As the final week of the Classic Theatre Festival production of An Inspector Calls comes to a close (the last show is on Sept. 11 at 54 Beckwith Street East in Perth), Elana Post – who shines in the role of the imperious Sybil Birling – has been reflecting on the terrific ensemble with whom she is currently working. “Right from the beginning everyone was open and trusting and giving and hard working,” says Post, who hails from southern Ontario. “That list could go on and on. And the humour! What a joy to have light hearts to counter-balance this sometimes intense and exhausting play. It’s been nice to spend a lot of time with them outside of the theatre too. Not all casts are like that. We’ve been on road trips, we’ve been canoeing, some of us went to the fair…. I’m with a group of people who care, and I think that shows on stage.” Post says she has been blessed to work with similar ensembles throughout her career, which began in earnest when she appeared in the 1993 Stratford Festival production of The Mikado as an acrobat and, later, as a swing with the women’s chorus. Additional roles followed at Kitchener’s Theatre & Company, including as Felicity Cunningham in Tom Stoppard’s The Real Inspector Hound. Favourite roles that followed included Helen in George F. Walker’s Problem Child at Theatre & Company, which she viewed as a “milestone in my career. It was the first time I felt like I was holding my own, that I was strong in my craft. I had matured.” Other roles included Gillian Holroyd in John Van Druten’s Bell, Book & Candle at Touchmark Theatre. Although she has appeared in many farces, Post was particularly fond of Judy from Robin Hawdon’s Perfect Wedding (at the Port Stanley Festival Theatre). “There was something about that character that I loved, and even though she helped cause a major problem, there were redeeming qualities in her that one couldn’t help but love her for. She is a sincere character.” Playing Sybil Birling in An Inspector Calls poses its own unique challenges. “It’s tough to play an unlikable character,” Post says. “I always look for ways of opening a door that allows the audience to relate and empathize with the person I am playing. In a quality play, even the worst villain will be appealing in some way.” Post combines a number of roles in her career, including producer, performer and director. As someone who plays both on stage and on film, she notes the differences between the two media. “There is an interesting element to film that takes a performance out of the hands of the actor. With the guidance of the director, the actor shapes their character, but then the director, and editors, and sound engineers, and sometimes several other technical people, take that performance and manipulate it, and shape it into something that fits perfectly with all of the other elements of the film…. Continue reading

The Classic Theatre Festival production of the mystery thriller An Inspector Calls, in which a body has been found and everyone is a suspect, has been generating a very strong audience response, in addition to winning critical praise from some of the top theatre reviewers in the country. Indeed, Jamie Portman, one of Canada’s most respected veteran reviewers, calls the show an “excellent, compelling production, another winner from Perth,” while Iris Winston of the Capital Critics Circle hails the show’s edge-of-your-seat qualities. Among the actors singled out for kudos is Toronto’s Greg Campbell, whom Portman says “is outstanding as the self-satisfied, self-preening Arthur Birling,” a family patriarch who feels his ship has come in with the engagement of his daughter to the son of a business rival. The hoped for ensuing merger of companies and families will raise the Birlings’ status in the community. As the play opens, everyone is celebrating when a knock is heard and an Inspector enters, proceeding to begin his intensive round of suspenseful questioning. For Campbell, the role of Birling follows on playing truly villainous characters in prior Classic Theatre seasons in Wait Until Dark and Dial M for Murder. “I usually get cast as good-doers and sincere guys, so these roles have been a great opportunity for me to play,” says Campbell. “What fascinates me is that these people are very familiar. We know people with the traits that these men have. And they have very human qualities too, that we can’t help admire while we are repulsed by them. I like playing Birling because he has some pretty biting comebacks, gets to fire off a lot of angry rants, and because he is quite funny in his transparent attempts to hang on to his position and avoid scandal. He is somewhat of a buffoon, though he is completely unaware he is. And I do think he has redeeming qualities.” Campbell has worked as a performer for 32 years, first inspired by seeing such musicals as Mary Poppins, Oliver!, Fiddler On the Roof, and The Sound of Music. He also saw his mother in a pantomime of Cinderella (in which she played Prince Charming because she was quite tall).  His passion for theatre took off when he emceed, at age 9, the Montreal Allion School Saint Patrick’s Day Concert in 1969. “I was chosen as the best reader in the class and the theatre bug started there. I had a piping soprano at the time, and introduced each act with cue cards. I was stoked the night of the concert. On my way home after school, I tripped and dirtied the knees of my dress pants, and ran into the house in a complete panic, yelling to my Mum that I couldn’t go on looking like this. It was my first opening night panic attack!” Campbell took theatre training at Concordia University in Montreal. “It was an academic program, but I had two teachers who made a great impression on me, “ he recalls. “Terry Donald had just started teaching acting, but he used Uta… Continue reading