\ . 
     
    
   
   
    
     . ,-. 
     
     i c _ 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     lord)of 
     
     ;.(' 
     
    
   
   
    
          
     
         
     
    
   
   
    
     ‘ / 
     
    
   
   
    
     As a change from 
     
    
   
   
    
     I the halferate books that I 
     
    
   
   
    
     have been reviewed of‘ 
     
     ,late I have decided to 
     
     to take a look at that 
     
     has to be Egg epic ofv 
     
     the twentieth century, 
     
     J.R.R. Tolkien' s tri- 
     
     logy-with—prelude, The 
     
     Lord of the Ring . (As 
     
     a side note regarding 
     
     half-rate books, I am 
     
     amazed at the reaction- 
     
     of the student bOdy to 
     
     the Harlequin Romance, 
     
     .The Guarded Gates. Com— 
     
     ments ranged from "that 
     
     was a satire, wasn't it“ 
     
     to "how come you praised 
     
     that?". One personeven 
     
     wanted to know where she 
     
     could buy it!) ‘ 
     
     ' But at any rate,to 
     
     return to The Lord of 
     
     the Rings, forgsheer br— 
     
     eadth of imagination it 
     
     ;cannot be equalled. No 
     
     writer that I know of 
     
    
   
   
    
     Izzurdfioate Show ~i-h'The Red Island Read Review With A Twist 
     
    
   
   
    
          
     
    
   
   
    
     Can a grbup of local 
     
    
   
   
    
     talent working with no 
     
     budget, a minimum of sets 
     
     and rehersal, and lacking 
     
     much solid direction, 
     
     plan and perform a three 
     
     ‘hOur benifit concert that 
     
     is both a box office & an 
     
     artistic success? - 
     
     ~ All things.consider-. 
     
    

    
     ed the answer is, surpris- 
     
     ingly'enough, an emphatic 
     
     YES. 
     
    

    
     0n the evening of~ 
     
     February 2 nearly one 
     
     thousand people joined 
     
     together at the Confed- 
     
     eration Centre for what 
     
     is sure to be termed the 
     
     greatest Red Island Road 
     
     Revue ever: The Izzurd 
     
     Goate Show. 
     
    

    
     The Red Island Road 
     
     Revue has in the past been 
     
    
   
   
    
     the Rings-1800‘ Pages and Still 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     -has been able to create 
     
     an entire world and pro— 
     
     vide it with a four th— 
     
     ousand—year history, let 
     
     alone introduce it skil- 
     
    
   
   
    
     lfully enough that the 
     
     reader is not overwhelm- 
     
    
   
   
    
     .ed by it. One has to go 
     
     sback to the works of Ho-, 
     
     mer (such as Ulysses) to 
     
     find a comparable effort. 
     
     ‘He begins with a small— 
     
     hole in the ground and 
     
     one hobbit (small crea— 
     
     tures much like rabbits 
     
     except that they are in- 
     
     telligent and stand up- 
     
     right) and gradually 
     
     spreads your horizons 
     
     until you suddenlly re— 
     
     valize that you have been 
     
     introduced to an entire 
     
     continent complete with‘ 
     
     ,at least six intelligent 
     
     species (the actual num- 
     
     ber dependszon your dee 
     
     finition of intellent), 
     
     eaCh with its own sub— 
     
    
   
   
    
     -asically a straight con- 
     
     cert but took a different 
     
     turn.this year when, in 
     
     the hands of the Island's 
     
     well known apocalyptic 
     
     'buffoon, Reverend Izzurd 
     
     Goate, it was built a— 
     
     round the "All the world‘s 
     
     a stage" speech from Shake- 
     
    

    
     ' speare's "As You Like It". 
     
    

    
     :_, The show was well 
     
     conceived but the quality 
     
     'was somewhat irregular. 
     
    

    
     _ With a few pleasant excep— 
     
     tions the theatrical frame— 
     
     work was weak.. The excep— 
     
     tions were the-mime and 
     
     dancing of John Giler, 
     
     Erskine Smith and Blaine 
     
     Vany, and with some re— 
     
     servations, the death & 
     
     resurrectiOn scenes._ 
     
     Deserving honorable men— 
     
     tion was_Izzurd Goate's 
     
    
   
   
    
     i 
     
    
   
   
    
     The Cadre, Tuesday. February J], 1975, page 1] 
     
    
   
   
    
     Too Short 
     
    
   
   
    
     groups and history. By 
     
     the end pf the book you 
     
     have the feeling that 
     
     you have always known 
     
     Middle Earth. Despite 
     
     having read the series 
     
     for the first time only 
     
    
   
   
    
     'two years ago I cannot 
     
    
   
   
    
     picture a time when it 
     
     was not a partjof my 
     
     View»of reality. I was 
     
     filled with an overpower: 
     
    
   
   
    
     -ing desire to know more; 
     
    
   
   
    
     in the best sense to re- 
     
     turn: Indeed letters to 
     
    

    
     the author of this 1800- 
     
     page work have consist— 
     
    

    
     ently voiced one compl— 
     
    

    
     aint - it is too shért! 
     
    

    
     In a novel where the 
     
     setting recieves such 
     
    
   
   
    
     \heavy treatment it might\ 
     
    
   
   
    
     be expected that the plot 
     
     and characters get short} 
     
     shrift. But no. The char— 
     
     acters are true to life, 
     
     human with both faults 
     
     and strenghts. The only 
     
     ones which are stereo- 
     
     typic such as Mithradir, 
     
     the wizard, appear to be 
     
    
   
   
    
     ‘ that way by design. This 
     
    
   
   
    
     image fits the story best.) 
     
     Likewise the action moves 
     
     well with few slow points. 
     
     Indeed virtually the on- 
     
    

    
     ly dull spot is the sec— 
     
     ond chapter of the first 
     
     book where it reads more 
     
     like a history text. But 
     
    
   
   
    
     rendition of The Slithery 
     
     Dee. a 
     
     In spite of some ob- 
     
    
   
   
    
     committed were more than 
     
     atoned for by some of the 
     
    
   
   
    
     ever witnessed by a Char- 
     
     lottetown audience. The 
     
     featured groups were Take 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     ,a rock band,.and the Rock 
     
     Island Line. 
     
     Take Ten and Taquila 
     
    
   
   
    
     "both gave excellent ef- 
     
    
   
   
    
     forts, but played a little 
     
    
   
   
    
     too long. However the 
     
     audienca could not get 
     
     enough of the Rock Island 
     
     Line. This group, com— 
     
     prised of eight local 
     
    

    
     and primarily single 
     
     -entertainers who banded 
     
     together soley for the 
     
     evenings performance, N 
     
    
   
   
    
     left many people wishing 
     
    
   
   
    
     it was a permanent fixture 
     
     in the Charlottetown area. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Of the solitary per- 
     
     formers, Laurel Smythe & 
     
     Sharon Duffy would have, 
     
     in this case, been better 
     
     seen and not heard, but 
     
     Bonnie LeClair was easily 
     
     the high point of the ev- 
     
    
   
   
    
     vious weak links, any sins 
     
    
   
   
    
     ’finest musical performances 
     
    
   
   
    
     Ten, a jazz band, Taquila, 
     
    
   
   
    
     the chapter is not nec- 
     
     essary and can be skipped 
     
     by all but those who (fie 
     
     ke myself) have been bit? 
     
     ten by hobbit mania. 
     
     Despite the fact that 
     
     it can be read and enjoy— 
     
    
   
   
    
     ,ed without any‘consid- 
     
    
   
   
    
     eration of the deeper 
     
     questions thatyit raises 
     
     (it makes a much better 
     
     children's story than 
     
     that old mis-used favor— 
     
     ite Alice in Wonderland) 
     
     it applies itself to vir— 
     
     tually anything — from 
     
     the nature of gdod and 
     
    
   
   
    
     'evil to insights on human 
     
    
   
   
    
     nature to the concept of 
     
     "just wars" to the mech— 
     
     anics df a (true!) com- 
     
     munist state. ~ 
     
     Of all the books I 
     
     have reviewed (and virt— 
     
     uarly.all I have read) 
     
     this is the only one I 
     
     can find no fault. If I 
     
     can say it without soun— 
     
     ding cliche The Lord of 
     
     ,the Rings is simply in— 
     
     credible. I can fairly‘ 
     
    
   
   
    
     'say that it is a "must"to 
     
     ,‘read”. 
     
    
   
   
    
     _ P.S.sThis will be the 
     
     last book review I'll be 
     
     doing this year so good— 
     
     bve.(no tears please). 
     
    
   
   
    
     ening. This lady's cont— 
     
     ribution, both within the 
     
     Rock Island Line and by 
     
     herself should have con— ' 
     
     firmed once and for all 
     
     that she is not just a 
     
     singer but a very prof- 
     
     essional entertainer. 
     
    

    
     The calibre of the 
     
     show would~have been 
     
     greatly improved by re—- 
     
     moving about thirty minutes 
     
     of the weaker acts. As a 
     
     result it would not have 
     
     been so tiring and thev ‘ 
     
     quality higher. ' 
     
    

    
     The third annual Red 
     
     }Island Road Review was a 
     
     threefold benifit concert. 
     
     It benefited the very en- 
     
     lthusiastic and exhausted 
     
     *audience, and it also gave 
     
     ‘Island entertainers another 
     
     opportunity to reiterate 
     
     to audiences and promoters 
     
     alike that Prince Edward 
     
     Island, if not yet, may 
     
     one day be a musical Mecca. 
     
    

    
     If you missed this 
     
     ‘show you may get a repr— a 
     
     ive. It is rumored that 
     
     there'll be a "Second 
     
     Coming" at Easter, and if 
     
     there is you are well ad- 
     
     vised to_be there. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Michael Jardine