Off the ark, onto the stage
Posted By SUSAN DOOLAN
Posted 2 months ago
Wet days and soggy nights. Barrie has only had a taste this fall of what poor old Noah and his clan went through back in olden times.
For 40 days and 40 nights, his family was cooped on an ark along with a ton of animals waiting out the worst storm in the history of mankind. Tight quarters also make for a lot of fun in this musical retelling of Noah's story, called Two by Two, at South Simcoe Theatre. It opens tonight.
The journey begins when Noah is given a birthday present -one with a double edged sword.
"He becomes younger -- 90," said Walter Stewart of his 600-year-old character who was made centuries younger in age in order to carry out the task of building the ark and withstanding the long journey.
The story of Noah and his ark is almost universal in that it can be found in three different major religions: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. This version, originally written for Danny Kaye, resulted in an number of Tony nominations. It was also the last musical collaboration of Richard Rodgers and Martin Charnin. Two by Two, written by Peter Stone, is based on Clifford Odets' last play, The Flowering Peach. Odets was a leading playwright in the 1930s, known for bringing theatre to the middle class and writing about socialist issues. Among actors, he is known for being one of the first actors to use the Stanislavski method of acting.
At the heart of the story is family relationships, the nature of which hadn't changed much through time. It is their dysfunction that makes from very comedic moments. The show is also a musical.
For Stewart and Sally Wente, who plays Noah's wife, Ester, Two by Two marks their biggest role to date. Both have been involved with SST for a number of years.
Wente became involved with SST around seven years ago when she living in Cookstown (she has since moved to Barrie).
"I always enjoyed going to the theatre, the ballet but hadn't done anything since high school," recalled Wente, who wanted to wait until her children were older before she "ran away from home to have fun."
Since then she's worked with director Joy Bainborough three times including SST's Steel Magnolias where she played "Ouiser" and earlier this year where she appeared as the crazy lady in Discovering Elvis. Now as Ester, she has a bunch of kids bringing the total cast to eight, and has been married to Noah around 125 years.
"I obviously wasn't a child bride," she laughed.
As a couple they deal with a lot of human elements from growing old together to love and faith.
Stewart, who lives in Beeton, has been involved with SST for the past 10 years. Like Wente, he did theatre in high school, and, one day, saw an audition notice and thought "what the heck".
"I find it very rewarding meeting people from all walks of life and just to watch it -it's just a piece of magic really," he said.
One of the highlights of the play is its set. It was apparently quite challenging to illustrate the ark and all the animals (two of every species) but designer Christina Luck, stage manager Dan Galea and Ken and Kathy Simpson brought lots of technical wizardry to the task.
The South Simcoe Theatre presents Two by Two Nov. 12-29 at The Old Town Hall, 1 Hamilton St., Cookstown. Performances are Thursday to Saturday at 8 p. m., Sunday at 2 p. m. Tickets are $22, available at the box office, 458-4432.
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