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Classic Theatre Festival veterans play romantic couple in marriage comedy Arts – Toronto’s Scott Clarkson and Rachel Jones have appeared in numerous Classic Theatre Festival productions, but until this summer, they were never in the same play. That’s changed with their starring roles in the comedy The Marriage-Go-Round, currently playing in Perth until Sept. 1 at the Full Circle Theatre at 26 Craig Street. It’s the kind of play that has women completely relating to one of the characters and men with the other, with plenty of couples elbowing each other during moments of recognition. The veteran actors play the husband and wife at the heart of the story, college professors who, set up on separate sides of the stage, provide lectures on a topic that was not publicly discussed very much in the 1950s, when all appeared to be well behind America’s picket white fences. Their discussions on the state of marriage, monogamy, and infidelity are frank and often funny, and they frequently go in and out of lecture mode as they enter the real story of their lives, one that often draws verbal comments, oohs and ahs from audience members, some of whom have actually talked back to the characters on stage given how realistic the story becomes. Reflecting on the role of Content Delville, Jones says “getting to play a strong, intelligent and funny woman is wonderful. Last year I played Mary in Mary,
Mary, a different character who also had those same characteristics. What’s interesting about this play is it’s 1958, and so her reactions to some of the marriage strains is perhaps different than how a modern woman might react. But you also see her progression from her trying to keep everything pleasant and smoothing things over to the anxiety
she experiences.” Jones especially loves a scene in which she confronts the young Swedish bombshell who wants to borrow her husband in order to father the perfect child, one that would combine their high IQs with the young woman’s perfect physical form. As the Dean of Women, she is used to calling young girls into her office to lay
down the law, but not when it involves someone tempting her husband. Playing her husband is an actor who for the past two years starred in two-character plays, both as the man who ages over 35 years in a marriage in The Fourposter and as a lawyer dealing with divorce in Two for the Seesaw. Scott Clarkson says the role of professor Paul Delville is a very different one for him. “I often look at who originated the roles, and in this case, it was Claudette Colbert and Charles Boyer, and I loved a lot of his work in the past. So part of the excitement is stepping into his shoes and trying to recreate or imagine something that someone
you admire has already done,” he said. “Having some French background myself, I have channeled one of my uncles in developing the role as well.” There are moments of pure panic because “Paul is a moral character who prides himself on being the Rock of Gibraltar, but he is also a man who is faced with great beauty and youth that wants to be with him, so there is a big conflict of being the upstanding moral citizen and being the man of understandably baser instinct. When those two worlds collide, it gets a little messy, but also very funny,” he said. Playwright Leslie Stevens was perhaps inspired to write The Marriage-Go-Round in
partial answer to what would happen if someone like Albert Einstein and Marilyn Monroe got together and had a baby. The writing has a timeless quality to it, and as JACK-FM radio host Wayne Cavanagh commented, “The strength of Leslie Stevens’ writing and his view of relationships remain strong and relevant even 55 years after the play’s first opening. If you only have one night out this summer I strongly recommend you take the time to see this laugh-out-loud play.” The Marriage-Go-Round runs until Sept. 1, and tickets are available online at www.classictheatre.ca, 1-877-283-1283, or at Tickets Please, 398 Foster Street.
Family planning brings financial relief Manage Your Money
Photo courtesy of JEAN-DENIS LABELLE
There’s a lot of horsing around that couples will relate to in the Classic Theatre Festival’s comedy The Marriage-GoRound, starring Rachel Jones, left, and Scott Clarkson, and playing until Sept. 1 at the Full Circle Theatre. Tickets are available at www.classictheatre.ca or 1-877-283-1283.
Children truly are the gift that keeps on giving—in love, happiness, satisfaction and spending your money to support and nurture them. In Canada, the cost of raising a child to age 18 is $243,6601! And then off go your youngsters for expensive years in college or university. With a bit of financial family planning, you can take advantage of tax savings and other programs that will reduce your child-raising costs and provide additional financial support when you need it. Your planning starts here: Take full advantage of tax deductions, credits and benefits. There are certain eligibility conditions that must be met but look carefully at these tax-reduction and income opportunities: • Child care expense deduction for an eligible child care provider, day nursery school, day-care centre, or an educational institution that provides child care services. For a child not claiming the disability tax credit, the maximum child care expense amount is $7,000 for each child under seven at the end of the year. • Eligible dependent tax credit can be claimed by an
unmarried person not living in a common-law partnership and a person who is married or in a common-law partnership but not supported by their partner. The amount of the credit is reduced by income earned by the dependent. • Children’s fitness and arts tax credits allow you to claim up to $500 per child for prescribed programs of physical activity and artistic, cultural, recreational or developmental activity. • Canada child tax benefit which is a non-taxable amount paid monthly to eligible families to offset the costs of raising children under 18. You must apply for this benefit. • Universal child benefit of a taxable $100 a month to families for each child under six. You must apply for this benefit unless you already receive the Canada child benefit. • Maternal/paternal Employment Insurance (EI) benefits when on maternity/ parental leave of approximately 55% of average insurable weekly earnings to a yearly maximum of $47,400. You
can apply for this benefit before giving birth and actually start receiving it during the eighth week before your due date. If you are adopting, benefits are paid starting from the date the child is placed with you. The benefit spans 52 weeks but can be divided between both parents for a maximum of 35 weeks. Raising children is wonderful but can also be expensive. To do so as economically as possible and to realize all your other financial dreams, talk to your professional advisor. 1 The Real Cost of Raising Kids by Camilla Cornel, moneysense.ca 2011 This column, written and published by Investors Group Financial Services Inc. (in Québec – a Financial Services Firm), and Investors Group Securities Inc. (in Québec, a firm in Financial Planning) presents general information only and is not a solicitation to buy or sell any investments. Contact your own advisor for specific advice about your circumstances. For more information on this topic please contact your Investors Group Consultant.
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THE EMC - 7 - Thursday, August 22, 2013
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