Late spring in Oslo, Ontario. The annual Ibsen Festival begins
with auditions, then rehearsals, and, finally, performances.
This year, the Ibfest features productions of five classic
plays: The Twins, a renaissance play in the, er, tradition of
Shakespeare; Virtue Slandered, a restoration comedy in the, um,
fashion of Sheridan; The Raj, a nineteen century look at those
quirky, madcap, but well-meaning Brits in a backward society (it's
a musical ); Pantilous in Crete, a classic Greek tragedy about an
Athenian, having offended Zeus, who is doomed to live a life of
horrors; and the Canadian classic, Frozen Wheat, about a Quebucois
couple stranded on the prairies in the dead of winter, their son
growing up Anglais, their daughter pregnant, with relatives from
Newfoundland causing havoc and humorous but touching
situations.
The actors in the company include (among many others) Dirk Hart,
the gorgeous American film star, making an attempt at serious
theatre; Simon Webber-Douglas, Canadian-born but British-trained,
which makes him almost good; and Julia Hudson, talented,
Canadian-born and trained, and the target of the Ibfestos sarcasm,
sadism, and cruelty.
Antony Manley-Dunn presides over the Ibfest as one imagines
Cecil Rhodes did the continent of Africa.
Claptrap is a grand satire of the colonial mentality that
governs the theatre festivals of Canada. Anyone who has worked at,
performed in, been to, or even heard about the Stratford or Shaw
festivals will laugh heartily and with recognition.
Although a play, Claptrap reads much like a comic novel; here is
Tom Wood's description of the development of the festival:
Oslo's biggest claim to fame before the Festival was the
Hastverk Fish Pickling Plant (Herring and Smelt). When the town was
floundering in the early 1960s, the city fathers hit upon the idea
of having a summer festival of Norwegian culture. Dancing, food,
sports, and the community players performed A Doll's House at the
town hall. The cultural festival failed miserably, but the play was
a modest success. The town fathers decided to follow in the
footsteps of two other theatrical festivals and gussied up the town
to look more period. 1850s Norway, to be exact. Local businesses
slapped on facades and adopted Ibsenesque names: the hair salon
became Hedda Hair; the pub, Gabbler's; the funeral parlor, Ghosts;
the hotel and convention centre, Gynt Pier Inn.
General
Imprint: |
Simon & Pierre Publishers
|
Country of origin: |
Canada |
Release date: |
October 1998 |
First published: |
September 1998 |
Authors: |
Tom Wood
|
Dimensions: |
229 x 152 x 5mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback
|
Pages: |
122 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-88924-279-1 |
Categories: |
Books
|
LSN: |
0-88924-279-8 |
Barcode: |
9780889242791 |
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