issue 21 - march 5 2009

Despite being studied extensively by a provincial commission some �fteen years ago, race has continued to be a factor in this province’s criminal justice system – but we can’t know for sure just how much of a factor. So says Justice David Cole, an Ontario court judge and co-chair of the Commis-sion on Systemic Racism in the Ontario Criminal Justice System, which released a report on the topic in 1995. The Commis-sion was formed as part of the province’s response to the 1992 Yonge Street riot, an initially peaceful multi-racial protest against anti-black racism in

Toronto which escalated into a full-blown ruckus. Yet when asked whether the Commis-sion’s �nding – that racism, speci�cally anti-black racism, was prevalent in all aspects of the province’s criminal justice system – remains relevant today, Justice Cole cautions against any de�nitive answer. He cautions that we cannot say wether the colour of one’s skin is less of a factor in determining one’s treatment by the police, and in the courts and prison system, some thirteen years later. Systemic racism may still exist, Cole says, but “we don’t have any really good data

studies” to properly answer the question. Yet accusations of black skin resulting in di�erent, more unfair treatment by the Toronto police are still made: earlier this year Roger Shallow, a black assistant Crown at-torney, �led a complaint with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, alleging that he would not have been subject to an embarrassing strip search in the entertainment district in 2007 had he been white. But is Shal-low’s case an increasingly rare one? The investigation con-tinues in next week’s edition.

ChangeA word for Governing Council MATTHEW POPE

University Politics Bureau

Israel Apartheid Week (IAW) con!icts

SPECIAL: Gaming vs. Gambling addiction

Happy Birthday Darwin!

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University of Toronto’s community newspaper

Independent since 1978

March 5th – 11th, 2009

Vol. XXXI, No: 21

1 Spadina Crescent, Suite 245, Toronto, ON, M5S 1A1Phone: 416 593 [email protected]

U of T Drama Festival

Quick, to the polls! (or not)

the artsthe news

the newspaper

Picture thisHart House Camera ClubHANNAH FLEISHER

Campus Clubs Bureau

the newspaper

write between the lines

Founded in 1919, the Hart House Camera Club gathers avid photographers and provides them with the equipment and space needed to hone their craft. With the aim to promote photography as a hobby or career �eld, the club pro-vides traditional and digital darkroom facilities for its members, as well as course instruction on di�erent pho-tography techniques.

A year-long membership, which costs just $25 for current U of T students or Hart House members, allows access to the traditional darkrooms as well as the chemical supplies needed for developing prints. For use of the digital darkrooms, an additional $15 fee is required. There are also lockers in the facility available for $5.

Courses are o�ered in both semesters to provide instruction on beginner and advanced black and white �lm developing, colour �lm developing, portraiture, and �ne art photography. These courses generally run over 2-4 sessions, once or twice each semester, and the course fees generally range between $45-$60. Weekend sessions are also o�ered on “getting to know your camera” for only $5. These courses are highly recommended since the key to good photography isn’t how good your camera is or even your �lm, but how well you can use it.

The 87th Annual Exhibition is also just around the corner. The exhibition allows all University of Toronto students and mem-bers of Hart House to submit their photography for con-

sideration in several categories, some of which include digital (altered and unaltered), �lm prints (colour as well as black & white, and judged in both junior and senior divisions), and a photographic essay category. For submissions depicting campus life, the Yousef Karsh Award is also up for grabs. The winning photos are displayed in Hart House for one month, and the selected winners will receive monetary prizes. To get a glimpse of the 2008 winning submissions, check out the website: http://hhcc.sa.utoronto.ca/gallery08.html.

An excellent triumvirate of judges this year include renowned architect Bruce Kuwabara, of the Toronto archi-tectural �rm KPMB. Bruce is a U of T alumnus and has worked on all scales of architectural projects, nationally and inter-nationally. Our second judge,

“Pic” - Continued on page 2...

“Snow Storm” by Patric Ingram won

the Junior Division K.B. Jackson Trophy

at last year’s exhibition

University administration and student politics may seem like cumbersome institutions rife with cronyism and self-interest. Nonetheless, they are an inescapable part of life at U of T and can a�ect students in profound ways. The problem is that few are willing to face the juggernaut, and even fewer dis-tinguish themselves from the monotonous rhetorical mass.

Michael Motala is one of those few, running for the position of Student Governor in the Full-Time Undergraduate Constituency, which is one of only 8 student positions on the 50 person Governing Council (GC), which includes the president and provost. He seems willing to move into the fray with students' interests at

heart, asserting that “there is so much great stu� to do be done at U of T without stepping on anyone”.

Motala is a clean-cut, un-assuming and well-spoken

young man who has clearly done his homework (literally and metaphorically). He spoke openly and honestly about his desired position, admit-

Michael Motala (Trinity College) is running for Full-Time Undergraduate

Student Governor on GC

Justice can be racistRace biases may penetrate Ontario legal system WILL CAMPBELL

Community Concerns Bureau

“GC” - Continued on page 2...

2 the newspaper March 5th – 11th, 2009

Politics? Oh no, I have nothing against them.In fact, some of my best friends are politicians

the inside

the mission statementthe newspaper is proud to be University of Toronto’s ONLY independent

news source. We look to our readers and contributors to ensure we provide a

consistently superior product. Our purpose is to provide a voice for university

students, staff, faculty and U of T’s extended community.

This voice may at times be irreverent but it will never be irrelevant.

write between the lines

Administrative AssistantCaroline George

the newspaperPublisher

Matthew Pope

News EditorAshley Minuk

Arts EditorHelene Goderis

Copy EditorsElisabeth Bennet, Michelle Ferreira,

Tayyaba Jiwani

Layout & DesignJe!rey Spiers

Photo EditorSam Catalfamo

ContributorsAmanda Campbell, Will Campbell, Hannah Fleisher, Andrew Gyorkos,

Mathiaus Poe, Semra Eylul Sevi, Thomas Shifrer, Jennifer Spiers

Associate EditorAri Simha

Ads & MarketingPeter Josselyn

[email protected]

THE TABLE OF CONTENTS

the front page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

the inside . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

the editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

the news . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

the arts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

the jumbler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

the end . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1

2

3

4,5

6

7

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the campus comment

Brainerd Ewarien - 3rd year - Human Biology

“Yes, I’m aware and I plan on voting for Daniela

Kyei, she is my friend.”

Adam Ali - PhD - NMC

“I have not idea about this.”

Julie He - 3rd year - Criminology & Psychology

“I am in the election and I believe that it is

every student’s right and responsibility to have

his or her voice heard by voting.”

Yusuf Campbellovski - 3rd year - Art History

“I think this year’s representatives are quite

interesting. Being involved in some of the

club’s activities I support Jason Martin’s ideas

of increasing club funding which will allow for

a more diverse student environment and extra

curricular activities.”

HANNAH FLEISHER

Kayleigh - 4th year - Art History

“I’m aware of the elections but graduate this

semester so wasn’t planning on voting.”

U.T.S.U Spring 2009 elections: do you know what the election is for?

Does it concern you? Do you know when the election is?

ERRATA: Hannah Fleisher is to be credited

for last week’s Campus Comment.

the newspaper 3March 5th – 11th, 2009

ting that, while his campaign platform centres on change, he is aware that he won't be cultivating mass revision of university policy. What the student governor can really do is “advocate for student inter-ests and build bridges with... campus advocacy groups and try to stir up some change.”

Motala asserts GC elections are very important, yet " we tend to elect students who don't vote in the interests of their fellow students." He stresses that “the opinions and interests of students are heavily undervalued.”

Motala aims to raise the pro!le of the LGBTQ com-munity and to advocate for international students. Another highlight of our discussion was his interest in resolving con-cerns around the 2030 synthesis report, a plan which proposes things like commercializing research or deregulating tuition fees – "all things that students don't want.” Yet, as Motala points out, “if you look at the voting record of incumbents, 7 out of the 8 student governors voted in favour of passing the 2030 framework.” While Motala is sure to abide by the mandate of the GC, it seems clear that his mind will always be on his constituents.

“One of [the] biggest chal-lenges is trying to actively engage people, because nobody cares,” admits Motala, alluding to an exclusive in 'the newspaper' (Oct. 9th) outlining results of a student survey that showed overwhelming student apathy towards campus politics. He aims to remedy the image of students in campus politics who are “a lot about the ego.”

Michael Motala is certainly not about ego. He has been accessible, balanced and fair throughout our dealings , and I look forward to bringing you a more in-depth pro!le next week. In the meantime, please visit Michael Motala's website at www.votemotala.ca or contact him at [email protected]. Elections for GC run March 9th - 20th. Make a point of logging into ROSI to vote for a chance to e&ect change in your university.

Ta' Rosen, is a Toronto-based photographer who has done extensive work in fashion, both editorial and advertising, and portraiture. She has also worked as a videographer for Canada’s Arts Channel, Bravo!, for almost a decade and recently began !lmmaking. Our !nal judge is Sanaz Mazinani, the current director of the Stephen Bulger Gallery in Toronto. Sanaz is an OCAD alumnus who works in photography, videography and

drawing. We hope that given the varied backgrounds of our judges, this year will bring a diverse set of perspectives to the process.

The exhibition will give stu-dents and members of the U of T community a chance to foray into the !eld of photography and explore aspects with which they may be unfamiliar. The nature of the art and industry of photography is changing rapidly (especially due to

technological advances) and the hope is to provide a forum for people to become ac-quainted with newly emerging opportunities in the !eld.

For you budding photog-raphers out there, note that the submission deadline for the exhibition is this Monday March 9th at 11:00pm at the Hub in Hart House. The opening reception, which will be an opportunity to view the winning entries, meet the

photographers and learn more about the camera club, will be on Wednesday, March 18th, beginning at 6pm in the East Common Room. There is no admission fee for this event.

the editorial I hate People---WILL RETURN NEXT WEEK---

MATHIAUS POE

Opinion Column Bureau

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“Pic” ...continued from page 1“GC” - ...continued from page 1

A most sincere apologies to all my devoted readers. Unfortunately for us (but

ostensibly fortunate for ‘the newspaper’) my column has been bumped to make room

for “more important” content, like ‘news’. Bah! Fear not, I shall not stand for this injustice and

will return next week. Sadly, the failure of People is always a current event.


It is said that you can never have too much of a good thing. Indeed, this adage is prevalent in North American society; but un-fortunately for us, “too much of a good thing” typically means too much al-cohol, drugs or other vices. But in recent years, video games have also been added to the list. As with nearly anything in excess, video games can become the object of addiction, and an overdose can lead to the serious health problems, if not death – just like a drug overdose or a particularly nasty drinking binge.

Sound ridiculous? How about 24 year-old Kim Kyuung-jae, a resident of Kwangju, South Korea, who died after playing Mu Online for 86 hours straight. Although South Koreans have received a certain reputation for heavy online gaming and PC bangs (public gaming cafés), Kyuung-jae’s case is by no means the only reported instance of gaming addiction endangering health. How about one closer to home? Anyone paying attention to local news in November 2008 will be familiar with the story of 15 year-old Brandon Crisp, who upon having his Xbox 360 taken away by his parents, ran away from home and was found dead three weeks later.

In light of the rise in exces-sive gaming, most general addiction clinics now o&er pro-grams designed to help gamers shake o& their addiction, and special organizations have also emerged to target this growing issue directly. Recognizing the problem early on, in June 2006, the Netherlands got the ball rolling by opening a clinic speci*cally designed to treat people addicted to computer and video games.

Here in Canada, at a Com-puter Addiction Services centre in Richmond, British Columbia, approximately 80% of the youth counsellors’ cases involve excessive gaming. Also, based in the US, Online Gamers Anonymous is a non-pro*t organization that hosts mes-

sage boards and online group discussions for addicted gamers to connect and communicate as though in a virtual Alco-holics Anonymous meeting. Of course, the irony of this method might raise the question of its e&ectiveness: one would think that addicted gamers need more time away from their electronic mediums rather than attached to them even as they seek help.

Some countries have also tried to take preventive measures against video game addiction. In China, the gov-ernment tried to regulate the amount of time that persons under 18 played video games – an act which was promptly circumvented by the masses – and eventually settled on penalizing the cyber-characters of excessive game players by diminishing the XP (experience points used to level characters) they could earn.

While measures against the rising issue of video game addictions are being adopted, more and more children are falling victim to the condition. And there are few things more tragic than a teenager found dead because he was forbidden to play Call of Duty 4.

In next week’s issue, I will explore the various factors attributed to the rise in video game addictions: the reasons people get addicted, certain strategies game developers use to get gamers to keep returning, and a look at how excessive gaming can a&ect your life and (if you’re the exces-sive gamer) the lives of those around you. So stay tuned for next week’s copy of ‘the news-paper’ for my follow-up report.

the news

ANDREW GYORKOS

Mental Health Bureau

Risking it allAddiction is in the cards

E&orts to ban Israeli Apart-heid Week from taking place on university campuses across Ontario are the result of serious double standards, as Canadian universities have remained silent over the bombings of the Islamic University of Gaza and other educational institutions. The administrations at Carleton University and the University of Ottawa have decided that a poster inviting people to discuss the con/ict ought to be banned, although neither the direct killing of hundreds of children nor the direct bombing of a campus has been enough to elicit outright condemnation. This appears to be in continuity with a pattern established last year when McMaster University attempted to ban the use of the term “Israeli Apartheid” on its campus.

In contrast, the administra-tions that banned the poster could not summon enough concern for human rights or the right to education to speak out against the bombings of educational institutions in Gaza. It seems that a growing number of campus administrations consider the depiction of these killings on a poster – and not the acts of violence themselves – to be the real human rights violations. The banned poster shows an Israeli Defense Forces helicopter *ring a rocket at an unarmed Gazan child holding a teddy bear. In light of the recent brutal attacks, this depiction is one of real life: according to United Nations reports, over 430 such events are estimated to have occurred during the latest Israeli attack on Gaza.

Instead of banning the poster, the administration of York University has instructed caretakers to immediately remove it, sometimes only min-utes after students have placed them in designated postering areas.

Similarly, Students Against Is-raeli Apartheid at UofT recently used a Freedom of Information Request to expose President David Naylor as having been personally involved in shutting down a Palestine solidarity event before the request for campus space was even submitted. In an interview with the Varsity, Naylor described Israeli Apartheid Week as “the consistently worst week of a President’s life.”

“How is it possible that a person can be addicted to nothing?” This is a fairly common, albeit jazzed-up, senti-ment echoed by many colleagues of mine. It’s a perplexing idea raised by the issue of the ever increasing number of gambling addicts in this world - people who are addicted to the thrill of bright lights, tumbling dice, and risking their entire fortunes on a face-down card. But can problem gambling really be considered a clinical addiction? As medical centres worldwide spend more money and time researching the issue, far more people are inclined to accept that it is.

With the advent of online casinos and poker tournaments, more people are able to both discover and access gambling opportunities conveniently and anonymously. As a greater number of people become gamblers, it’s only reasonable to expect that the number of problem gamblers increases alongside. As both of those numbers climb, the credibility of gambling being labeled a mental disorder rises too.

Many rehabilitation institu-tions now accept problem gamblers and even o&er a handy list of clues to help people identify gambling ad-diction within themselves or a loved one. These criteria are largely the only issues problem gambling has in common with its older siblings, drug and alcohol abuse. Clues such as “neglected responsibilities,” “long unexplained absences,” and “sudden mood swings/outbursts of anger” are all characteristics of problem gam-bling, problem drinking, and drug addiction according to top Canadian and British rehabilita-tion centers.

But of those three addictions, many people gloss over gam-bling as being comparatively insigni*cant, and who can blame them? As far as many people are still concerned, being addicted to gambling is nonsense.

The World Health Organiza-

tion recognized gambling as a mental health disorder back in 1996, and we still have yet to *gure out exactly what type of problem gambling addiction is, let alone how to go about *xing it. A large part of this has to do with how problem gambling is perceived: Instead of being identi*ed as its own separate issue worthy of special atten-tion, gambling addiction often gets shoehorned into where it doesn’t belong. It can purport-edly be treated at the same facilities as alcohol and drug abuse, but those facilities aren’t adequately sta&ed and stocked to deal with the issue.

Furthermore, gambling addictions are di1cult to diagnose and even harder to treat, the primary reason being that gambling addictions are not identi*ed by a clear vice or substance like alcohol or drugs. Problem gambling isn’t as easy to identify as the residual scent of alcohol on someone’s breath. Moreover, the typical procedure for treating addiction is to avow the problem and to be supervised and encouraged by counselors. With regards to gambling addiction, only the principle remains the same. Signs of gambling dependency are largely subtle enough to take weeks of missing pay-checks and signi*cant *nancial losses before a concerned loved-one becomes suspicious that gambling addiction might be the culprit.

Of all the possible addictions, gambling is surely one of the trickiest and most peculiar, and only very recently has due attention been paid to the subject. But now, gambling addiction is the focus of much interesting debate in the med-ical world and will likely remain so for years to come. See

THOMAS SHIFRER

Mental Health Bureau

Gamers AnonymousChild’ play becomes an addiction

SEMRA EYLUL SEVI

Community Concerns Bureau

IAWOp-Ed

“IAW” - Continued on page 5...

Video game withdrawal can manifest symptoms such

as chills or sensitivity to light.Photo: Sam Catalfamo

Even at ‘the newspaper’, gambling can be a serious

problem. Especially when the computer pictured is

needed for layout.Photo: Ashley Minuk


As you may have noticed, we at ‘the newspaper’ like to send out photographers to cover news-worthy events on campus. Our photographers normally approach event co-ordinators following the event to document key information to include in photo captions. Unfortunately, Tuesday’s Israeli Apartheid Week event allowed for no such friendly exchange. Instead, what was supposed to be a peaceful academic sympo-sium ended with violence and police intervention. The fol-lowing is a brief account of the event, as relayed to verbally by a ‘the newspaper’ associate.

He arrived at Tuesday evening’s Israeli Apartheid Week event entitled “Educa-tion under Occupation,” where he was immediately greeted by event volunteers, Jewish Defense League pro-testers, as well as the Toronto Police. While waiting in line to get in, he and his fellow event-goers were handed

!iers and programmes detailing what was to come; the woman standing next to him promptly ripped hers in half.

Inside, a slideshow ran im-ages of the attacks in Gaza and the West Bank. My colleague made a beeline for the press log, as the event coordinators

strictly forbade audience members to take photos or video unless they were regis-tered as press. There was light security inside the room as speakers were introduced and proceeded to present talks fo-cused on the state of education during the occupation. This por-tion was carefully moderated and went along without inci-dent - mostly just applause and a few snickers. Then came the Question and Answer period, which (not surprisingly) was when the debate got heated. Toward the end, one audience member asked if Israel should

exist. The answers and com-ments roused members of the audience; one man was asked to leave. Standing his ground, the man protested that he had been assaulted and would not leave until he got the name of the man who hit him. Another man started yelling that people should not have to be afraid of being assaulted, and that

assailants’ names and faces should be known. On that note, he stormed out. It was a tense ending. Our newspaper cor-respondent followed quietly as police ushered the audience out of a side door to avoid confrontation with the JDL protesters.

This anecdote is important to note, not only to explain the sparse captions, but also to indicate how far-reaching

international con!icts can be. It is an unfortunate state of a"airs that, even at such a prestigious university like U of T, a suppos-

edly peaceful meeting of minds and con!icting viewpoints ultimately met with (alleged) physical con!ict.

the newscont’d

It has become abundantly clear that the recent acts of intimidation against the organizers of Israeli Apartheid Week are part of a systematic response by many universities to silence activism in support of the Palestinian people. None of the campus administra-tions mentioned above have condemned the killings of civilians or the bombing of the Islamic University in Gaza, the UN schools or the American School in Gaza City. However, despite these repressive tactics

being used by campus admin-istrations across the province, Israeli Apartheid Week has been bigger this year than ever before.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily re�ect the views of the newspaper or its sta!.

Our goal is to give voice to the

wide variety of peoples and opinions that comprise the U of T community. To have your voice heard in an Op-Ed, please send an email to [email protected] Subject: Op-Ed.

“IAW” - ...continued from page 4

JENNIFER SPIERS

Community Events Bureau

IAWInt’ con�ict gets local

Yafa JarrarPhoto: Newton Addo

The question period, during which the con!ict ensued.Photo: Newton Addo

The question period, during which

the con!ict ensued.Photo: Newton Addo

Thaer AliwaiwiPhoto: Newton Addo


“A Weekend of Competi-tive Theatre” was on the programme during the 17th Annual U of T Drama Festival at Hart House Theatre this past weekend – and competi-tive theatre is precisely what the audience got. Between the thunderous applause that a deceptively small crowd managed to generate and the criticisms of festival adjudicator Ron Cameron-Lewis, the festival took the stage to showcase the talents of U of T’s aspiring playwrights.

Although the festival is 17 years old, this year marked only the eighth occasion in the his-tory of the event where every performance was a student production. A selection of nine brand new original plays were showcased over three evenings, all contributed by the drama societies of St. Michaels Col-lege, Victoria College, UTSC and UTM. The "rst evening’s three performances o#ered a good barometer for what one could reasonably expect from the remaining nights.

The "rst production of the evening was Whodunnit?, a typical murder mystery spoof written and directed by An-drew Pignataro of St. Michael’s College. Par for the course in these plays, a member of high society throws a dinner party on a stormy night, bodies start to pile up, and the remaining dinner guests try to discover the killer with the help of a world famous detective. Whodunnit? is built almost exclusively on dramatic irony, since the killer is made known to the audience immediately. While it’s tempting to write this o# as a lack of inspiration on the writer’s part, interlaced moments of brilliant humour quashes this criticism. Unfortu-nately, the performance loses a few points due to the frankly awful sets and the generally stilted acting.

After the jerky mayhem of Whodunnit? came the in-escapably heavy Crosses from writer/director Jon Mandrozos of UTSC. Mostly a true story, Crosses explores the miasma of feelings that come after contracting HIV from a contam-inated needle. The performance was staged using three talented actors, a couch, and other small furnishings, e#ectively creating a tight and earnest set. How-ever, given the massive voids between lines and a lack of

physical movement around the set, the pacing became choppy and disjointed. So much so that the lack of any appreciable meaning behind the title of Crosses led me to joke that Pause for Dramatic E#ect might have been a more appropriate title. The overbearing use of swearing also lessened the integrity of the script. Instead of using the occasional expletive to accentuate dramatic lines, it came o# as the puerile notion that vulgar language auto-matically translates to maturity.

The "nal performance of the evening was To Audience With Sincerity by Laura Delchiaro of Victoria College Drama Society, a play about the quandaries of university students. To Audience With Sincerity looks at the life of Allen, a person so consumed with his own philosophical pursuits that he’s begun to alienate the people around him (this occasionally includes the audience, which he frequently addresses). The narrative was simple, the acting and technical e#ects were strong, and the set design was $at-out remarkable compared to preceding plays. Although missteps lay in the occasional dialogue stumble or muddied line, To Audience With Sincerity was the strongest production of the evening, and there were no other $aws in the perform-ance that can’t be chalked up to mere inexperience.

Both the high calibre of these performances and the strong supporters behind them all but guarantee the existence of next year’s event. Hopefully future festivals will continue to display the talents of U of T’s aspiring actors, playwrights, and tech crews, and they all "nd fortune with their talents.

the arts

AMANDA CAMPBELL

Theatre Review Bureau

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At the end of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the “Mechan-icals” present Pyramus and Thisby, usually staged as an ab-surdist rowdy romp. It has been argued that Shakespeare was parodying Romeo and Juliet, but at the same time, it’s clear that he was also dramatizing a semblance of what other Eliza-bethan plays rehearsed and performed. Similarly, Clyomon and Clamydes (now playing at the Glen Morris Studio Theatre), written by an anonymous writer between 1570 and 1590, resembles Pyramus and Thisby far more than it resembles A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Shakespeare and the Queen’s Men is a theatre company that seeks to research the original ‘The Queen’s Men’ (the dom-inant theatre company in 1580s England, of which Shakespeare was a member), their rehearsal and performance process and the plays that they produced. Therefore, for this produc-tion the actors have adopted “historically accurate” rehearsal processes: they do not have a modern director, and the actors receive only their lines and a few cue words instead of a full script. A bookkeeper (Anna Maria Lo Bianco) acts as Stage Manager, Assistant Stage Manager, and Prompter.

The actors worked predomin-antly on their own with an “instructor poet,” who helped with memorization and con-textual information. Moreover, the company did not rehearse with one another until one week before Opening Night, when they stumbled through the play in its entirety for the "rst time in front of an audi-ence.

In this way, staging Clyomon and Clamydes is more about process than product. The play

is very poorly written. Or rather it is pathetically, preposter-ously poorly produced “poetry”, packed plump with platitudes. An account antagonizingly ab-surdly abounding with adverbs and alliteration. It nestles in the space between a poem and a tongue twister and actually, it’s a rather fun place to be. The story reads like a Monty Python sketch oblivious to its own irony. Two knights. Two Prin-cesses. A dragon’s head. Stolen honor. A noble quest. Mistaken identity. A clownish knave. There’s even a shepherd!

It worked best when the actors let themselves play. Paul Babiak was superb as Subtle Shift; each of his actions were crisp and precise and he infused the entire production with lim-itless energy and a sense of fun. At times the production was even cartoonish: Sasha Kovacs, brilliant as Neronis, Princess of the Isle of Strange Marshes, reminded me instantly of Bugs Bunny in drag. Considering her part would have been historic-ally played by a boy dressed as a girl, I felt she captured perfectly the ridiculousness of how women were characterized in Elizabethan England.

It is tempting to want to infuse historical works with a sense of reverence, but in this case, I think that approach may leave audiences disappointed. It is best to remember that Elizabethans, like us, went to the theatre to see a Play. If it were supposed to be entirely Important, they would have gone to see a Serious instead.

Clyomon and Clamydes plays until

March 8th, 2009. Weds to Sat. @ 8pm. Sun.

@ 2pm. Glen Morris Studio Theatre, 4 Glen

Morris Street. For tickets call 416 978-7986

or visit www.graddrama.utoronto.ca or

www.plspls.ca.

Paul Babiak as Subtle Shift (L), Matthew Krist as Bryan Sans-foy (R)Photo: Michelle MacArthur

ANDREW GYORKOS

Theatre Bureau

U of T Drama Festival“To readers with sincerity”


To qualify for student pricing, student must present either (i) a T2202a documenting 4 or more months of full-time attendance at a college or university during 2008 or (ii) a valid high school identifi cation card. Expires July 31, 2009. Must also qualify for Instant Cash Back and Cash Back products. See offi ce for details. Valid only at participating H&R Block locations in Canada. SPC Card offers valid from 08/01/08 to 07/31/09 at participating locations in Canada only. For Cardholder only. Offers may vary, restrictions may apply. Usage may be restricted when used in conjunction with any other offer or retailer loyalty card discounts. Cannot be used towards the purchase of gift cards or certifi cates.

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the end

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the jumblerBY: ASHLEY MINUK

Unscramble the letters to form common words.

Use the letters in the highlighted boxes to answer the riddle!

Answer for last week’s jumbler: “plays with Pooh”

Solution to THIS jumbler in next week’s the newspaper

Place the 12 letters pro-vided into the grid in order to create EIGHT common four-letter words; 4 horizontal & 4 vertical.

the four-wordBY: ANDREW GYORKOS

A, A, A,A, C, E, E, I, L, R, S, S

Solution to THIS Four-word in next week’s the newspaper

Offer ends March 31, 2009. Available with compatible devices within Bell Mobility high speed mobile network coverage areas. Weeknights Mon-Thu, 6pm-7am; Weekends Fri 6pm-Mon 7am. Other monthly fees, i.e., e9-1-1 (75¢), system access (not a government fee) ($8.95), and one-time device activation ($35) apply. Long distance and roaming charges (including foreign taxes) may apply outside your local area. Upon early termination, price adjustment charges apply. Subject to change without notice; not combinable with other offers. Taxes extra. Other conditions apply. (1) With new activation on a 3-yr. term. (2) Received messages include local, international, roaming and service related messages from Bell and exclude premium, alerts and dial-up messages. Sent messages include local messages and exclude international, roaming, alerts, premium messages and messages sent with an instant messaging application. (3) Applies to airtime for calls in your local calling area. (4) Bonus minutes apply during the initial contract term. (5) Simultaneous use of airtime. (6) With new activation on a post-paid voice plan and a data feature with a total min. value of $45/mo. (7) With new activation on a post-paid voice plan. (8) With new activation on a post-paid voice plan and a data feature with a total min. value of $35/mo. BlackBerry® and related trademarks, names and logos are the property of Research In Motion Limited and are registered and/or used in the U.S. and countries around the world. Rumour is a trademark of LG Electronics Inc. Samsung Cleo is a trademark of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., and its related entities.

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Unlimited txting. That’s something to : ) about.

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LG RumourTM

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$03G BlackBerry® PearlTM 8130 smartphone

with a $35 voice and data plan on a 3-yr. term8

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issue 21 - march 5 2009

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