Irish Asssociation of Manitoba

Having recently returned home from an epic road trip across the heartland (with special thanks to Gerry and Pat at Gerry Gordon’s Mazda) all the way to Milwaukee Wisconsin, (a city known not only for its beer), the Tara Players have once again put forth a memorable ‘appearance’ – both worldly and other-worldly – at the Acting Irish Festival.

Tara’s offering this year was a fun, lighthearted production of Bernard Farrell’s The Spirit of Annie Ross, also our Season Finale for the 2006/2007 Season, and a North American premiere. The production was well received by audiences and critics alike, with newcomer Jane Testar winning the award for best supporting actress, and Erik Fjelsted garnering a nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Congratulations to our talented and charming newcomers Jane and Erik, as well as to Director Brendan Carruthers and the entire cast and crew of Annie Ross for their successful production and for all their hard work over the last few months.Tara is actively planning the 2007/2008 Season – our 25th Anniversary Dinner Theatre Season – stay tuned for what promises to be a most memorable anniversary year and one that you won’t want to miss a minute of! We will be in contact with all of our current subscribers by phone in late summer to renew their ticket packages and secure their priority seating (all subscribers have first right of refusal on their current seats, which means they will not be sold to anyone else until that subscriber has released their seats). Once the season has been announced and built, Subscriptions can then be paid for either by phone with a major credit card or in person at the Irish Association (at specified times) with cash or cheque.

Look for more information in upcoming IAM bulletins or visit the Tara Players section of the IAM website, at irishassociation.ca, or call 772-9830 and leave a message where you can be reached and someone will get back to you as soon as possible. You can also feel free to contact me directly at rpmgray@mts.net should you have any comments, questions or concerns.We look forward to seeing, serving and entertaining you in the coming year.

Yours truly, Paul Gray
Artistic Director

Hugh G. Rice was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1946. He qualified in 1968 from St. Joseph’s College of Education, Belfast with an Art Teacher’s Certificate (Distinction), and a Certificate in Education (First). His early career was spent teaching Art and Design at secondary and tertiary levels in Belfast before deciding to teach in Zambia, Central Africa in 1974.

While in Zambia he was Artistic director to the Irish Wild Geese Association where his art work was prized for hotel and theatre displays. The latter part of his thirteen years in Africa were spent as professor of Art and Design Education, Teacher Training, at Evelyn Hone College, Lusaka, Zambia.Hugh spends his time painting in Canada and his native Ireland. His Canadian paintings reflect the flatness of the Manitoba prairies while his love for the Irish landscape is expressed in soft hues often painted on a square canvas.He was the featured artist in Woodlands Gallery in Winnipeg in 2006 in a show called ‘Flatness in the Prairie’. His work is also exhibited in the Nicholas Gallery in Belfast and in the Janet Ross Gallery is Ramelton, Co. Donegal. In Canada, his work can be seen at the Galerie Beauchamp in Quebec city . An exhibition of his most recent work is on exhibition at Woodlands Gallery in Winnipeg starting May 24, 2007. This show is called “From Irish Glen to Canadian Prairie”. His work is also profiled in the Summer 2007 issue of “Galleries West”. His exhibition runs from the 24th of May to the 9th of June.

One need only think of films like The Blair Witch Project, The Sixth Sense, and Truly, Madly, Deeply to appreciate the popularity of a good ghost story. With its narrative suspense, flashing lights, and (my personal favorite) the heartbroken sobbing of an unseen spirit, The Tara Players’ final play of the season—their entry for this May’s Acting Irish International Theatre Festival in Milwaukee—offered an entertaining tale of haunting, paranormally and personally.

Bernard Farrell’s The Spirit of Annie Ross, directed by Brendan Carruthers, takes place one dark and stormy night (as is right and proper), when husband and wife Larry and Helen pair up with two younger brave souls, the bookish Colm and the sweet Ashling, to spend the night in the purportedly haunted Hamilton House as part of a radio-sponsored fundraiser. The long-dead maid, Annie, is thought to appear one night each year; the group is locked up together in a (symbolically loaded) space of dark passageways, ominous basements (oh, those hints at the deep unconscious), and cloth-covered furniture (covering up/uncovering a significant theme in the action). Annie is not the only ghost, we discover, each character haunted by her/his own personal demons: Larry, by traumatic memories of a bank robbery; Helen, by her secret Monday night infidelities; Colm, by his confusion concerning vocation and identity; and Ashling, by her guilt of not being with her mother at her moment of death (instead, out happily conceiving a child at that very instant and then, unhappily, losing said baby).

This show was well cast. April Gregora (as Helen) communicated a necessary nervous energy and displayed solid comedic timing, eliciting tangible audience response; Ian Filingham (Larry) performed “containment” well; a repressed fear and anger held tightly in place by a stiff postural demeanour, one let loose with the Jameson’s. (I do wonder if male Irish playwrights might rethink, however, the theatrical cliché of overdrinking as the primary method for men to access and hyper-articulate their emotional pain.) Newcomer Erik Fjeldsted (Colm) conveyed the naturalized sense of an earnest, theoretically engaged young man (and was a great foil for Larry’s conservatism). Another newcomer, Jane Testar (Ashling), ably moved across the spectrum from bubbly to brokenhearted to blurting (and handled one unexpected moment on stage with extemporaneous finesse). But, without a doubt, the grand treat was Peter Hudson’s portrayal of William, whose dragging limp, fierce growl, and withering expressions made for the most comedic moments of the performance.

It’s strange that a story about invisible spirits and absence should involve so much presence. The efforts and effects of those working off-stage (on set, lighting, and sound) acted directly on our sensibilities. Mischievous Annie was all present, too: one night a prop disappeared, only to appear unexpectedly on stage; another night, a coffee pot crashed to the floor, mid-performance; yet another, a child in the audience (mine) started to shriek (yes, time to revisit my parental choices), a moment of unexpected disruption. The playwright, himself, was present in consultations with Brendan Carruthers, as was UK director Frank Cosgrove, all of whom helped the North American premiere of this play come alive—like Annie, herself.

Thanks to all who turned up to welcome Tony and his crew to Winnipeg. The IAM would especially like to thank the McConnell School of Dance, the McDonnell School of Irish Dance, Winnipeg Celtic Pipe Band, and musicians from Comhaltas Winnipeg: John Madden, Jeremy Hull, Maurice Guimond, David Strang, John MacKenzie, Ed Larter, Terry Galaway, Jacquie Reimer, Kevin Naughten, and Kyle Borley.