew, Dominic was an excitable Italian whom Orchid persuaded to Using . Paul Haines, Brian Blackstock, and Donald Downs each achieved a distinctive characterization as brothers in the monastery under the guidance of Father Abbot, to whom Tom Connor gave great gentleness and dignity. The sets were designed and executed by Tom McCann, together with Nick Ayre, Phil Coupey, Paul Feldman, Harold Laur, John Puddifoot, and Bill Taylor, under the general direction of Mr. Frederick Hagan. The drabness of the Bar, with garish highlights, and the clean simplicity of the monastery, created the appropriate atmosphere. Credit is also due this group of technicians for lighting effects and properties, as well as for a highly organized stage- management necessary for frequent changes of scene in a very limited space. The play was under the direction of Mr. Stewart. march productions wo PLAYS WERE PREsEN'rEo IN NIARCH on a bill with the Glee Club produc- tion of Trial by Jury. Mr. Frisch broke new ground in offering The Madman on the Roof, a Japanese play by Kan Kikuchi. In the post-production words of Ralph Armstrong, who played the title role with disturbing conviction, The moral was that if a person is nuts leave him that way because all con- cerned will be happier ! The action of the play was the effort of a middle- class Japanese family to restore the older son of the house to sanity against the protests of his sympathetic younger brother, played with decision by Tom McCann. Charles Bateman portrayed at stately neighbour who was instrumental in introducing a priestcss to effect a cure. John Brownlee put this lady in and out of trances in startling fashion, matching voice to mood, and incorp- orating into his ritual dances healthy overtones of at North American Indian council ring. Larry NVillis was properly humble as the servant, and Skip Lamont created a worried mother somewhat bewildered by all the goings-on. Ninelcen

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ctivities TIII4: e.xs'l' Ixxn I'll0lll'l l'ION Ml-:N or' Brother Orclricl tho llrlunatic club N eoxsseriox wI'I'II Yisrroics' Div, the Club presented a revival of Leo Brady's lirnilzer Urclvifl, which had been previously presented at the School in 1942. This play lends itself admirably to the aspirations of the Dramatic fllubg its theme is deeply significant, involving' ideas of repentance, dedication, and sell'-sacrifieeg and these ideas are conveyed by highlv dramatic action per- liUI'Ill0lQl by l,'ilZll'ill'll'l'S whose interplay is richly comic. The play is about a ruthless gangster named Ilittle John Sarto who returns to his old haunts i'l'01ll ten years in prison to find that his throne has been usurped and that hc is slated to be taken for a ride . He escapes his would-be murderers and finds I-et'ug'e in the monastery of the Little Brothers of the Flowers who, as he puts it, do nothing but pray and herd posiesu. The Brothers show him a kindness and a wav of life which ne had never encountered before, and he begins his reg'eneration by cliangiiigg' his name to Brother Orchid. BI-otln-r Orchids language and graiigster gauclzierie contrast eornicallv with the gentle innocence of the brothers and their Father Abbotg but what Brother Orchid had sought as a mere hide-out becomes Inore important for hiIn than life itself, and when his former rival threatens the brothers' sole means of livelihood and charity, the erowiiig' and marketing' ol' flowers, he Qives his life to break up the gang' and save the monastery. Eighfeerz

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Of somewhat weightier substance was J. B. Priestley's Rose and Crown, produced by Mr. Clifton. The sombre mood of a handful of people in an English public house, who have no joy in life and eke out an existence in bicker- ing and complaint, is broken by the arrival of the optimistic Harry Tully, played with convincing good cheer by Mike Makowski. A stranger enters, who proves to be Death 's agent who must fill out his quota for the day by taking one of the group with him. The happy man who felt that his life had been worthwhile was the only one willing to accommodate Death. David McLeod 's characterization of Ma Peck was little short of brilliant, in mime and accent and mood, sometimes petulant, sometimes deeply understanding, sometimes, in desperation, aggressively strong. Her butts were the stolid and grumpy Mr. Stone, played by Larry Mchlulleng the somewhat pathetic Randle couple, played by Gordon VVillson and, in a valiant fill-in made necessary by Hugh Marshall's illness, the directorg and Mrs. Reed, a life-embittered widow skilfully created by Bill Little, Hartli Enerson played the mysterious Stranger with an air of wisdom and authority well-suited to the Organization for which he worked. Mr, f7lifton's meticulous direction showed great insight into char- acter and theme, and his actors' response must have been most rewarding. Between these two plays, Arthur Cuthbert read Earle Birney David with much insight and emotional projection. B1cI,ow: Scenes from The Jlurluion on the Roof and Rose and Crown