Willpower ready to part the Veil in Wolfville

BY WENDY ELLIOTT

The Advertiser

NovaNewsNow.com

Next week Willpower Theatre, which has been producing small-scale, quality productions in the Valley and Halifax for the last nine years, will bring two of Festival Antigonish's plays into the Al Whittle Theatre on Main Street in Wolfville.

When Ed Thomason left the Valley to take up the artistic directorship at Festival Antigonish, he and his actor spouse Shelley Thompson were keen to keep Willpower alive in the Valley. “Sharing productions, with Willpower producing locally, seemed a responsible and cost-effective way to do that,” Thompson says.

“Our first success was with bringing a children's play, Belinda The Bicycle Witch, in September of 2005. Then, summer 2006, we brought Good Things and Educating Rita to the same 160-seat space,” she noted.

“Willpower was delighted to find that we exceeded all our box office expectations over that last week of August. This, of course, was crucial, as Willpower is a small project-by-project-based company with no ongoing operational funding.

“This year we’ll be ‘recycling’ two hits from Festival Antigonish: Boeing Boeing, which is also presently playing in London's West End, and Molly's Veil.” Thompson calls Molly’s Veil “a gorgeous play by Winnipeg playwright Sharon Bajer, who is part of the company this season as actor and playwright in residence.”

Molly's Veil is the moving story of Charlotte Whitton, who was the first female mayor of a major Canadian city and a colourful and controversial character. Thompson, who first came to Wolfville in 1995 to play at the Atlantic Theatre Festival, performs the role of Whitton.

Bajer, who has been playwright-in-residence at Festival Antigonish since early June, says this is the third production of Molly’s Veil after Winnipeg and Kamloops. “I did some rewriting and I’m really happy with this production.”

Bajer, who plays journalist Emily Wicks, said she was inspired by a 1999 National Post story about Whitton’s letters being read 25 years after her death. “As an actress, I don’t think there’s enough female-centric work and this was an excellent subject matter. Same-sex marriage legislation was just being talked about then, so it was timely.”

Molly’s Veil, Bajer notes, is not a first-year level course on Whitton, but a more universal love story. “The theme is one that anyone can relate to. And it’s beautifully done.”

Currently, Bajer is working on a musical comedy about four women who see the same therapist. After 17 years in show business, she expects it will take a year or two before it hits the boards.

The Willpower/FAST season in Wolfville looks like this: Tuesday, Aug. 28, Molly's Veil, 8 p.m.; Wed., Aug. 29, Boeing Boeing, 8 p.m.; Thursday, Aug. 30, Boeing Boeing, 2 p.m.; Molly's Veil, 8 p.m., Friday, Aug. 31; Molly's Veil, 8 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 1; Molly's Veil, 2 p.m., Boeing, Boeing, 8 p.m.; Sunday, Sept. 2, Boeing, Boeing, 8 p.m.