Feature article December 2, 2004
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A Standing Ovation for NFLT!by Wilma .Kenny
Last Friday a full moon rose over Sharbot Lake, the perfect setting for opening night of "The Werewolfs Curse, or Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow."
Susan Stopford directed this gloriously silly tale of Harry Pate, an American student at the University of Lipsync, Roumania, who is bitten by a werewolf cub in the forest. During the full moon, Harry grows a huge head of hair and craves rare roast beef, to the despair of his vegetarian fiancee. Harry and Etta hope to break the curse with help from the evil professor Frank Einstein. Along the way they become entangled with several of the local villagers, and encounter Professor Wonder and his travelling curiosity show.
The opening stage set, consisting simply of dark tree-shadows on the curtains and a large door with a wolfshead knocker, was both beautiful and sinister, warning of dark deeds to come.
A melodrama needs to be played over the top but with apparent seriousness, and director Stopford successfully encouraged her cast to maintain this difficult balance. Barry and Danielle Harding, playing Harry and Etta, were convincing as the innocent young couple straying into the hands of a mad scientist. We soon agreed that Harry had a problem, as bits of doggy behaviour a nip at a flea, a bit of tail chasing began to show well before the moon came up. Throughout, his physical comedy was a treat to watch. Danielle carried her straight role with a graceful, believable consistency. Roseanna Redmond handled the large part of Dr Einstein very well, though it would have been interesting to have seen her exploit the camp potential of her role as a male.
Theres no denying that Noel Bateman, in his many roles as several closely-related villagers, stole the show. A running gag throughout the play, Bateman appeared variously and enthusiastically as: Frederick, the slyly insolent butler, Frieda, the ancient acid-tongued housekeeper, Heide the airhead maid with bouncing blonde braids, Olaf, the village idiot, Brunhilda the buxom cook and Hans the constable. Linda Zwier deserves praise for her backstage help with his rapid costume changes as he leapt back and forth between roles.
Renny Stopford, as Professor Wonder, performed his villainous laughter to perfection. Members of his wandering troupe were played by: Michael Cota, Karen Steele, Margaret Sullivan, Luke Maloney, Kevin Melcher, Emily Dickinson, Chava Field-Green, Siobhan Duggan and Sarah Hale. Each managed to project a different character, not an easy feat when appearing as a group. Special mention goes to Duggan for her belly-dancing cameo, and Cota for his avid attack on an orange and his commanding stage presence as a vampire whose mother had been a fruit bat. Mark Duarte, never onstage but a commanding presence none the less, played The Monster.
This play called for a wide range of costumes, and all were excellent. Peter Platenius stage sets of the library and the laboratory were meticulously detailed, and the sight of the bright rising moon drew a ripple of anticipation from the audience. The startling, huge bat flapping outside the window on the end of a fishing pole was hilariously reminiscent of old grade B horror movies. Unfortunately, the limitations of a gym stage slowed some of the scene changes, but the audience was having so much fun this seemed a minor matter.
It felt awfully good to laugh so hard. Thank you, North Frontenac Little Theatre.
