Mazo de la Roche, Timothy Findley and Stephen Leacock – all famous award-winning authors whose names were once familiar to everyone, but now perhaps mainly to students and literature aficionados.
Whether or not you remember de la Roche and the Whiteoaks of Jalna, Findley’s The Wars or Leacock’s humour is not too important, say officials involved with a new musical entitled Riding off in All Directions … The Telling of Lies.
The characters lead the audience through a series of scenes, with songs inspired by music of the 20s and 30s and French art songs, showing how people create fictitious versions of their lives.
An outrageous story related in the play by Leacock, played by Colin Fox who also directs, led to the title to the production.
The plot arises from a twisted tale by Timothy Findley in which he whimsically conjectures that the history of his family included Leacock and de la Roche – she in turn has her whims by changing not only her name and ancestry, but also her date of birth.
Daniel Bratton, author of the biography Thirty-Two Short Views of Mazo de la Roche, wrote the script.
Peter Skoggard, whose work has been performed in Toronto, Cleveland and New York, as well as Elora, composed the music, which is performed by Tilly Kwooyman (clarinet), Jason White (piano) and Emmet Glancie (double bass).
A fundraising evening is planned on Oct. 5 at the Drew House in Elora starting at 6:30pm. Admission is $5 and includes drinks and finger food.
Bratton, Skoggard and Fox will each give a very short talk on the making of this production – and will answer questions. Also present will be some members of the cast and Esmée de la Roche. The musicians will play snippets from the songs.
During the fundraiser, there will be a “wacky” auction of unusual items plus a raffle.
The production is backed by the Mississauga Players Theatre Group, which was founded about 60 years ago in Mississauga, also known as Mazo country. It is for this reason that Riding off in All Directions … The Telling of Lies is opening at the Maja Prentice Theatre in Mississauga.
Performances are scheduled for Nov. 10, 11, 16, 17 and 18 at 7:30pm, as well as a 2pm matinee on Nov. 12.
A bus with a washroom has been booked to offer round trip transportation from Elora on Nov. 12 for those who would like to enjoy the matinee performance.
En route there will be a stop at Benares Museum, believed by many to have been the inspiration for Jalna, home of the Whiteoaks. A short tour of the museum and a boxed lunch are planned.
The cost is $65. To book a ticket call 519-846-2551 before the end of October.
