For 24 years, visiting The Winslow Farm to watch high-quality theatre has been a summer tradition for both residents of the Kawarthas and travellers from all over the world. The unique peaceful backdrop of the countryside becomes the stage for some of the most renowned theatre in the area.
This week, 4th Line Theatre opened its current season with the much-anticipated debut of its latest production, The Bad Luck Bank Robbers.
Directed by Kim Blackwell and written by Alex Poch-Goldin, The Bad Luck Bank Robbers is based on the book by Campbellford-based writer Grace Barker and chronicles the robbery of Havelock’s Toronto Dominion bank in 1961.
On August 30, 1961, Montreal’s Red Hood Gang conducted a brazen daytime bank robbery in Havelock and made off with over $230,000.
The criminals were captured days later near Coe Hill, but the money was never recovered. While the crime and the manhunt that followed made national news, it’s become nothing more than a local curiosity ever since.
The Bad Luck Bank Robbers is about to pull this strange true crime story out of obscurity and put Havelock back on the map.
“A work of fiction inspired by real events,” the play is presented as a historical comedy and plays out as a spoof on small town and rural life. Playwright Poch-Goldin takes good-natured shots at the villagers, law enforcement, social politics of the era, local media and — of course — the bank robbers themselves.
Kim Blackwell has assembled an impressive cast of 29 actors, with some of them playing more than one character. The show has an interesting structure that allows for so many different characters to appear in the show, but have the audience keep it all straight.
The first act is a classic heist story as the audience gets to know the four bank robbers: Jean Claude Lalonde (Paul Braunstein), Roger Martel (Ryan Hollyman), Yvon Lalonde (Alex Poch-Goldin standing in for Tim Walker), and Hermyle Lalonde (Robert Winslow).
In the second act, the play becomes a courtroom drama, featuring Matt Gilbert as the bank robber’s lawyer John Mirsky, Mark Hiscox as Crown Prosecutor Bradshaw, and Justin Hiscox as the Magistrate. This time, the vignettes that break up the action are based primarily around the bank robbers, who share their often comedic reactions as the trial goes forward.
The four bank robbers are an ensemble group within themselves, with the four actors playing off each other with great finesse.
However, it’s Paul Braunstein who seems to connect with the audience the most. Often taking centre stage in his role as Jean Claude Lalonde, Braunstein continuously breaks the fourth wall to give the audience his passionate monologues about the sport of hockey and his beloved Montreal Canadians. A running conversation that continues throughout the entire show, Braunstein’s hockey monologues are instant classics.
Braunstein’s connection and interplay with Ryan Hollyman, who plays overly emotional bank robber Roger Matel, bring some of the funniest moments to the show. Although it’s obvious to the audience that these are hardened criminals, the four bank robbers come off as charming, funny, and likeable — which has the audience questioning whether they want to see the robbers get away with their crime or not.
Supporting the robbers is a fantastic cast of character actors performing as the members of the community, which givers the show a hometown flavour.
Stand-out moments belongs to Griffin Clark and Lucas DeLuca as two small-time traffic patrolmen, Christie Stewart as traumatized robbery victim Jean Kennedy and Ken Houston as her disgraced beau Tom Longhurst, Matt Gilbert and Mark Hiscox doubling up roles as two ambitious journalists from The Peterborough Examiner, and Robert Winslow’s appearance as famed Canadian author Robertson Davies.
A special shout-out goes to actress Monica Dottor who’s easily the breakout star of the show playing three extremely different roles, including a stuck-up bank teller and a French whore. As dim-witted Havelock waitress Abby, Dottor has the audience eating out of her hands. Putting on a wildly exaggerated Ottawa valley accent, Dottor’s performance of Abby becomes an instant fan favourite as she serves coffee, refuses crullers, and fails at simple mathematics. A wonderful character part, Dottor’s performance as Abby was a total delight.
When the play wraps up, the real mystery that remains is just where is the stolen money? Will this show again inspire local treasure hunters to search through the woods of Havelock? I know that missing money has captured my imagination!
Continuing 4th Line’s Tradition of popularizing local stories from the history of the Kawarthas, The Bad Luck Bank Robbers is sure to create newfound interest in this local crime story. A funny and truly intelligent show with a strong cast of characters and an amazing company, The Bad Luck Bank Robbers is another sure-fire hit for 4th Line Theatre.
But why stop there? Personally, I think the show needs to be a movie; I can easily see it transposed to the big screen. It’s truly cinematic in nature and has a script that would easily lend itself to film. If there are any aspiring filmmakers out there, get on board with this show right now.
The Bad Luck Bank Robbers runs Tuesdays through Saturdays until August 1st, 2015, at the Winslow Farm in Millbrook. Shows start at 6 p.m. and tickets are $35 for adults and $29.50 for youth.
*Note: Actor Tim Walker, in the role of robber Yvon Lalonde, is suffering from laryngitis and actor-playwright Alex Poch-Goldin is performing in the role until Walker returns (expected for the July 7th performance).
