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Wednesday, September 12, 2001 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER B7 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT West End Studio Theatre will open the Oakville Drama Series at the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts tomorrow at 8 p.m. with Steel M agnolias, starring Alison Preece as Annelle, left, Virginia McEwen as Clairee, Joyce Grant as Ouiser, Sharman Gur as Truvy and, rear, Agatha Baczynski as Shelby and Diane Brokenshire as M'Lynn. Tickets are $17. m eedl brea+Kimg jfcteC-- C° ^ jK 4 BOATING COURSES Canadian Power & Sail Squadron REGISTRATION Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2001 7:30pm - 9:30 pm M.M. Robinson High School (Guelph Line and Upper Middle Rd., Burlington) Photo by Peter C. McCusker For further information: 90 5 -3 3 3 -0 8 2 6 1 -8 8 8 -3 1 2 -1 0 0 0 x 329 9 0 5 -6 5 9 -2 6 2 8 BoatingC ourses@ aol.com www .bigw ave.ca/~janus/bpss Theatre that makes you think and feel By Carol Baldwin ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR M en talk about sports, business, cars, tools, etc. Women talk about everything, and in so doing, they expose their vulner ability, but they also forge intimate relation ships with their friends. T hat's how Diane Brokenshire sees women's friendships in general and the cama raderie of the characters in Steel Magnolias in particular. Brokenshire portrays M 'Lynn in West End Studio Theatre's production of this wellknown play-cum-movie, which opens tomor row night (Thursday) at the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts. "Steel Magnolias - better than the movie," she quips. "It's one set - a beauty salon. You don't get to move around. And you really get to see the six friends - friends to the bone. Love, friendship, respect - that's what the play's about - no matter what you do, it's accept able," adds director Yo Mustafa. Brokenshire agrees, noting that the non- judgmental atmosphere in this beauty shop in small-town Louisiana, demonstrates how six women can develop lifelong friendships, despite their different ages, personalities and lifestyles. Yet, adds Mustafa, the play was written as a short story by a young man whose sister died of diabetes. And it was a theatre compa ny that brought .his story to life in a script for the stage. "That's what I love about this play - there is no extraneous dialogue. It doesn't spend the audience's time telling them a lot of stuff they don't need to know," says Brokenshire. "It's so brilliantly written. It's in your face right away." And there is humour in every scene from the wedding to the grave. And it's the humour as well as the sadness that reflects the strength of the human spirit and the bonds that people can and do form, as well as the importance of everyday life, she says. Both Brokenshire and Mustafa stress that entertainment should elicit more than laugh ter from theatregoers. According to them, it should exact reason and a gamut of emotions. "A lot of people never walk out of the the atre feeling that they have been changed that they thought a thought they never thought before, or felt a feeling they never felt before, where they reconnected with something that they lost," Brokenshire explains. "And that's what theatre is sup posed to do. It's supposed to make you think and make you feel." She also believes that theatre, like wine, is an acquired taste. And she and Mustafa would like to lure audiences away from the young wines and the Chardonnays and into the bur gundies and Bordeauxs. Steel Magnolias will do that with the range of emotions it elicits through three-dimen sional characters that people can relate to, says Brokenshire. One lesson it teaches, she adds, is that the support you need will be there if only you have the courage to reach out to the people around you. `T h a t's part of the lesson o f this play," says the Oakville actor, who played the part of M 'Lynn in another production of Steel Magnolias 10 years ago. During the interven ing decade she was m other-of-the-bride twice, and now she is a grandmother. Both (S e e `N o such thing' on page B 6 ) A Volunteer Orientation Meeting is scheduled for M Thursday, September 13th at 7:30 p.m. a. the Bronte Butterfly O ffice Boardroom 2 3 6 8 Lakeshore Road West, Oakville W e a re looking for the follow ing volunteer positions; M a rk e tin g a n d C om m unications, O ffic e Reception, M a n n in g D isplays a n d Assisting a t Events & Fund Raising. A n y o n e interested is invited to attend o r call for m ore inform ation. THE BRONTE B U T T E R F L Y FOUNDATION 90 5 -8 2 5 -2 2 4 5 Fax: 9 0 5 -8 2 5 -8 6 2 2 E-mail: butterfly@ spectranet.ca (5nqlfe g lJ ir u j fm o n s CONNON'S 13th ANNUAL BERTIN STABLES English Riding School M4SD undmW|H«y. JSI. Oahjl» [M/2 MiltsWesnHwy. #!5I (9 0 5 ) 8 2 7 -4 6 7 8 website www.bertinstables.com e-mail: bertin@webtv.net ENTIRE 2001 NURSERY PLANT INVENTORY To Subscribe call our Circular (905) 845-974 ROBSON RD. FARM, W A TER D O W N LO C A TIO N O N L Y LAST OPPORTUNITY For Seniors 65 Plus . . . S p e c ia l TM THIS WEEK at the GARDEN CENTRE FOUR DAYS ONLY Wed.-Sat. (Sept. 19-22) W o o d s id e m ew s TULIP BULB SALE Selected Tulip Bulbs Ju st ea. Sale Ends . ^ ^ t v Sat. Sept. 22nd v / S w 25* -A Cash Carry -A Landscapers Welcome PLEASE NOTE: NO SALES BEFORE GATES OPEN WARRANTY DOES NOT APPLY. 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