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www.oakvillebeaver.com Artscene Oakville Beaver · FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2007 28 A Bad Year for Tomatoes is full of nuts Can an aging Hollywood actress find peace and tranquility in Beaver Haven? By Krissie Rutherford OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF E veryone knows those nosy neighbours who won't mind their own business. They're quirky, odd and sometimes even a little crazy ­ and Beaver Haven is full of them. The small Vermont town and its characters are the setting for the latest Oakville Players' production, A Bad Year for Tomatoes, which takes the stage at the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts next week. The action happens around tired Hollywood starlet Myra Marlowe, who leaves the bright lights behind in search of the tranquility she thinks she'll find in a small town. "I've been acting since I was three, and I'm now in my early 40s and I need to get ASHLEY HUTCHESON / OAKVILLE BEAVER out of Hollywood to find the real me," says Jacqueline Funston, who plays Marlowe. NUTTY NEIGHBOURS: Beaver Haven's two busy bodies (l to r), Cora Gump (Lois Minard) and Reba Harper (Linda Rouleau), arrive uninvited But things don't go quite as planned. at the home of Hollywood actress Myra Marlowe (Jacqueline Funston), who moved to the small town to find peace and quiet in the Oakville Players' "All these crazy neighbours keep bargproduction of the comedy, A Bad Year for Tomatoes. Cora and Reba are just two examples of why Myra isn't able to find what she was looking for. ing in on me, they literally won't leave me alone and they're just nuts." autobiography, strikes back against her erary talents, and it's a comedy. "She's trying to be something she's Willa Mae Wilcox takes the cake in that neighbours. Trying to deter them from "I just found the script very funny, and not," said Funston. "She's trying to be this department. visiting, she creates her own crazy charac- it's always a great thing when you can nurturing person but it's not working out. "She's the crazy neighbour who may or ter for Beaver Haven. make people laugh," said the former She's basically putting on this act, but it's may not be a witch," "She invents this psy- Oakville, now not her." says director Andrew "It turns out there are chotic sister who lives Mississauga resident. "In her attempt to find All her life, Marlowe Humeniuk, adding, "She a lot of characters in upstairs," said Funston, "What I do also like her real self, she keeps has wanted to raise has some really great Beaver Haven." smiling. "She's basically about the show is it's fooling herself. She can't tomatoes ­ that explains moments." a 10-year-old caught in a fully developed, a lot of really find herself until the title of the play ­ but Kristen Pontisso A Bad year for Tomatoes 40-year-old's body." the characters are more even that doesn't work somebody beats it into her." plays Wilma Mae and is director Andrew Humeniuk Myra even tape fully drawn than you'll out in Beaver Haven. joined in stirring things records a voice to repre- find in a lighter comedy. Jacqueline Funston "In her attempt to up for Myra by two busy sent her crazy, made-up "A lot of the writing is commenting on her character, find her real self, she body neighbours, Cora Gump and Reba sister and plays it while the neighbours are very rich as well. Hollywood actress Myra Marlowe keeps fooling herself," Harper, played by Lois Minard and Linda over to try ­ unsuccessfully ­ to scare Realistically, though, the said Funston. "She can't Rouleau. them away. first drop for me was the really find herself until In one scene, Cora and Myra have too Those are just some of the ridiculous comedy." somebody beats it into her." much to drink and things get out of hand. events that go on in A Bad Year for Included in this comedy is a love story That somebody is, in fact, one of the Rounding out the group of nutty neigh- Tomatoes. involving the relentless Hollywood agent crazy neighbours. bours is Piney the woodsman, played by It's written by John Patrick, who's bet- Tom Lamont, played by Quentin BrayleyA Bad Year for Tomatoes runs March 22 Michael Burns. ter known for his Pulitzer Prize and Tony Berger. - 24 and March 28 - 31 at the Oakville While Myra is trying to "escape the Award winning drama, The Teahouse of But the major story is that of a woman Centre for the Performing Arts, 130 Navy phonies of Hollywood" and the characters the August Moon. trying to find herself. St. Curtain at 8 p.m. there, Humeniuk says, "It turns out there Humeniuk, who worked in TV and film "She's looking for the real her as much Tickets cost $22 and are available by are a lot of characters in Beaver Haven." for years and is directing his first produc- as she's looking for the real people around calling the box office at 905-815-2021 or Struggling to find that tranquility she tion in Oakville, says he was attracted to her," says Humeniuk. online at www.oakvillecentre.ca. Half price was yearning for, Myra, who's writing her the play because it showcases Patrick's litIt's a long journey, too. for students and seniors on March 28.