NEWS ARCHIVES

Eco message loud and clear in Resurgence play

August 2, 2008 - Review by Sean Pearce, York Region Media Group

Visitors to Newmarket’s Fairy Lake Park may want to keep their eyes and ears peeled for some unusual sights and sounds.

For starters there have been reports of three well-known American Idol judges being seen, along with deer building a disco club, an army of salamanders and a mysterious toad who barks prophetic warnings to any and all who will listen.

Fear not however, it’s not a sign of strange things afoot in the park; rather it’s just Resurgence Theatre Company’s production of Beware the Falling Trees!, on now to Aug. 15.

The brand new show, written by Amy Henkel and Resurgence’s general manager and co-founding member Anthony Leo, tells the tale of Winston Whitetail a loveable, misguided, deer who will stop at nothing in his quest to be popular.

Even if it means leveling a whole swath of forest on the Oak Ridges Moraine to build a dance club.

Winston’s friend Lorraine soon learns the error of Winston’s ways and sets out to undo the damage with a little help from her friends. The show isn’t subtitled Lorraine and the Great Moraine Adventure for nothing.

The play itself is based on a story entitled the King and the Royal Trees contained in Loon Laughter: Ecological Fables and Nature Tales by Paul Leet Aird. Following his first viewing of the show, Mr. Aird is giving this version of his nature tale a big thumbs up.

"I was very pleased, because one of the true joys of writing is having one of your stories enjoyed like this," he said. "It was just wonderful; I thoroughly enjoyed it."

And the audience who saw Tuesday’s premiere definitely seemed to share Mr. Aird’s enthusiasm for the show.

Children followed along with the action and even offered some surprise assistance to the characters on stage at times.

The approval of the kids and Mr. Aird is a big relief for Ms Henkel.

She and Mr. Leo set out to create a modern version of the story that would provide humor, keep kids interested and still remain true to the original fable.

"We definitely updated it a little bit," she said.

"I was really happy to see that the kids really got into it. Even if they did start to squirm a little, there was something right away that grabbed their interest again."

The play is performed by members of Resurgence’s Senior Youth Theatre Conservatory. Courtney Keir, who plays Lorraine, was quick to confirm that everyone on stage is having just as much fun as the audience, if not more.

The conservatory is proving to be a great experience for Ms Keir who has been acting on stage for more than a decade.

You may want to watch for her as well, because she’s really hoping the acting credits she was accumulated so far are only the beginning of her career.

"I hope (to be acting) in the future," she said. "If not I’d really like to be teaching elementary school."

Beware the Falling Trees! is showing again Aug. 5, 6, 8, 12, 13 and 15. All shows are at 2 p.m. and are held under the tent at Fairy Lake Park, at Main and Water Streets.

Tickets are $10 and available by visiting the Newmarket Theatre’s box office at 505 Pickering Cres., calling 905-953-5122 or logging on to resurgence.ca

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