The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

14 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, May 15, 1984 Now, what have we here? The sardonic George shows a piece of (gasp) undergarment to Beattie Cooper. AN (.] parts Star ex! | Pres ] Hectve | | | J PHILP Nn 11) ---- A-- . PONTIAC BUICK LIMITED 10 VANEDWARD DRIVE, PORT PERRY - 985-8474 One-liners plentiful by John B. McClelland '"The Hand that Cradles the Rock" is a light-hearted comedy about - what happens when a modern couple find their roles rever- sed. The Borelians prod- uction of the two act play opened at Town Hall 1873 in Port Perry with three perform- ances on May 10, 11 and 12, and there are three more performances slated for May 17, 18 and 19. Brian Doddridge plays Ross Cameron, a struggling and frustrat- ed novelist who finds himself stuck at home with housework and a newborn wailing baby; while his wife, Alex, played by Roz Pritchard is travelling all over the country as an ambitious interior decorator. Ross seems to resent both his role as "House husband' and the fact that his wife is proving very successful as the breadwinner. The play opens with the bearded Ross scrambling around the stage trying to feed the baby, change the diap- ers, and muttering about a plugged-up toilet. Enter Alex, fresh from a business trip to Montreal and eagerly waiting the phone call that could lead to yet another fat contract for her decorating skills. While his wife is out making her way in the business world, Ross tells us that things are so hum-drum around the house that he's "starting to look for- ward to visits from the Avon Lady'. In Act 1, we also meet Alex's mother, Beattie Cooper, played with just the right amount of zip by Sandra Blakney. She's accompanied by her friend George Withers, a tweedy, sar- donic middle-aged man played by Vern Vogel. With his dry, yet percep- tive wit. George has some of the funniest one-liners in a play that relies heavily on one- liners and double en- tendres for its humour. The final character we meet is Carolyn Bricker, a prim, proper and stuffy public health nurse who just happens to arrive at the Cam- eron household to check up on the post-natal health of Alex. Nurse Bricker, in her sensible shoes, and grey skirt is played by Janice Pashley and she is very much the opposite to Alex who is a chic dresser with lots of make-up and glamorous hair style. Although Act 1 seems to drag a bit in places, the comedy picks up in the second Act and Vern Vogel as George has a truly funny scene during a dream sequence which had the audience responding with plenty of laughter. ' The plot, if it can called that, begins to thicken when Nurse Bricker, who is really a romantic novelist, returns to the Cameron house in a blizzard, warms up with plenty of brandy and ends up in the bath tub. As Ms. Bricker, Jan- ice Pashley makes the transition very well from stuffy nurse one minute to inebriated romantic novelist the next. As might be expected, Alex finds out that Nurse Bricker has.spent the night at the Cam- eron household and she flies into a fit of jealous rage. just fine in the end, however. as Alex and a> Everything turns out Ross vow to pay more attention to each other; Beattie and George are off to get married and Nurse Bricker gets back into her working clothes and her prim and proper manner. While some of the ht nour in this play written by Warren Graves is predictable, there are many genuine- ly funny sequences. It is a farce without any heavy duty social mess- ages, and thankfully, all's well that ends well. well. The set, which does not change throughout the play, is well design- ed and functional, con- sisting of a modern sofa, a large desk and a book case with stereo set and the bottles of brandy. For some reason not explained, the play is set in a small town near Saskatoon. in Borelians comedy | There are no special effects, other than the sound of the wailing baby off-stage and some coloured lighting during the highly funny dream sequence. The characters play their roles well, although in the opening act, Ross sounds like a harried house husband but really doesn't appear like one. We only catch a glimpse of one soiled diaper, and the wailing baby is heard but never seen. Still, this is a light- hearted and at times very funny production under the direction of Kathleen James; an easy evening of enter- tainment just right for this time of year. For ticket information on the performances on May 17, 18 and 19 call 985-3784. > Sd In a jealous rage, Alex gives Ross a piece of her mind about who was that lady in the blanket who answered the phone at 2:30 in the morning. The audience knows, happened. UXBRIDGE MEMORIAL BY REQUEST 38 YEARS FOR PERSONAL SERVICE VISIT OUR SHOWROOM HOME APPOINTMENTS & TRANSPORTATION PERSONAL EXPERIENCE Quality & Satisfaction Assured by our own Written Guarantee. 852-3472 108 BROCK ST. WEST but we're not sure just what COMPANY MEMORIALS OF DISTINCTION GRANITE - MARBLE BRONZE Cemetery Lettering & Renovations Custom Designing & Lettering lp ------ de a ------