wah Pte peg wet the i ities ee Sag aT cals oats vie? Fa ‘ : Se yee shite trade ‘The cast and crew |~ of The Art of War? By day; Paula is an art teacher;' Alan is a college in- structor; Marianne is the mother — of four and an illustrator; Gor- _ don.is a loans manager; Alexis is an electrician, and Jim i isa taxi driver. by Betty Barton ' By night, Paula. tosses aside. her scholarly glasses and becomes a seductress and a ter- rorist. Alan dons his uniform: ‘and stands erect, his imposing figure that of a General. Marianne flutters as a ditsy blonde journalist, Gordon grins as a demented killer. Alexis shuffles as a depressed, seedy- looking, journalist-cum- detective. Jim hovers as his eager young sidekick. How does this amazing trans- ’ formation take place? They’re a dedicated lot. They meet three times each week and have been for the last eight weeks..They ex- pend massive amounts of energy each time they gather. Their rendezvous are physically, men- tally and emotionally draining, but rewarding as well. y: are the cast and crew of Terrace Lit- tle Theatre’s upcoming dinner theater play The Abt of War; sponsored by the./-Northwest Community College ‘Student’s ‘Association. : - ot Since auditions took place. in ‘late August, the cast of six have . diligently rehearsed for the play. ., The process of building and '’ developing their characters takes ' place from the first reading to the final performance. As the lines are read, director Daniel Barnswell takes notes, mouths. the lines to himself and shadows the actors, The scenes are often inter- rupted for a ‘blocking’ sugges- tion (actor’s position on the. stage) or a suggestion of an alternate emphasis to a line or action. The actors learn their lines at home. Then scenes are repeated again and again until it all feels right. Ironically, actor Alan Weston in his role as Hack- man (the supposed Minister of Culture) repeats himself and then says, ‘‘I never repeat myself. unless I really mean it.” tors and actresses you see per- forming on stage. They sew, beg or borrow costumes and props. They design and build the sets. Set designer Mark Doehler jok- ingly calls his department ‘‘the province of frustrated actors who don’t get cast for a part.”’ In reality, they are creative, hard-working artists and crafts- people. The crew is at the ready to assemble and dismantle the sets before and after every. rehearsal, do make-up and set changes at live performances. They sit in on every rehearsal with scripts in hand and prompt the actors with their lines. ’ Karin Mclilmoyle glances up from the script to take in the ac- tion on stage, ready to read a line when required to prompt an actor. Daniel Barnswell ques- tions, ““Can we take it from the top?’ With nods from cast and crew, he clips, ‘Stand by... and GO!”’ The crew cheers and ap- plauds when a scene finally’ ‘clicks’. The venues for rehearsal change, depending on what is to be accomplished that particular evening — and availability of space at the McColl Playhouse. Cast and crew for December’s play Ladies in Retirement are gearing up with set building and rehearsals. The characters in ‘The Art of War are divided into “two camps — the good guys and : the bad guys. Often their rehear- . - sals are divided in the same way - — one group on stage at the Mc- Coll Playhouse -with Daniel directing the action, The others review their lines or do im- provisation in the lounge upstairs. As the action or scenes overlap, the two groups come back together. Halfway through the evening, the actors. put. aside their. characters, stretch or light a cigarette. They take a break © from the high energy: of. rehear- sal while they review the pro- gress to that point. As opening night ‘draws: nearer, details are refined. Real props replace the fake ones used in early rehearsals (a real rifle replaces a walking cane). Costumes are re-fitted. The “dialogue and actions on stage become spontaneous. The tem- po picks up.'Dress rehearsals will take place November i1th weekend to further refine the The crew, behind the scenes, “performance and stage manage- play roles as important as theac- © ment. November 17th and 18th, the characters and crew of The Art of War will be revealed for all to see! — ARE YOU GETTING THE MOST OUT OF YOUR COMPUTER? IF NOT... CALL 635-3444 AND D ASK FOR _RAINER. «. 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Paula spent last year’ teaching Grade 5 and drama in Colombia. A friend who lived here promised her that Terrace had an‘ dctive communi- ty theater" if she'relocated’here: Paula expounds;''“‘It’s been a godsend; the people are really intélléctually “stimulating.” Pauls plays Karla Mendez in The Art of War and uses her South American experience to broaden her character. - Alan Weston has been an ac- tor as long as he can remember. His family lived in a house full of music, skits and charades. In 1971, needing a change of pace from -accounting, Alan took theater workshops,. actor train- ing and theater arts administra- tion. He acted and stage manap- ed for one season at Huron Country Playhouse (40 miles from Stratford, Ont.) That was his last involvement. with dinner theater and playing toa well-fed audience until now. Alan and wife Marianne are both starring in The Art of War. Alan feels “it adds one more dimension, acting together’’, although they don’t, rehearse together! Alan loves the improv style of the play and: working with Daniel Barns- well, Of his character, ‘‘I like Hackman. I’d never want to be a Hackman but I love the weird- ness of his character. AMWAY QUALITY HOME CARE AND PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS ARTISTRY QUALITY SKIN CARE AND COSMETICS ‘NUTRILITE QUALITY NUTRITION AND FOOD SUPPLEMENTS 635-4618 Marianne Brorup-Weston started with the Terrace Little Theatre designing the poster for Heavens to Betsy (fall ’87). She has since been assistant costume designer, played a 14-year-old boy in Curse ofthe Starving Class, is a director of the Ter- race Little Theatre in charge of costumes and theater summer school. Marianne is impressed with the loyalty of cast and crew .to the ;productions and their commitment to quality work. Her character Heather in The -Art of War has been a real challenge because her personali- ty is so unlike Marianne’s. Gordon Qates got involved with Terrace Little Theatre ‘because his children wanted to audition for The Wiz, and in the process he was cast as Uncle Henry. He last did drama as a. teenager, so he is especially en- joying his role as Brownie (a demented mercenary) in The Art of War. In his character building, there has been a broad - range Of possible avenues from comedy to drama. Gordon loves the challenge of. getting a pro- duction to the point where it provides entertainment and relays a message. He also ap- preciates that one gets recog- nition for a job well done. Alexia Maikapar auditioned for and got the part of Cowardly Lion in The Wiz to start his career as an actor. But, it was his role as the father in Curse of the Starving Class that really set him off. Alexis had been performing in Terrace for years as a singer and guitarist, but he had ab- solutely no prior acting ex- perience, In The Art of War, he plays Power, a depressed, slovenly journalist-cum- detective. As the rehearsals pro- gress, his character is evolving, rounding out. Jim Branch had always wanted to get involved in Little Theatre, but didn’t know how. So when auditions were an- nounced for Heavens to Betsy (Sept. 87), he auditioned. ‘‘just to see what it was like.”’ Then he volunteered to build sets and paint. ‘‘It was fascinating. I never knew how it was all put together. It was lots of work and a heck of a lot more people than you see on stage.’’. Jim had his adult acting debut-.as a policeman in the Christmas play 87. As a child in Grade.2, he had played a dog in a school play! Karin. McHimoyle was-first j in- troduced to the Terrace Little Theatre this spring when she saw - a performance of Curse of the Starving Class directed by Daniel Barnswell.. She was so impressed with his work that she went to the auditions for The Art of War — not to read fora part, but to get involved in the ‘technical stuff’. Daniel quickly appointed her props and assis- tant stage manager. She was | recently promoted to stage manager when Suzanne Wilberg was transferred to Kelowna. Karin calls it a ‘‘real learning ex- perience.” She’s thoroughly en- joying being involved in this stimulating community activity. Christina Mehs grew up in the Terrace Little Theatre while her mum did the lighting and stage designs. Christina’s stage debut, at age eight, was as a pig in Fort Cat and the Sky is; Falling. She prefers painting, props, stage. - managing and make-up, but was seen recently at Clubs’? Day in the Skeena Mall, acting like a cat! Mark Doehler showed up for a reading of Ken Morton’s Mothers & Fathers (spring of *88) and ended up as stage manager. Prior to his involve- ment with t:: Terrace Little Theatre, Mark was with the Campbell River's River City Players. He acted, did set con- struction and stage manage- ment. Mark feels that theater relates positively ‘o the work ~~ place. It has impr: ed his public speaking capabilities, orgariza- tional his creative skills to design and build sets for The Art of War, skills and creative - energies. He is presently using | 4 eA TT iE at fee ee ey - at esti