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Rod Beattie brings fan favourite to the Waterloo Entertainment Centre he Wingfield play series may be based I on a mythical small town, but it's a place that's familiar to many people. And that's what makes it so appealing to the audience - they see themselves or someone they know in the characters. "lt's especially interesting because this area we live in is full of people who come from the land, so they are the people in the town," said Allison Grant, the artistic direc- tor of Theatre Athena. which is presenting Wingfield On Ice at the Waterloo Entertain- ment Centre starting next week. "The people are-such a human and real community of characters, real characters that fill a town." The Wingfield series, by Canadian play- wright Dan Needles. revolves around its cen- tral character, Walt Wingfield, a stockbroker who leaves the rat race behind for life on a farm in Persephone Township, a fictional place north of Toronto where he faces many challenges. 'Wingfield Onlce' Walt is someone everyone can relate to. said solo performer Rod Beanie. 59, who's been playing the character for nearly two decades, . "Wait is, in many ways. the best of us as a people." he said. "He has many of the virtues other nationalities don't regard as virtues like a sense of humour about himself and a great tolerance of others and an idealism that doesnt flag." In Wingfield On Ice, the fifth in the series of six plays, Walt. now a married man with a child on the way, finds that what he thought was a pretty harmonious community is actually rife with private grudges and feuds, some ofwhich have gone on for a long time. "He feels that sihce he's bringing a life into the world, he should " this," Rod said. "And in typical Walt fashion, he tries. But, in typical Walt fashion he gets an unfavourable swat upside the head for this, By [mull-Tn Gammon Chronstlefad u; n Rod Beanie reprises the role of Walt Wingfield in Theatre Athena's production of Wingfield this, On ice at the Waterloo Entertainment Centre starting Nov. 13. ARTS FOCUS Would you like to have your child's letter to Santa printed in your Community Newspaper? This year the Waterloo Chronicle and City Parent will be publishing letters to Santa (at no cost to you) as part of a special holiday wish on Dec. 19. Mail your letters to us at: l Cambridge Times " _.-- , - c/o Speciality Publications xa " we N 1460 Bishop Street _ == ‘ l ‘ Cambridge, ON , stii'isrii' "e NIR 7N6 _ " l l Note: Only the child 's first name and age will be published. We reserve the right to edit Letters received after deadllne of Nov. 20 will not be published. "" “7'1 Hey moro (WHY or “HIV "W0 WATERLUO CHRONICU". . Wednesday. November 7. 2007 . " first from the people and then nature takes over and provides an even more chilling atmosphere." Deépite its earnest subject matter, Wing field On Ice is a comedy. "Most comedy is about putting cats in toilets and things. But we don't do that. We make people see what's funny about the real things in life," he said. frant. meanwhile. credits Needles' "great" writing, which takes a serious story'- line and makes it funny. "Any really great play has that human ele- ment and we can poke fun at the serious things in our life and laugh at them, but they also make us cry" she said. She's excited to have an actor of Rods stature performing at the Waterloo Enter- tainmem Centre, at 24 King St. N., in uptown Waterloo, "And it's ttuit dichotomy between laugh- ter and tears, that teetering on the edge. that really touches our hearts." "lt's wonderful for us to have someone like him doing a presentation of Wingrreld because he's such a fantastic actor," she said. Rod, meanwhile. who quips he's never had a "real" job, began acting at the age of 15, when he played a Holocaust victim in The Deputy. which played at Toronto's old Crest Theatre. That sparked a career that's spanned sew eral decades, including 15 seasons with the Stratford Festival. Since 1985, the Dora Award winner has performed in the Wingfield series, which has sold-out across the country in cities such as Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary. The play series began after"Needles, one of Rod's childhood friends, wrote some newspaper column? 1bou) Walt. _ - later, when Rod's brother, Douglas Beat- tie, was looking to direct a one-person play for Rod to act in, they thought of thus; columns. "We asked him if he could do it as a play, Continued on page 27