Playwright Robert Bolt
… A Master of His Craft …

Victoria Playhouse:
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Robert Bolt:
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The Thwarting of Baron Bolligrew: The Victoria Playhouse Young Company

by Brian Hay

The striking thing about this production was how uninhibited the young performers were. The sword fight between ‘Oblong’ and ‘Blackheart’ was done very well. The mannerisms of ’Sir Oblong Fitz Oblong’ or the little dance ‘Squire Blackheart’ did (to name a few) offered plenty of opportunities for the players to succumb to stage fright or something like it. They didn’t. They had fun with those moments and played them with a sense of gusto that brought the audience into the fun. The credit for this goes to the Director, Nancy Keys. She must have had as much fun putting this together as the young people did performing it because she got a great effort from all of them.

All of the lead players were solid in their roles. Sam Morrison gave a strong performance in the lead role. His command of the diction the lead character used was excellent. As well, his use of body language consistent with the nature of the character was consistently strong throughout the considerable amount of time he was on the stage. He played through one of the funniest moments in the production and he ran with it. Jeremy Bolzon gave a hilarious performance in the role of ‘Mike Magpie’. The squeaks he punctuated the character’s sentences with were an excellent touch. Danielle Aarsen gave a strong performance in the role of the ‘Storyteller’. She was required to stand out or ‘fit in’ according to the demands of the material and she did it well.

Sara Cecile seemed as comfortable with her dialogue as a performer can be. She was right on top of the fast talking delivery needed to portray the nature of the con artist that ‘Baron Bolligrew’ is supposed to be. Sabrina Redick projected both the commanding presence and the wicked nature of the evil ‘Dr. Moloch’ (sans ‘Innocent’) beautifully. Dylan Sylvester obviously had a lot of fun playing the evil (but incredibly stupid) ‘Squire Blackheart’ because he jumped right into the part. He had centre stage on another of the really funny segments and played it for all it was worth.

The supporting players were good as well. Charlie Fairbank gave strong turns as both the ‘Duke’ and the Dragon. The role of the dragon would have been particularly challenging because the character was never seen. Everything relied purely on his vocal delivery. Kyle Phibbs was convincingly oily as the oh-too-slick ‘Sir Percival Smoothely-Smooth’. Tim Mayhead came across well as the thoroughly meek ‘Obidiah Bobblenob’.

The play itself was a good one for a young group to approach. This bit of whimsical fantasy by Robert Bolt is half fairy tale, half satire and all morality fable. It takes the roots of good and evil to their simplest terms and then skewers them brilliantly. As simple as the material is there’s also plenty to think about that sits just between the lines. Only an exceptional writer could do that. Bolt, who also wrote ‘A Man for All Seasons’ and co-wrote ‘Lawrence of Arabia’, was a master of the craft.

This was a strong production all around. The costumes were good. The props were minimal but functioned well. The lighting was excellent. It served the action on stage and never interfered with it. The transitions between scenes were handled extremely well. The action flowed seamlessly most of the time. The performance wasn’t flawless. There were a few times when actors could be seen ‘counting down’ to their cues. And there were a few points where the timing was off a bit but that’s no big deal. Time and experience will cure those things quickly enough. This was a labour of love delivered with a level of enthusiasm that was contagious.

This was a good time, a really good time. Thanks for doing it people.

This performance of ‘The Thwarting of Baron Bolligrew took place at the Victoria Playhouse in Petrolia, Ontario on Sunday April 5, 2009 at 2:00 p.m.

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