I ee Contributed by Marianne Brorup Weston A Chip in the Sugar is Merry Hallsor’s first experience direct- ing a festival entry play. Hallsor, who has been with the TLT since childhood, is known for her enormously successful musicals. The last time audiences were able to enjoy her directorial work was in The Wiz in 1988. Since then she has been balanc- ing executive work with Theatre BC (she is now president), as well as the moving and powerful duction of award-winning Curse of the Starving Class. The McColl Playhouse is named after Merry Hiallsor’s mother, Loreen McColl, and Merry vividly recalls her first stage experience in 1953: “I was 10 years old. It was the Terrace Little Theatre’s first play, Father of the Bride. My father, Bud, starred in the lead. Mother directed and my brothers had supporting roles. My 12-year- role as “Ella’’ in the TLT pro- Alan Weston: alone on stage, pulling the audience into his world, old sister Sheila and I did props Northwest Arts and | Entertainment Calendar R.E.M. Lee Theatre | | | «April 18, 8 p.m. — Skeena Zone Drama Festival, Talking With..., Terrace Little Theatre ee eApril 19, 8 p.m. — Skeena Zone Drama Festival, The Brute, Harbour Theatre and A Chip in the Sugar, Terrace Little Theatre, music by the Terrace Community Band oo | *April 20, 8 p.m. — Skeena Zone Drama Festival, Boiler Room Suite, the Bulkley Valley Players; and final awards presentations “April 24—-27 — Caledonia Science Fair eApril 28, 2 p.m. — Paul Hann in concert, presented by the Terrace Child Development Centre . “April 30, 1 p.m. — "Thin Ice", a school show by Green Thumb Theaire — The Terrace inn _ *Gigi’s — “Hall of Fame" Otte: *Augie’s — Lee Nicholson "of the Love Boat cruises" on piano Northern Motor Inn as *George’s Pub — "Champagne Plus" until April 20th Royal Canadian Legion, Br. 13 ‘April 19, 20, 26 and 27 — Peter Turner and Friend entertain Kitimat Centennial Museum *April 10 until May 4 — INSIGHTS ’91, a showcase of dynamic art - by young artists of Kitimat a *May 14 thru June 16 — Behind the Ballot Box -— a populist look atthe. history of Canada’s electoral system | Mount Elizabeth Theatre, Kitimat | “April 25 and 26 — Celso Machado, virtuoso guitarist from Sao Paulo, Brazil, will perform for primary and elementary school students - “April 29 — Green Thumb Theatre’s "Thin Ice" "Bud Country Talent Search" finals, April 18,8 p.m. This Column Sponsored By: and prompted the actors. We knew every line in that script. As well, in order to make the set a success, we carted our entire liv- ing room to the stage: furniture, drapes, rug, the works — our home was bare of furniture, but the play was on!” After working up through the ranks in the Terrace Little Theatre, Hallsor spent some years in Quesnel raising two young boys. A move to Williams Lake found her back in the thick of it all and she moved on to 100 Mile House’s theatre group, where she directed It’s Never Too Late. Then the Hallsors moved back to Terrace and Merry has been involved in many ways with the TLT ever since. The Wiz, a huge artistic and financial success for the Terrace Little Theatre, saw Hallsor move on to making Theatre BC stronger, and now that she is well-established as president, the time was right for the challenge of A Chip in the Sugar. ‘After a cast of 45, plus crew members, it is pure delight to direct a one-man show. I have the luxury of concentrating on one committed and talented ac- - tor. I get to work all those precious and important little ‘moments’ which very few pro- fessional directors have time for. It’s wonderful as well to concentrate on dialogue, rather than a host of actors scurrying around a set, I love it!’’ she said. Hallsor goes on to reflect on the need for understanding the subtlety of the meaning of the ‘lines’. ‘‘There is always subtext in a play, no matter if it is drama, comedy, farce or tragedy. One of the privileges we have in community theatre is the privilege of time — time to really work through what the text means. In professional theatre, this is rarely an option. You go in, rehearse a show in two weeks, and put it on. We don’t have that time constraint, and it gives us the opportunity to get right inside a character, get the depth in there so the lines are full of life.” While A Chip in the Sugar is written in monologue style, Hallsor is quick to emphasize that this is not a true mono- logue, it is a one-man show. “It will be one powerful ex- Ladies Auxiliary Royal Canadian Legion Branch 13 Spring Sunday _—-. Terrace Review — Wednesday, April 17,1 991 B13 Little Theatre veterans collaborate on festival entry perience,” -she ‘Weston has done an incredible amount of work with this char- acter. The form is a sort of poig- nant drama with touches of comedy.” The central character, Graham, sits alone on stage and pulls the audience into his small world in a semi-detached house in the northern part of England. The storyline evolves when Graham is confronted with a - situation which demands changes he doesn’t .want to make. The small, tight-knit group of director Hallsor, actor Weston, lighting designer Dave Battison and stage manager Jim Branch is proving to be a positive ex- perience for everyone. It is ob- vious talking to Hallsor that this is at least in part due to the ex- pertise of the tiny group. ‘“‘Alan’s background in theatre is extensive,’’ says Hallsor. ‘“He is well-known to Terrace au- diences. But I know it will be a profound experience to watch him on stage Friday at Drama Festival.” A Chip in the Sugar is written by Alan Bennett, whose previous claim to fame is being a part of the Beyond the Fringe theatre group, popular in England in the 1960’s. Bennett’s co-stars and co-writers were Dudley Moore, Jonathan Miller and Peter Cook. Many of us will remember their black, farcical comedy from England. A Chip in the Sugar was writ- ten by Bennett (who also starred in a BBC production of the same) as part of a series of | monologues entitled Talking Heads. Masterpiece Theatre (PBS) fans may recognize A Chip as related to the acclaimed Bed Among the Lentils starring Maggie Smith as an alcoholic minister’s wife. To see A Chip in the Sugar, be sure to get your tickets now for the Skeena Zone Drama Festival this Thursday, Friday and Satur- day at the R.E.M. Lee Theatre. Tickets are on sale at Erwin’s Jewellers in the Skeena Mall. Talking With is performed at $ p.m. Thursday, and A Chip in the Sugar on Friday evening. A Chip will have only this one per- formance, so don’t miss it! April 21, 4 p.m. Adults - $6 Children under 12 - $4 4425 Legion Ave., Terrace oat ai gan ig i lol nonce naa 4 . . ro