From left, Tim Walker, Caitlin Driscoll, Marie Jones, and Scott Maudsley in Eldorado Town.Wayne Eardley / Brookside Studio
Eldorado Town - The Port Hope Play
- Written by Charles Hayter
- Directed by Robert Winslow
- Starring Scott Maudsley, Tim Walker, Justin Hiscox, Mark Hiscox, Beau Dixon, Marie Jones and Caitlin Driscoll
- At the 4th Line Theatre in Millbrook, Ont.
The 4th Line Theatre, about two hours northeast of Toronto, mounts original plays anchored in the Durham County/Kawartha Lakes region. The actual theatre is a farm - a barnyard, to be precise - near Millbrook, Ont. And while the subject matter may be local, the interest is always universal.
Eldorado Town - The Port Hope Play,by Charles Hayter, is a case in point. Hayter traces the history of both radium and uranium, from the discovery of the radioactive ore pitchblende in 1930 at Great Bear Lake in the Northwest Territories to the present day.
The focus of his play is the Eldorado extraction plant in Port Hope, Ont., which has been a mixed blessing to the town: It provided jobs during the Depression and the Second World War, but it also brought death. Hayter is also a physician with a specialty in radiation oncology, so he is keenly aware of both the beneficial and destructive powers of radium and uranium.
In truth, Eldorado Town is more a docudrama than narrative play. All 4th Line productions have an epic sweep involving large casts and shifts of scene - like armies marching through history.
The main character is real-life Frenchman and Eldorado chief chemist Marcel Pochon, played with passion by Scott Maudsley. Pochon had actually worked with Marie Curie, who won a Nobel Prize for the discovery of radium. Hayter centres the plot on Pochon's family and the McGinnises, a Port Hope family. This is his emotional heart.
The playwright takes some licence with Pochon, giving him the frightening knowledge that uranium could be used to produce the atomic bomb. While he tries to write a balanced play, he can't help focusing on the dark history - particularly that of the plant workers and the cancers they developed, as well as the fact that there are still contaminated buildings and sites in Port Hope.
Another 4th Line hallmark is original music. In case the plot sounds tedious, Justin Hiscox has transformed this docudrama into a musical with droll songs.
For example, when the Labine brothers, Charlie and Gilbert (played by Justin and Mark Hiscox), find pitchblende, there is a delicious production number with Leora Morris as Miss Radium, backed by a chorus line worthy of Busby Berkeley. (Morris also choreographed the work.) On a darker note, toward the end there is Yellow Cake Gals, a sinister, seductive song about radium poisoning. But even this number generates a few laughs with Luke Foster as one of the Yellow Cake sirens.
Hayter has padded his history with lots of humour. For instance, Charlie Labine is a bit slow on the uptake, which leads to much amusing dialogue. It also gives Hayter a chance to have Gilbert explain the facts to his brother for both his and the audience's edification.
Director Robert Winslow moves his large cast around at a good clip, and once again, Anne Redish's terrific costumes cross the centuries.
Most of all, there is much to be learned from this history lesson and cautionary tale.
Interesting story, clever songs, an enthusiastic cast, and a pleasant outdoor setting - definitely worth the outing.
Eldorado Town - The Port Hope Play continues at the Winslow Farm in Millbrook, Ont., until July 24.