Belleville: The third production of the Belleville Theatre Guild's 2009/2010 season will be the comedy, The Art of War by George F. Walker, one of Canada's most prolific playwrights and one of the most widely produced dramatists. In 2006 he was made a member of the Order of Canada. In 2009 he received the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement.
The Art of War is the third in a trilogy of plays in which Tyrone Power, a broken-down journalist turned unemployed private detective, fights tirelessly but unsuccessfully for truth, justice, and the Canadian way.
In this play, Power is taking on international skulduggery in the Ministry of Defence/Culture. Think of the present scandals in Afghanistan but with Richard Colvin replaced by Sam Spade. It's very intelligent and also very funny.
Power's quarry here is retired General John Hackman, who is plotting with Karla Mendez, the daughter of a deposed Central American dictator, to restore her father's regime. Power, his sidekick Jamie and their friend Heather are no match for Karla, the general and his zombie aide, Brownie. Their only strength is innocence, and that isn't much.
The cast consists of two newcomers, Stephen Wilkinson as Tyrone Power and Jackie Sutherland as Heather. Along with Ryan Zaback as Jamie, they are the good guys.
