One-man show set to entertain

BY ALBERT KRAMBERGER

editor@transcontinental.ca

A Canadian institution is coming to Hudson Village Theatre for a limited run this week.

Wingfield’s Folly, written by Dan Needles, is the third play of six-part series that started in 1985 — and has been entertaining Canadians ever since. The storyline follows the adventures of Walt Wingfield, a retired Toronto stockbroker who buys a farm in a small town just north of Hogtown. The plot follows a series of letters by Walt to his friend, the editor of a community newspaper.

Wingfield’s Folly, which first opened in 1990, is a one-man performance acted out by Rod Beattie, who is directed by his brother Douglas.

“We’ve had a really good run,” said Douglas Beattie. “We’ve toured all over Canada and did some shows in the States as well. We’ve probably done from 3,500 to 4,000 performances in the series.”

The director said his brother slips into different characters and scenes with ease. He says their play is mostly “dramatic story telling,” with Rod taking on the role of the editor, Walt as well as being the narrator at times.

“Most of the play is acted out, not told to you,” Beattie said. “(Rod) does it quite magically, some people think it’s more than one person acting in the play.

“It’s also a very funny play,” he added.

The set, of course, is a farm environment scene but the audience is asked to imaginatively move from place to place, Beattie said.

The first two plays in the series, Letter from Wingfield and Wingfield’s Progress, were performed at Hudson Village Theatre a few years ago, Beattie said.

Besides the Wingfield plays, the CBC made the story into a TV series and the 30 episodes are now shown on Bravo Thursdays.

Wingfield’s Folly runs in Hudson from Thursday to Sunday. For more information, check www.villagetheatre.ca or call

450-458-5361.뢺