Actor changes his role

Lively City column by Dan Hilborn
Published March 5, 2005


Burnaby actor Trevor Roberts is hoping to make the switch to the other side of the camera this spring with the launch of a new film production company, Ghostlight Cinema Inc.

Roberts, who has appeared in Da Vinci's Inquest and Scary Movie, is the co-author of The Ghostwoods, a feature film the company hopes to start filming this spring.

"It's the story of seven friends who go to a cabin in the woods to spread the ashes of a dead friend," said Roberts, whose firm has signed PBS cinematographer Salvatore Collura and Emmy-nominated visual effects supervisor Eric Vaughn Myre to his project.

Filming of The Ghostwoods is expected to begin on Vancouver Island in the coming weeks, with a hoped-for release date by the end of 2006. Roberts said the company was established with the aim of spotlighting the high quality of emerging talent in the Pacific Northwest.

"I've been writing since I was 15-years-old, and have either subproduced or had other people produce four of my short films," Roberts said.

The Ghostwoods is co-authored by director Kody Zimmerman, and has letters of intent with several up-and-coming B.C. actors including Eric Johnson, Curtis Bechdolt, Sarah Sawatsky and Brooke Fader.

According to a press release issued on Feb. 15, the firm has 32 per cent of its financing in place, and recently acquired the services of a certified accountant and professional publicist.

LOOKING AT LANDMINES

A film that looks at the devastation wrought around the world by the use of landmines will be shown at the SFU Theatre at 5:40 p.m., March 10.

Aftermath: The Remnants of War, winner of the 2001 UNESCO prize for best humanitarian film, will be the highlight of a landmine awareness week on the Burnaby Mountain campus.

The event is sponsored by the SFU Red Cross, Oxfam-SFU, World University Service of Canada-SFU and Engineers Without Borders.

Prior to the film, Adam Johnson, a 'youth mine action ambassador,' will discuss his experiences in Bosnia, one of the most heavily mined countries in the world. Admission to the event is just $3 and food will be served.

INGEBORG'S INVITE

Burnaby's own Ingeborg Raymer, who has taught thousands of students how to draw, paint and create ceramics, is enjoying the fruits of an artistic life.

The 82-year-old artist, who recently displayed her works at the Whistler Convention Center, has been invited to participate in two very prestigious art exhibits this season - one local and the other international.

Starting March 8, Raymer's oil pastel Monday with Peter, a framed 24x20 portrait of a triathlete, is among 20 works in the juried Canadian Institute of Portrait Artists show taking at Place de Arts in Coquitlam.

The exhibit, which runs until April 10, is one of the highlights of the year for the national arts organization. Raymer notes that she has many friends in the group who had been urging her to become involved for years, however, she only recently accepted their invitation to join.

But the bigger news was her invitation to participate in the first-ever Arad International Biennale of Contemporary Arts, an "international art exhibition" taking place from May 20 to 29 in the eastern European country of Romania.

While Raymer had never heard of the event before, she is aware of a very prestigious Biennale in Florence Italy, and if the Romanian event is in any way similar, it could be the opportunity of a lifetime.

"I just wish I'd been asked to go 10 years ago, when I had more money and when I was in better shape physically," Raymer said recently.

While Raymer is clearly overjoyed by the invitation, she has opted to turn it down, because of the lack of advance notice and the fact that the foreign affairs department refuses to chip in for the travel or shipping costs.

The bureaucrats in Ottawa have recommended that Raymer see how this year's Biennale turns out before making a decision whether or not to participate next year.

'PENN'ING HISTORY

It's not often that a mother follows in the footsteps of her children, but that's exactly what's happening with longtime city resident Edna Penn, the proud mom of recently retired Burnaby deputy fire chief Doug Penn.

In 1997, Doug wrote Follow that Fire, a 190-page book that details the history of the Burnaby fire department. This year, his mother put the finishing touches on a 550-page self-published book that follows her family from the day they moved into North Burnaby.

"I remember taking dancing lessons on the stage of the old Regency Theatre, where we used to watch the Saturday afternoon matinees," said the woman who is looking forward to her 79th birthday this summer. "I write about the days when Gilmore school didn't have an electrical bell and Mr. Griffiths would have to ring the handbell."

She also writes about what's changed in the world during her lifetime, such as the the kind of education she received.

"I remember at one school assembly, we were told that somebody had held up a local drug store and that if he was caught and found guilty, the suspect would be 'hung by his neck until he was dead,'" Penn said. "That warning stayed with me my whole life and I never did anything wrong."

The book follows the Penn family as they open the Crescent Bakery on Hastings Street in 1948, through the births of five children, 20 grandchildren, 28 great grandchildren, and the passing of the family patriarch Albert Penn in 1999.

"It was a wonderful wonderful and interesting life. And I'm lucky, because I had great kids - including Doug," said Penn who now lives in Abbotsford.

Meanwhile, the website for her son's new bed-and-breakfast near Sechelt is back online at www. absoluteheavenbb.com.

THIS YEAR, NEXT YEAR AT LEGGE

The Vagabond Players, who make their home in the Bernie Legge Theatre in New Westminster, is presenting a story about women in England during the Second World War as its spring production.

This Year, Next Year, by Norah Harding, follows the trials and tribulations of a British working class family in the months leading up to D-Day.

The play, which runs Wednesdays to Saturday until March 26, stars Siobhan McConnell, Claire Lindsay, Nancy Ebert of Burnaby, Karen Lindh, Ted Staunton and Andrea Larochelle.

Tickets are $10 for the Wednesday and Thursday shows and $12 for Fridays and Saturday. For reservations, contact 604-521-0412.

SPRING BREAK FESTIVITIES

The Shadbolt Centre for the Arts will be hopping with activities for kids when spring break arrives later this month.

For parents hoping to keep the kids busy for a whole week of activities, there's nothing more fun than the annual Spring Break Arts Camp for kids aged six to 11 years old.

The arts camp features qualified instructors who will introduce children to a wide range of art experiences that foster creativity and artistic development. The camp runs from 9:15 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., March 21 to 24 and costs $141.82, plus GST.

For those that want to keep busy for just a few hours, the Spring Break Theatre Festival features a different professional theatre production each day from for the first week of the school holiday.

Gremlin, by Vanessa LeBourdais and Ian Gschwind, is a play with music that focuses on self esteem from the Carousel Theatre Company that runs on Monday, March 21.

Shalakazap by Jenny Wake is a Axis Theatre production that combines a fast-paced story with mathematical puzzles and a whole lot of audience participation on Tuesday, March 22.

Green Eggs and Hamlet, by the Vancouver TheatreSports League, is a total improvisation of the Shakespearean classic running on Wednesday, March 23.

Night Light is a John Lazarus story about a brother and sister who have to cope with monsters at night and bullies during the day, presented by the Green Thumb Theatre Company on Thursday, March 24.

All plays have two shows per day, at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., and cost $8 per seat or $7 per seat for groups of 10 or more. Tickets to the Spring Break Theatre Festival can be obtained by calling 604-205- 3000.

SPRINGTIME ESCAPE PLANNED

Have you ever felt like sending the kids off to prison when they come home for spring break? Not really? Well, maybe the folks at Burnaby Village Museum can change your mind.

Vintage Escapes is a new spring break camp that will take children aged eight to 12 years on a tour of the former Oakalla prison farm site, where they'll have the opportunity to try on a prison guard's uniform, see tools of his trade, and learn how an authentic prison farm operated in the pioneer days of the city.

This program is offered from March 21 to 24 at a cost of $135, or as a two-day camp on March 28 and 29 for just $65.

The museum also offers its traditional carousel capers activities which run daily from March 20 to 28 from noon to 4 p.m. The $5.35 tickets provides unlimited rides on the carousel, crafts, entertainers twice a day, plus spot prizes for all participants.

Burnaby Village Museum is located at 6501 Deer Lake Ave., at Sperling and Canada Way, and can be reached at 604 293-6501.

PHOTO CONTEST FOR YOUTH

Calling all young photographers - city hall wants your pictures.

As part of the Youth Week in May, city council and the parks and recreation department are sponsoring the "This Is My Burnaby" photo contest.

Photographers aged 13 to 18 who live or attend public school in the city are invited to submit one photo on a recognizable Burnaby theme to win prizes ranging from an digital camera to an MP3 player, GameBoy Advanced and other cool stuff.

"We'll have a display up in the main foyer of City Hall for almost the entire month, and we're also hoping to feature some of these photos in our future publications," said Cheryl Waddell, communications assistant at city hall.

Photos can be of a recognizable local landmark, local sport team a community event or any other abstract concept, Waddell said.

Photos must be submitted in two formats - as an electric copy (.jpg at 300 dpi) saved on a CD or disk at a minimum size of 4x6- inches, and as a 8x10 print (minimum 300 dpi) with the photographer's name, phone number and age written on the back.

Entrants must sign a consent form, and a model consent form is necessary for any photo that depicts a visibly recognizable member of the public, except for crowd scenes.

Submissions must be sent by April 25 to "This is My Burnaby" photo contest, c/o Burnaby city Hall, 4949 Canada Way, Burnaby, B.C., V5G 1M2. For more information, contact 604-294-7006.