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PAGE " - L'CrfftEo9rrtm.mtttcE, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, "" BLUE. VALE 'S GRIMM’S H School gears up for crazy, fun production The show contains humor "hit- ting at many levels," he said, from young children to teenagers to adults. In fact. one philosophy dominating Bluevale’s theatre work the past ten years ls "the idea there is a child inside everybody..." you carve through all the sophistication, you can entertain the child." Manse" ex- plained. And the end result for the audience will be 100 minutes of "funny, uncluttered. fast-moving theatre." broken down into ten individual skits. based on tales such as The Golden Goose, Ra- punzel. Rumpelstiltskin and Sleeping Beauty. And over the years. Bluevale has presented " style of trhir dren's theatre that applies to And the real benefit from this form of theatre involvement is that students are encouraged to participate creatively, the enthu- siastic director said. As scenes are rehearsed, each actor or actress is free to improvise; technical crew members are welcome to give suggestions: and ideas from the costume designer or pianist might well be incor- porated into a scene. "We all work together pooling ideas," resulting in a production which reflects "the personality and sense of humor of everyone involved." In this way. "each person working on it gets at least one piece of their creativity in the show," he added. in two weeks Bluevale stu- dents will present Grimm's tr, a funny, fast-moving improvise- tion-based show. Seven years ago the school presented its first Grimm's pro- duction. based on fairy tales written by the Grimm brothers in Germany. But this year's presen- tation will be totally different, according to Bluevale English and drama teacher Peter Man- sell. "We're doing different stories, with a totally different cast." the show's coordinating director said while in between rehearsals Sunday. "By the time we present the play, we will have kind of a script." said Mansell, "but it will never be written down." "Still crazy after all these years" is the theme for Blueyale Collegiate Institute as the Water- loo high school celebrates its tenth year. With this in mind the school decided to bring back a crazy, fun-filled play as its major stage production of the year. Beginning And since the play is based on improvisation the audience is assured of seeing an original production "which is different than theatre," in Mansell's words. "Different because there is no script for Grimm's IL" Instead, Manse" photocopied ten of the Grimm's original fairy tales, distributed them to students in volved in the show, and improvi- sation has been growing ever since, Story and photo by Karla Wheeler "it adds a whole new dimem sion" to high school life. the teenager said. "rm not Just going to school and going home. This makes it more fulfilling." As well, she's making new friends all the time. and building "lots of memories." Cindy Hiebert is quick to admit that active involvement in shows is a real learning experience for her. This grade " student has been participating in Bluevale theatre since ninth grade and is particularly interested in acting, dancing and music. And theatre experience at Bluevale may also be helping Cindy build a foundation for a future career on stage, although she explained "l'm only " and don't know yet what l want to do with my life." Instead of appointing staff members in key positions, stu- dents have been given major responsibilities. For instance. Sheri Eby is set designer: Sarah Shortreed is in charge of cos- tumes; Bonnie Golbeck creates all make-up; Doug Voll works as technical director: and Kathy o'0rowsky serves as stage man- ager, This kind of involvement teaches a student selCdiscipline, the importance of being respons- ible. to be on time. how to get along with people when under pressure. and overall skills which will come in handy in audit life. Manse" explained. For student Tom Roedding. president of Bluevale's drama club this year. "it's the friend- ships" that mean the most. "Even if nothing is going right during a rehearsal. there's a bond here" and everyone works together until things gel. In addition to staff mem- bers actively involved in the show, there are about 50 students - 35 in the cast and 15 comprising a technical crew. All in all, Mansell estimated. a total of about ISO to 200 students will have contributed in some way. either by ushering, working in the ticket booth. or helping be- hind the scenes. "We can develop them un- iquely...hammer out something that is a local expression of our- selves." . And it seems there are many students at Bluevale interested in expressing themselves in Produc- tions such as Grimm's ll. Manse" hopes next week's pro- duction of Grimm's ll will "allow us to make that connection with Canadian cultured' This is possi- ble, he said, even though the original fairy tales were written in Germany. people of all ages," he noted One facet of this is storytelling, which Mansell believes was once a dying tradition but now seems to be revived. "The storyteller has been dropped as an important part of society, he said. "Everyone in the village loved the storyteller. He connected them with their cultural roots." Chariots offends none, entertains everyone No other movie released in 1981 that I've seen has the virtually universal appeal of this quite extraordinary mm. Primarily. the movie relates the true-life story of two 1924 Olympic Games champions. both runners who represented Britain at the Games held in Paris, France, The movie follows their respective athletic careers from 1919 _ when Abrahams arrived at Cambridge and Liddell returned to Scotland following missionary seniee in China ' to their triumphant return trom the Paris Olympics. The two runners shared little in common, either in background or character. but both had extraordinary running ability and a matching will to win. Tom has learned a whole new awareness for live performances. "Now even when I go to The Centre in the Square, I appreciate what the actors go through...now I know what's behind it." By 1fictor Stanton If you‘re looking for a movie least likely to offend anyone and at the same time most likely to be enjoyed by practically everyone, go and see Chrlots of Fire. That category is considered the kiss of death by a lot of contemporary film-makers, and indeed. in recent years, pictures so rated have been a pretty mamby-pamby lot. The fact is. Chariots (if Fire by any standards is a remarkably mature picture. dealing with such potentially contentious subject matter as religious dogma and prejudice in a totally forthright and uncompromising manner. Harold Abrahams was a Jew studying law at the WASPish, upper clasrdominated Cambridge University. (His acceptance at Cambridge ap- parentiy came about because his father had made a major finattcU1 donation to the university.) Abrahams" compulsion to win reflected his need both to prove his own worth and to gain acceptance in a bigoted society. Eric Liddell. a Scottish missionary and Abra, hams' principal running rival in British competi» lions, ran to win honor for God. but his strict "tterrretation of Biblical law almost resulted in his not competing in the Olympics at all. At a time when even the latest Disney movie (Night Crossing) gets a Parental Guidance rating in Ontario. Chariots Of Fire comes recommended tor the entire family. MOVIE REVIEW The evil sorceress (Vicki Field) tries to cast a spell on the king (Tom Roedding) and innocent daughter (Cindy Hiebert) in an improvised scene during a Bluevale rehearsal Sunday. The trio is among a host of Bluevale students involved in the school's upcoming production entitled Grimm's II. And based on the energetic activity mr ing Biuevale's cafe, torium Sunday, it's clear to see Ilpat the dozens of students and handful of teachers don't mind one bit that all their spare time in January and February is being devoted to hours and hours of re- hearsing. In fact, Tom sum- day. Tickets are $2 marized it this way: for adults, $1.50 "We wouldn't do it if students, and tl we didn't enjoy it. It's children and seniors This is a movie that brilliantly combines top-notch story-telling. strongly defined charac. terizations and a committed sense of social awareness. Dramatic action, humor and sen timent are all effectively used to create a film that is Involving. entertaining and inspirational for the widest eross~section of audiences, The assured direction of newcomer Hugh Hudson and the superb cinematography of David Watkin endow Chariots Of Fire with stunning dramatic and visual power. Recreations of the period in costumes and settings are flawless. And a crowning touch to the pirture's overall emotlloetal impact is added by composer Van gelis. Script writer Colln Welland certainly hasn't pulled any punches as to the extent of anthemi tism in Britain of that era, including scenes that aren't very Iuttering to the character of the then Prince of Wales, destined to briefly reign as King Edward VIII. As Abrahams and Liddell respectively, actors Ben Cross and Ian Charleson are most persua sive. An excellent supporting cast includes Sir John Gielgud and British critic and film director Lindsay Anderson as Cambridge officials. Alice Krige (the ghost in Ghost Story) as Abrahams' Gentile sweetheart. lan llolm as Abrahams' professional coach and Dennis Christopher (from Breaking Away) and Brad Davis (from Midnight Express) as American runners Charles Paddock and Jackson Scholz. (The film's only structural weakness is a flashback-within-a-nas/tback framework that begins with a l978 memorial service for Abra» hams and goes back to 1924 letter-writing recollections by a chum of Abrahams recalling his initial Cambridge years and early running efforts. This makes for a certain narrative awkwardness and possibly some early confusion as to who is who. As well. it has no real application to Liddell‘s story. which, however, is being told in parallel fashion, since his and Abrahams' paths did not cross - and then only briefly - until shortly before both were chosen as members of the British Olympic track team.) Grimm's " will be performed Feb. 24 to 27 at 7:30 p.m., with a 2 p.m. matinee on Satur. day. Tickets are $2.50 for adults, $1.50 for students, and $1 for worth every minute."