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It's dangerous being honest, but being partially-honest is even more dangerous.

So, says Peter, the ice-man, in a scene from "Burglaries in Progress," the latest production being brought to the Lucknow Town Hall theatre stage by HAWK Theatre.

In this comedic farce by Laurent Goulet, Big Sam is a local fence for stolen goods, with a reputation for paying the lowest price on merchandise. He is also paranoid about being robbed so he treats his home like a fortress. 

While he and his social-climbing wife, Thea, are out at a party, several people take the opportunity to, in fact, rob the place.

While, Maggie, the Borrowes' live-in senior citizen, is trying to carry on a romance with gentlemanly Oswald, local locksmith Howie comes to retrieve his stolen chair and decides to grab what he can. He refuses to listen to his honest wife, Lucy.

Add to this a punker ex-convict  named Bud, a dangerous escaped convict named Dan, and the cool-nerved ice-man, Peter, and the evening looks as if it's going to be trouble for more than just Sam and Thea.

Besides Yungblut, several other HAWK veterans are taking to the stage in this show, including Lynne Jewson as Maggie, Lynn Shepherd-Adamson as Lucy, Jonathan Nelson as Howie, Donald Andrew as Oswald, and Ryan Johnston as Big Sam.

Jewson is stellar on stage as the absent-minded Maggie, providing plenty of comic relief.

Joining them are newcomers: Bill Cooper as Dan, Graham Finlay as Bud, and Vivien King-Sherwood as Thea Borrowes.

Murray Yungblut (L) as Peter, and Jonathan Nelson (R) as Howie, drag an unconscious Dan (Bill Cooper) into the basement

Cooper, 36, of Holyrood, says he auditioned for the part because he thought it would be interesting to play a bad guy.

"Murray (Yungblut) asked me to try out, so I did and I got the part," he says. "The biggest challenge is learning all the lines, but it's a good play, and I'm having a lot of fun."

A rehabilitation support worker, Cooper works with people who have been injured in car accidents. He likes sports, especially baseball and hockey, and is married to Corrie.

Finlay, 16, is the son of Joan and Paul Finlay of Lucknow.

He was encouraged by Nelson and Johnston to audition and he got the part of Bud, the young punker and ex-con.

"It's a real character switch for me," he says, with a laugh. "And it's really different being on stage, but it's also a lot of fun."

The Grade 11 student at F.E. Madill Secondary School in Wingham, plays guitar and enjoys computers and music.

King-Sherwood lives in Wingham and is a teacher and guidance counsellor at F.E. Madill Secondary School.

"I heard about the play from (director) Maureen Matchett," she says, "and I thought it would be a good experience. It's a lot of fun but it's very challenging as well."

She enjoys being on stage and the Thea character is great to portray. "She's so over-the-top and that makes her easy to play. The biggest challenge was learning all the lines."

The best part, she says, is getting to know the cast and crew on this show.

Producer Gail Van der Hoek says patrons of this production will notice a huge difference to the stage. It has been extended about six feet, thanks to a $3,000 donation from the Lucknow Kinsmen.

Yungblut, also a local carpenter, did the work over the winter, and plans to add doors to the front of the stage as well.

The extension makes the stage surface larger and more secure.

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Saturday, April 16, 2011