Pickering College - Voyageur Yearbook (Newmarket, Ontario Canada)

Page 26 text:

7 u .1 ' i. eng, A rpa, HQ l .-5 ami? a 3f't'f:l QB? GLEE CLUB- lolanthe This year's Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, presented by the Pickering College Glee Club, Iolanthe, carried us into the mythical realm of fairies and gave us a glimpse of their relations with the inhabitants of the human world. Primarily, as might be expected, it was a story of romance between these fantastic creatures and their human friends carried on in defiance of a strict law which forbade such relations. The penalty for this heinous crime was banishment to a place of utter darkness. Such a prohibition only makes love more sweet and more tempting and, alas, often more tragic in its consequences. Indeed, one fairy in this story, Iolanthe, was so intemperate as to have a child who grew up to be half man and half mortal. This situation is increasingly complicated by the fact that this half man, Strephon, is in Twenty-two 2 I t '1'v

Page 25 text:

Caesaris friend, and Marcus Brutus, another noble Roman who is also a friend of Caesar's, but who disapproves of Caesar's political ambitions. Brutus wants to save the pristine purity of the Republic which, however, was already shattered. Andy Newbery was a very dynamic and vital Anthony. This was particularly true of his great scene in the second act where he delivered the famous speech at Caesar's funeral by which he was able to sway the fickle mob to regard Caesar as their true friend and benefactor after Brutus had attempted to justify the plot. Newbery deftly portrayed the change in Anthony's character from the playboy and hero-worshipper to the shrewd, astute politician. It was an extremely fine piece of acting which will be long remembered. Marcus Brutus is really the tragic figure in the play. He was a Roman of noble birth and possessed of high ideals but who was gradually persuaded to join the conspirators by the clever rationalizations of the sly Cassius. Peter Stephens was able to show the tortuous mental debate Brutus went through before agreeing to the plan. But once having joined it, he led it to its conclusion with a singleness of purpose. Sometimes Stephens was slightly wooden on stage, not quite as flexible as he should have been. His diction was very clear and precise, as was that of the entire cast. He did fulfil the role very well. The role of Cassius calls for its player to be sly, secretive, persuasive and silver-tongued . He was a born plotter. It is difficult to judge Robert Grande's performance. One is bound to have a mixed reaction to it. He definitely was able to present a character of this type and yet, at times, he did seem to overplay his role. Nonetheless, his was an interesting piece of acting. Obviously he has talent but perhaps it needs more discipline to tone down his somewhat boisterous approach. Another of the conspirators was Casca, a flippant, cynical youth, who appears to be bored and indifferent to life but who, in reality, is passionately concerned about it. Allan Birmingham was excellent in this role, giving us a cool, hard-crusted, deliberative man. The feminine roles in this play are limited to the wives of Caesar and Brutus. Mary Baltutis played the role of Calpurnia, Caesar's wife, very well. Arlene Lund- gren as Portia, the wife of Brutus, also did a fine piece of acting. Her voice has a low, melodious quality which was charming to hear on stage. As always there were too many players to be given individual consideration but David James, Ross Dann, Ross Nodge, Doug Acheson, Larry Lentz, Peter Grant, Tom Bustinduy, and a host of others all helped the smooth flow of the presentation. Special mention should be made of the mob scenes which are so vital to this play. They were extremely well handled and gave contemporary atmosphere to the whole production. On the technical side one should give notice to the beautiful costumes which did much to add reality to the play. David Newcome and Les Snider did an excel- lent job with the lighting which was very effective, especially the thunder storm. The latter was very authentic. Mr. Bruce Lundgren is to be congratulated on his debut as a director on such a line performance from his group. -Judson D. Purdy. Twenty-one

Page 27 text:

LN-i 9'f love with a woman, Phyllis, who is a ward of the Lord Chancellor. Moreover, her hand is sought by two noble lords and even by the great Lord Chancellor himself. But as usual with Gilbert and Sullivan, this tangled state of affairs is unravelled and all the lovers are united in a suitable arrangement as the entire company adjoums to fairyland for a blissful life ever after . As in all Gilbert and Sullivan operettas there are a number of leading roles which must be filled by competent singers and actors. It is no exaggeration to state this year's show displayed some of the finest talent ever seen on the stage of Pick- ering College. From the opening scene of the fairy dance we were impressed and thrilled with the quality exhibited by all the actors and, hence, throughout the evening we were granted a delightful and exciting performance. Altogether there was too much fairy dancing in the opening scene, actually, it almost turned one against the entire show. Nevertheless, this activity immediately infused a necessary nOtC of gaiety and light heartedness into the production while the three leading fairies CHenny Iburg, Carol Smith, and Susan Sproulel each dramatized this important ingredient in their scene. Elizabeth Beer, an old hand at ' u - K il aw yin f' sa I ' m , J g 'f Q dare ' G t i lu l X3 4 531. Twenty-three