Pickering College - Voyageur Yearbook (Newmarket, Ontario Canada)

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Spring Festival The major event of the theatrical calendar at Pickering College is the Spring Festival of plays which was presented on May 13 in the new audito- rium. As always the plays were presented by the students of grades 7,8,9, and 10, each group giving us a different performance. The eager and highly sophisticated audience were again treated to a display of unexcelled acting ability which one now traditionally associates with this series of plays. The scene of the Grade VII play, 'tThey Do Not Discriminaten, was located in afieldin Scotland during the grim and fateful days of World War II. A bomb has fallen into a farmer's field and lies there unexploded. Two groups of young boys, oblivious of the danger residing in the weapon, vie for possession of this trophy thereby presenting us with a shocking pic- ture of man's fondness for war and its destructive toys . Unfortunately thelines were not always spoken loudly enough and so we lost much of the idea ofthe play. Atthe end, the field and the bomb are left to one youngster, Garry Phelan, who sits astride the weapon gently talking to it. Amelodramatic thriller by the famous writer A.A. Milne, entitled The Man in the Bowler Hat , was the offering of Grade VIII. This piece had some very good acting talent, especially the performances of Ricky Wellbanks and Ted Richardson. Wellbanks, as the wife, Mary, was marvellous on stage. He was relaxed and calm and his voice was always clear with the right amount of inflection and note of emotion. Ted Richardson was very dramatic as the oily, sly, terrifying villain. His costume, particularly the falling mustache, certainly suited the part and added the right touch of evil and romanticism. Ron Farber was good as the stolid, brave but slightly timorous husband. Have you ever seen a more dashing hero than Jesse Greenblatt or a more beautiful heroine than Peter Deverell? I have not and I am sure no one else has either. Peter Hopkins was the mysterious man in the bowler hat. This play was a first rate piece of work. A slice of the conventional commonplace type American family life was the subject of Thornton Wilder's play The Happy Journey as pre- sented by Grade IX. This happy group has decided to take a trip to the home ofthe oldestdaughter who lives in Camden, New Jersey. The obvious leader of the expedition was the overbearing and constantly talking matri- arch, as played by CraigSpafford. Spafford has a good voice and enunciates clearly but he needs to learn to vary his tone more and to put more emotion into his part. Otherwise he certainly portrayed the ordinariness of the American housewife in an excellent manner. She was completely in charge of the entire mission and, at the same time, was able to alienate her son fMike Maclntoshj and henpeck her husband, fGeorge Cleggj. Pat Carmony was very sweet as the younger daughter, Caroline. The final destination ofthe travelling band was reached when they came to the Camden residence of the older daughter, Beulah, played in striking fashion by Ralph Brodie. Has there ever been amore exciting lady on the stage of Pickering College? He for shej quite literally brought the house down and ended the play on a note of gaiety and humour. Many minor parts were taken by the flamboyant stage manager, Bruce Austin, who was appropriately attired for his signifi- cant role although he obviously has not learned how to handle a cigaret holder. Twerzlyafzif

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The high-spirited band of students whose voices were always strong and very masculine fincluding that of the Kingston Golden Thrushj was lead by Rory McDiarmid as Detleff, Allan Earle as von Asterberg, and Roy Simons as Lucas. McDiarmid was a wonderful surprise to this listener: his excellent tenor voice constantly came through in a strong tone and was asheer delight to hear. We hope he will appear often in future productions. The boys chorus openly enjoyed the rousing drinking song, Drink, Drink . They approached it like veterans. The sometimes-shrill girls chorus was not quite as strong as the boys, but added charm to the production. The students' sweetheartfand surely everyones' by the end of the even- ingjwas the sweet barmaid Kathie. The students chose her as their queen of the Spring Festival and, naturally, Prince Karl Franz fell madly and quite vigorously in love with her. Carol Smith was a marvellous choice as Kathie. She was the epitome of sweetness and easily captivated the audi- ence with her lovely soprano voice and natural manner upon stage. As with the prince she was ideally suited to the part. Their duets were absolute triumphs of romantic grandeur. Miss Smith is to be heartily congratulated for a wonderful effort. The buffoon in the story is the prince's attendant Lutz. This comic role was filled by Bob Grande, who handled it in the professional and polished acting manner which we now associate with all of his perform- ances on the school's stage. Grande displayed the right amount of discip- line necessary for a comic role without over-acting it or being a ham. As a result, he added a great deal to the enjoyment of the performance of the play. Another seasoned actor was Peter Stephens, who played Lutz' atten- dant, Hubert. Stephens was very good as the wooden, rather dumb, constantly obedient servant until he became the husband of the slightly flippant ser- vant girl, Gretchen, Qentertainingly played by Susan Sproulej. He was able to inflect his voice and bulge his eyes in an appropriate manner that gave him a stunned appearance. With so many roles in the production it is difficult to single them all out forrecognizance. Among the minor leads of importance one should note the fine performance of P. Harper as the Prime Minister, T. Bustinduy as the jolly inn-keeper, Elizabeth Beer as the imperious Grand Duchess of Anastasia, and Colin Beaton as Rudolph Winter, Kathie's husband-to-be. Harry Huriy deserves an accolade for his portrayal of the servant Toni, especially in the scene at the prince's palace. Here he struck the right note of pathos and humility. The minor romantic theme in the operetta was that between Princess Margaret, officially betrothed to Prince Karl, and a member of her guard, Captain Tarnitz. Peggy Mclver and Roger Richardson assumed these parts with skill and imagination. Their duet added a tender and lovely moment. The scene, designed by Mr. J.R. Taylor, was most authentic. The inn and the castle ballroom scenes were delightful. A touch of magnificence was added to the production by the sumptous costumes. Lastly one should pay tribute to those tireless workers behind the stage who do so much to make the show a success. Again there are many individuals but notice should be given to stage manager David Newcome and his stage crew, to properties manager, Bob Forbes, to the make-up department under the skill- ful management of A.H. Jewell, and the benign keeper of the costumes, Mrs. W. Fish. Twenty-four

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The intellectual treat of the evening was the Grade X production, The Day Hell Went Out and Went Modernn, an adaptation of a play of Aristo- phanes by Mr. J.W. Boake. Its plot begins with a Dantesque trip by two earthly mortals fJohn Noer and his slave Gary McLeanQ to hell to seek for their former leader and headmaster, Archelochus Jones. After descending into the kingdom of the damned with another stiff , fJim Burnhamj these two travellers witnessed a contest held before the ruler of the underworld, Satan, for the post of Minister of Education. Dale St.Clair played his part as more of an exuberant college boy on a fling than a wily Satan. There were two contestants for the honoured position and each had to present his educational philosophy. On the one hand there was Whip Lash QAncel Kerry, the arch-conservative, who would impose a stern type of discipline and a solid core of academic studies upon the young, innocent scholars. The progressive wing was represented by Archelochus Jones, fMike Drachej whose programme was more permissive and lenient than Whip Lash's. Jones believed in the self-developing philosophy. In these two speeches, as throughout the play, there was much social satire and comment on present- day society. Moreover, there was some very good acting in this piece. Congratulations to the three directors - Mr. J. Taylor, Mr. N. MacLean, and Mr. J. Boake, for an excellent evening of dramatic entertainment. Social Activities ''Supercalafragelisticexpialadocious'' is the only adjective which can begin to describe the long and varied social programme for 1964-65. The clanging of bells at all hours of the morning greeted the tradition- steeped day of initiation. New Boy's Day was with us once again. The master-slave relationship prevailed as the old boys ordered their domesti- ques to perform various stunts, jobs and impossibilities. The evening gave face to new talent at Pickering as skits were endured by the accom- plished old boys. This was followed by a movie which rounded off the action-packed day. Ontario Ladies' College, a select group of femmes-fatales, played host to a busload of P.C. gentlemen late in October. Two of our younger masters were present to see that strict etiquette was observed. Despite this surly bond we passed a pleasurable evening. To bring the soccer-football season to a close, an annual dance is held. This informal affair brought our husky athletes to the dance floor for an enjoyable soiree. The long and laborious second term was marked by one dance: our return-dance to O.L.C. Harry Huriy and his enthusiastic crew of bar-boys and record-changers provided the icing for a delight of a night. With many promises and assurances the young damsels departed at eleven thirty in their grey Gray coach before it could turn into a pumpkin. Twenty-six