Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 7, 1976, Winnipeg, Manitoba Wii mpg free press for people wednesday january 7, 1976 pages 17-32 naked on the North Shore wilds of Labrador inspire 1-Man show by Janice keys free 1 Ress staff writer the wilds of Labrador May not seem the Ideal Breeding ground for theatre. But actor Ted Johns found old fort Bay just across the Strait from Northern Newfoundland a Rich source material for his one Man show naked on the North Shore being presented at 8 . Tuesday to sunday and . Saturday in the Manitoba theatre workshop. People in Southern urbanized Canada sometimes find it incredible that the. Rugged life of the isolated outpost portrayed in the show is a real part of con temporary Canadian society or. Johns said in an inter View in Winnipeg. Most of the Northern settlements have grown up along the lines of communication an Airport or a railway line would be built and so a town would grow up. But the towns in Labrador acid some of Newfoundland grew because of the fishing Industry and the lines of communication have yet to find Only during the past 10 years have people in these settlements begun to have any regular Contact with the rest of the country he said. And outsiders Are still out siders. In general the culture is very open but outsiders Are a great source of entertain ment. The outsiders Don t know things they think they or. Johns had taught school for a year in old fort Bay a before being bitten by the theatre Bug and joining theatre passe it braille of Toronto. He had been so impressed by the strength self Reliance and courage of the townspeople that he wanted to try to capture of their lives and character in theatre. Aided by an Ontario Nlay Wright s Grant and encouraged by Paul Thompson artistic director of theatre passe Moraille he went Back to old fort Bay for a month to gather material mainly by simply listening it was a powerful experience for me and i just wanted other people to know about these people because i really liked them. We Don t realize How Strong they Are. We tend to think of them As sort of colonized but Quebec 4sure cure harms arthritic Ted Johns the people there Are very Strong very although the show has earned positive response in other parts of Canada it Drew a mixed reaction from old fort Bay residents who heard it on radio or. Johns said. V the in it Likel hut. The o t h e r s did they that s not True in fact it was True enough and no one contested the accuracy of the details. Wyit. They disliked was an outsider coming in Here and talking to the peo ple then going away and writing stories naked Oti the North Shore was t so much a literary Al fort As a theatre venture be cause for him the Only Way Sale genuine ski Doo suits for children regular value 31.95 size 7-14 regular value 36.95 Redekopp outdoor living Centre Hwy. 59 Springfield re. Pm. 224-2271 ski Doo no. Selling snowmobile wet themed Many children do if your child is a you already know that scolding punishing and restricting liquids at bedtime won t help. Why suffer continued embarrassment when the original Canadian enuresis method has proven in thou Sands of cases that it can step bed wetting when not caused by organic defects or diseases. Not a drug or diet. Just a simple conditioning technique prescribed by Many doctors. Recommended Ages 4 thru 50. Mail Coupon for free Booklet your child and enuresis Canadian enuresis 151 Robin Dale re. R3r 1g9 Winnipeg Man. Pm. 889-8019 name address cily prov postal code phone p_3 accredited personal service to Tell the Story is through theatre he said. Armed with tapes of some songs and some specific background information he and Paul Thompson embarked on the difficult task of d e s in g a Piew of at first Paul just asked endless questions Aly Don t Tell me show me so in the course of a couple of weeks we gradually worked but which things could be communicated in the show Atlas another piece to the eve growing mosaic of theatre written by canadians and about canadians. What or. Johns considers Odd in t that canadians Are expressing themselves and exploring their identity through theatre but that it s taking so Long for people to accept it. It s Only in the last few years that anything Canadian has been done on anything hut All experimental basis. It s what people in other countries have been doing for years. It s Only consid ered strange hero in Canada for some although life in 016 fort Bay May not be unique the flavor is unmistakably Cana Dian. About six main characters several minor figures Are Woven together to paint a picture of life in old fort Bay. The show runs about an hour and a half but a great Deal of information is packed into that time or. Johns said. The thread tying it All together is the quiet courage of the people dealing with the Rigours of the life and just beginning to reap some Bene fits of 20th Century conveniences or. Johns said. I think the message in it is build your own House music deadline Jan. 26 musicians have until Jan. 26 to enter the Canadian music competitions to be held this year from May 24 to 27 at the Canadian mennonite Bible College 600 Shaftesbury blvd. The Competition is open to All age groups and unproven musicians. Winners in the Manitoba Section will and Vance to the National finals in Montreal. In the past the competitors have ranged from vocalists and pianists to Gui tar i s t s. Four Manitoban were chosen for the finals after last year s event a statement from the Provin Cial organizers says. Entry forms Are available from Pearl Shnider 695 Waterloo Street. K o b 1 n May sometimes refers to herself As the bionic woman or the million woman when she Speaks of her surgically implanted plastic Knuckles and plastic hip joint but behind the levity Are years of pain and an unending search for a Robin May is a Vic Tim of crippling rheumatoid arthritis. The 27-year.-ow resident of Glen Cove new York and former Model is one of 50 million persons throughout the United states who suffer from the disease which is to heart disease As a chronic too often Crip pling illness that strikes peo ple of All Ages. Robin May was a College freshman when she began to experience vague aches and pains in her feet and hands. The symptoms were sporadic at she said but then i began to get tingling feelings in my extremities and after a few months the pain became More pro n o u n c e d and the attacks More for the next 114 years be fore her illness was diag nosed she saw it dozen Doe tors. Of her frustrating search for a diagnosis she said i discovered that there Are very Lew doctors who know very much about arthritis. I know there is one Rheum apologist for every patients one reason being that not All medical schools give a course on the and then began years of searching for Relief from pain from the Defor mity that began to cripple both of her hands the swell ing of All of her joints and the walking disability caused by severe hip involvement. There is really no Way to convey the devastating pain the deep depression the in ending pain she said. Because arthritis in t a dramatic disease does t always show people cannot realize the Impact it. Can have on the victim. I was willing to try anything for re Lief. traction i used crutches i became addicted to cortisone which took a terrible toll on my body 1 even tried the Gold treat ments and acupuncture All to no Avail sometimes peo ple do things they should t do when they Are desperate. That happened to me. I made the terrible mistake of going to Canada to get an in 1 e g a-1 medication millions Are wasted annually on Quac Kery worthless and Misrop rescaled remedies Lor and. T. Contributed to it. This Montreal doctor was offering a sure cure treatment for arthritis. I went up there and he treated me with some medication for. A couple of weeks Medica Tion which he. Refused to de Fine. I began to have Hope. For an entire week i was feeling much better. But when i came Home i began to have dreadful Side effects. I finally went Back to my own doctor showed him the medication which he had Analysed arid then i Learned that the so called wonder medication was nothing but massive doses of cortisone. It look me a Long time to get Back to Normal. It was a devastating experience. The Side effects were awful. Re Tention of fluid is one of them. I developed the characteristic Moon face with swelling and bloating. It acted As a severe Depres saut. We Iii you Are on Mas Sive doses As t was the drug takes Over the functions of the adrenal glands which makes it very difficult to withdraw from. It wreaked havoc with my system and during the. Agonizing withdrawal i was totally bedridden. I even had to be carried to the bathroom. My hair fell out. My skin became Blotchy. It was for Robin May the illness changed More than her out look on Hie. It terminated a successful career in Modell ing. I began working at the age of she said. I was hired to do a to commercial for a soap company and after a number of such com medicals i began to do hand and hair modelling for Maga Zines and by the time arthritis hit me had a very Active career going during vacation periods and some weekends. I can never Model again be cause i no longer have the stamina that is required. And i never really know what it is to feel by 1971, Hiss May was in dire Straits. She had devel oped a pronounced deformity of both hands and walking had become an agonizing Effort. I had become really she said. I could t even open a door or zip a Zipper or pick up a pin and walking was the most painful thing 1 had Ever experienced. I Finady decided i would have to have surgery if i was to in january 1972. Doctors performed what she classifies As a Small they replaced her Riant hip Robin May exercises her hand which now has artificial plastic Knuckles with a form of Teflon completely erasing pain from that hip. This Spring doctors r e p 1 a c e d the Knuckles on her left hand with silastic Knuckles and since then she has been in constant therapy for the res t n r a 1 i o n of Finger move meals. She wears an outrigger contraption on her hand to keep her fingers aligned and switches daily to a flex Ion cuff to loosen the fingers and restore their function. It is a Long drawn out recuperation " she said but it s Worth every second of it. My left no longer de formed and the pain is gone from the Knuckles. Early this year i go in to have the Knuckles on my right hand although major pain Sites have decreased with surgery she still is subject to swelling around Finger joints extreme fatigue and a general feeling of malaise but her general Outlook has improved. For years 1 had been too depressed to Cope with any thing other than getting through another an other night. But in 1970 i decided to drag myself Back to College. And for the next two Between going to school and looking around for a surgeon to operate on my hip i lived on aspirin and Hope. In 1972, the year of my Miracle i received my . In Art history from Hofstra University graduating cum laude. I much better after the hip re placement that. I continued at school and in 1974 i received my master s degree in today Robin May is a Volunteer lecturer for the Naus Sau Suffolk Long Island division of the arthritis foun Dation. In addition she gives lectures on Art history subjects. And her happiest moments now Are spent working with the club she helped form last year the arthritis club. It Means a great Deal to All of she said. We have a guest speaker each meeting usually a therapist or doctor who address themselves to one topic of i lie arthritis Story. Then we Brziak up into Small informal groups and discuss our individual problems. This is very helpful since we Are discuss ing our problems with people who really understand what does the future hold balloon course takes off Louisville by. A Eddie Wheeler is giving University students a Chance to get a higher Edu cation literally. He will teach the great bal Loon science and Art of ballooning this Spring and expects to by applicants. We have a maximum of 100 people we can take for the he said but we Are expecting three times that Many to Wheeler said Louisvill ians have become balloon cons Cious since the great balloon race became part of the Ken Tucky Derby festival in 1973. People get very excited when they see balloons be cause it is like a fairy talc a feeling of Wheeler said. Odd couple Star Jack Klugman of the Odd couple will Star with Charlton Heston and John Cassavetes in the film two minute warn ing about a sniper at the super bowl football game. For. Miss May "1 still have arthritis and May always have it from my neck Down to my toes. But the most unbearable pain has been alleviated in my hip. I feel my condition has stabilized somewhat but i still have Days of enormous despair where everything seem to be an obstacle course. I Hope m y Story gives Hope to others. Some arthritis Vic Tims i be talked to have been told by their doctors that they re too Young to get a by p guess that s on the theory that the replacement May not last for a Long Long time. But the people i be talked to Are in their 40s or is and i think they May have gotten bad advice. Of course there Are Many arthritis who can t Al Ford the Best that of a Rheum apologist like most specialists they Are expensive. People with chronic diseases arc often faced with the fact that proper medical care is too new Day for our Polo Park 7 on a limited collection of Beautiful casual and. Eve Ning attire. Just the Beautiful things you be been hoping to find. Polo Park store Only the International set has come to Polo Park. Shop in the climate controlled environment of the mall. Enjoy a new Beautiful and exciting fashion Centre for dresses sportswear and millinery by ports International. Now More than Ever you la love shop Ping at ;