VT
Village Theatre Waterdown 2005

back to
Past Playbills 1972-2008

A Month in the Country
by Brian Friel
after Ivan Turgenev
directed by George Thomas
Feb 18, 19, 24, 25, 26,
March 3, 4, 5
8:00 pm  2005
Tickets: $14.00 in advance
$16.00 at the door
Call NOW to reserve your seats

photos
reviews

gala night March 3 - click for info

Cast

Arkady Islaev 

Natalya Islaeva

Vera

Anna Islaeva

Lizaveta

Herr Schaaf

Michel Rakitin

Aleksey Belyaev

Bolshintsov

Doctor Shpigelsky

Matvey

Katya

George Sanford 

Jan Durbin

Paola Di Maddalena

Maggie Thomas

Leena Lehtikallio

Peter Mackie

Mike Wierenga

Brian Melanson

Gord Raymond

Richard Vaillancourt

Ron Kebic

Tamara Kamermans


A Month in the Country, a comic classic of the world theatre, was written in the mid-nineteenth century by the dashing Russian novelist Ivan Turgenev. It singlehandedly created a new tradition of realistic drama of domestic situations, laced with a satiric eye for the habits of the time. Turgenev created a world, later familiar to us from the plays of Chekhov, with wonderfully strong characters drawn from a world he knew very well.

At the heart of the action is a comfortable aristocratic household which is rocked out of its apparent stability by the arrival in its midst of an eager young student, who has a domino effect on each of them. Turgenev used the complex interplay of love, esteem and affection, to explore the fragilities of human relationships, with comic results.

Now a refrehing new version of the play comes from the pen of Brian Friel, the leading contemporary Irish dramatist (Dancing at Lughnasa, Translations). Friel's interest in the Russian classics is well known - a recent play of his has characters from two different Chekhov plays meeting up 20 years later. While remaining faithful to the intentions of the original, he has tightened up the action and brought some of the relationships into sharper focus. More than anything else however, he has clothed it in a language sparkling in its humour and utterly contemporary in its feel. The result is a great classic dusted off and given a fresh coat of paint with none of the subtleties of situation and character eluding Friel's watchful eye.

A Month in the Country has twelve roles, all of them demanding but immensely rewarding at the same time. No surprise then that these parts have attracted some of the best known actors in local community theatre including Jan Durbin, Tamara Kamermans, Leena Lehtikallio, Peter Mackie, Brian Melanson, Gord Raymond, George Sanford, Maggie Thomas, Richard Vaillancourt and Mike Wierenga. Two exciting newcomers to our theatre group, Paola di Maddalena and Ron Kebic, will also have the chance to shine in this production.

The play is directed by George Thomas, for whom this is a good deal more than a busman's holiday after 30 years of teaching Russian at McMaster University.


Crew

Director
Producers
Stage Manager
ASM
Script Assistant
Set Design
Costume Design
Lighting Design
Sound Design
Décor & Furnishings
Props
Set Construction
Costume team


Hair and wigs
Technical Advisor
Lighting Operator
Sound Operator
Make up

Publicity Coordinator
Publicity team
Action Photography
Still Photography
Programme
House Manager

Liquor licence
Box Office

George Thomas
Mike Rae, Lisbie Rae
John Durbin
Janet Hatfield
Judy Genel
John Wilkinson
Linda Posthuma
Mike Rae
George Thomas
Rochelle Trask
Sandra/Frank Strauss
Austin Knowlton
Helena Adamczyk
Helen Davie
Ann Newbigging
Frances Morrison
Don Thorne
Ryan Strauss
Austin Beattie
Marilyn March
Eileen Dunsmuir
Laurel Dewar
Lisbie Rae
Pat McCarthy
Rachelle Rousseau
Janette Thompson
Patricia Roper
Murray Sylvester
Bronwen Tregunno
Rita Callaghan