Theatre Arts performers play before packed house

By Samantha Bayard

The Faculty of Theatre Arts pulled out round two of their play season to a packed house with Criminals in Love by George F. Walker, which had odd and violent circumstances, saturated characters, and high stakes laughs.

"It's not a kitchen sink drama, but rather it is full of energy.  I guess you can call it hyper realism.  With all of the characters their lives are somewhat desperate," said director and professor Mary Ellis.

Walker's play was about Gail and Junior (played by Erin Hill and R.J. Mills), a young couple who were slowly persuaded into a life of crime.  They are influenced by Junior's father Henry, (played by Bobby Cleveland), a bumbling prisoner who will die if they do not become involved. Junior is befriended by a homeless man named William, who tries to sway him away from Henry. Gail's best friend Sandy the keen self-starter, (played by Anna Chambers), also joined the unlikely group.  Unfortunately they encounter Junior's aunt Wineva, who took the role of ringleader.  

Ellis has performed in many of Walker's pieces; it's unlike the college's traditional choices which are more steeped in realism.

"Though the rhythm of the dialogue is more demanding for an actor, I think they are really enjoying it."
She assured her cast that in this style of theatre, it is very difficult to be too big, though she feels they don't quite believe her.

"I describe it to them as coming at you like a freight train."

For this jumbling of characters, Emma Walker was their costume and make-up designer and she had a unique vision coupled with a realistic mindset. Her inspiration was "Wal-Mart chic with a bit of ‘60s mod."
"The people are trashy, so I wanted vibrancy, for the colours to pop against the dirty brick background," said Walker.

One of those trashy characters was William (played by Tim Finnegan), a wealthy man turned hobo who was worn down by the misery of urban life. Finnegan is now a second-year theatre student who was once a part-time plumbing, electrical and carpentry student.

He feels the biggest challenges in portraying William were the physicality and the accent.

"Basically after discussing it with Mary we decided on a Romanian accent.  It sounds like a combination of the romantic languages and Russian.  I listened to a lot of tapes to get it down."  

William's eastern European charm is contrasted by the bold and commanding Wineva (played by Kathryn McLaren).  She describes Wineva as "off her meds or on the wrong ones." 

"She has no respect for personal boundaries or what is socially acceptable and is always kissing, touching and yelling," she added.

Playing such a role McLaren felt was "unbelievably intimidating." She felt that her voice and movement class, taught by professor Alix Sideris, best prepared her.

"After years of playing the pretty girl and the best friend with pretty movements now I had to find the ugly characters within my body," said McLaren.

William Somers was Ellis' assistant director and was, "an absolutely invaluable member of the team," said Ellis.  Somers returned the favour describing Ellis as, "terrific, easy going and encouraging, she makes a point of it in her process."

His biggest role in directing was blocking and choreographing the fight sequences.

"Thankfully last year, I worked at a training program, at a Shakespeare camp for kids.  I learned how to break down and teach stage fighting."

Somers described himself as very detail oriented, which he feels absolutely benefits the show.  "All the fun is in the little details, ignoring the little details is a great way to make a mediocre show," he said.

Directly following Criminals in Love was the short play by Ann Wuehler called Frog Loves Christy.  The piece starred Corrine Joseph as Frog and Aqua Rennie as Christy in the controversially themed romantic drama. 
The show played in studio N112 on March 26, 27, 28 and 29.