CELTIC FESTIVAL Victorian Players visit Camelot

The Camelot shown here is quite different from the legendary one.
By GARRY L. CLARK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A story of King Arthur, long the stuff of legend, was presented Thursday evening as the Victorian Players' seventh annual Celtic Festival. "Voices on the Wind: Return to Camelot" by the troupe's artistic director, Jean McClure Kelty, wove a more realistic story of Arthur and his queen, Guinevere, and the palace intrigue around 515 A.D.
The story begins in the modern day, with three schoolgirls discussing Arthur and wondering what the truth was behind the legend. Then, they are transported back through time as Irish fay (elflike creatures) to watch the story develop near the end of the relatively peaceful reign of Arthur, Duke of Britain, to the eve of his coronation. As it happens, this Camelot is quite different from the legendary one.
Subterfuge is afoot as Arthur's power-hungry half-brother, Modred, and his evil wife, Morgana, plot Arthur's downfall and Modred's rise to power. Arthur represents a joining of Roman and Celtic ideas that does not sit well with some of his subjects, and his wife of Saxon blood is the victim of rumors about her barbarism.
Cast: Maggie Craig, Kellianne Craig and Heather Matyi played the schoolgirls/fay quite well, tying the story together and giving insight into the psyches of the main characters.
John Thompson as Arthur and Lisa Bogen as Guinevere were outstanding. Mac Michael as Modred and Ellery Smallwood as a warrior were adequate, although they seemed to punctuate the wrong words in many of their lines, in the manner of William Shatner's Captain Kirk of "Star Trek" fame.
The role of Merlin was played by Tom Jones with proper aplomb, and his love interest, Vivien, was well done by Marilyn Higgins. Bob Wilson gave an excellent turn as Dagonet, the court jester, and Dawn Hoon was more than suitably evil as the treacherous Morgana. Arthur's confidante, Bedifer, was ably portrayed by Bill Hayden.
Completing the large cast were Ray Thompson, Joe Narry, Patty Burgess, Darlene MacBenn, Joe MacBenn, Jeanne Hanuschak, Carol Bretz, Melissa Barahona, Perc Kelty and Vern Rodenbaugh.
The dialogue in this piece is definitely not modern and waxes somewhat poetic throughout, but it reflects well the general public's vision of life in that era and thus seems to fit.
Music: Harp, recorder and trumpet music by the MacBenns enriched the performance.
Removing the legendary exploits of Arthur to reveal a more human and realistic story does not dampen the wonder of Camelot but brings it to a more interesting level.
Set design by Elizabeth Ford, Janet White, Rosa Dalbec and Ethel White was superb, as was costuming by Jeanne Hanuschak.