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www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, January 4, 2012 · 24 Play with message for all: learn to let your children go By Dominik Kurek OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Most people understand the difficulty of having children go away in search of a better life. For an Italian family, this dreaded separation could be quite poignant. So, the Burl-Oak Theatre Group will showcase the need for that separation when it puts on a performance of Over the River and Through the Woods. The play opens on Thursday (Jan. 5) at The Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts. "The story is about an Italian family. The players are immigrants and they came from the old country. Their parents put them on a boat, as one of the characters, Frank, says when he was 14 years old, and sent them away hoping that their children would find a better life than they did in their own country after the war," said the play's director Byron McKim. Flash-forward to present day, this Italian family has nearly split up with various members having gone in separate directions, while the grandparents remain in the city. The grandson of two sets of Italian grandparents is the last one left with them and is contemplating leaving in search of better employment. Artscene "They don't want him (grandson) to leave but he needs to leave to find a better life. The thing they achieved, from their parents, they can't recognize they have to do for their grandson as well." Byron McKim, director Burl-Oak Theatre Group michael ivanin / oakville beaver rehearse their role of an Italian family for the play Over the River and Through the Woods, which opens Thursday. "They don't want him to leave but he needs to leave to find a better life. The thing they achieved in their youth, from their parents, they can't recognize they have to do for their grandson as well. That's the irony of it," said McKim, a three-time Gemini Awardnominated director, who has made a career for himself in film and television. He said the story is about the grandparents having to learn to let go as their own parents had done. This message is quite relatable today, McKim added. "With the way the economy is, people have to leave to find a better merry family: Burl-Oak Theatre Group actors Dina Dametto, left, Paul Chato, Patricia Ball, and Gary McIlravey life," he said. It's common for families to be spread out in the United States, McKim said, but in Canada, families generally tend to stay close together. "Now, it's starting to happen that a lot of Canadian families are having to move, maybe they have to go out west to find a better job or nurses have to go south of the border to find a better job. That splitting up of that family is difficult but that's what happens more and more with this economy." Oakville resident Dina Dametto, who has appeared in a number of performances at the Oakville Centre stage, said she is enjoying playing her character of Ida, one of the grandmothers in the show. "I play a very lively 70 year old," she said, though she herself is quite a bit younger than the role she plays. "It's so much fun to play her." Dametto, Italian herself, doesn't have to stretch her imagination very far to get into character. "I'm not like her (Ida) but I'm using my grandmother ­ who See Anyone page 25 B E S T Open House Sun. 2-4 HO M E S Get Your Hands on a New Home for You & Your Family! JIM MACMILLAN Broker 905-333-3500 www.jimspics.ca New Listing 2236 DEWSBURY DRIVE $699,900 Perfection in Bronte Creek! Executive Branthaven quality on a premium 135 ft lot. Loaded with upgrades including a gourmet kitchen with granite, hardwood throughout and extensive use of pot lights, crown molding & architectural accents. RE/MAX Garden City Immaculately maintained with professional Realty Inc., Brokerage Independently Owned & Operated landscaping and elegant décor provide move in ready appeal.