Play at Boardmore a ‘delight’

The Boardmore Theatre at Cape Breton University is living up to the expectations of its creators, Harry and Lisanne Boardmore, this week with the presentation of “Marat/Sade.”

Peter Weiss’s famous, eccentric, and, if I may say, a little revolutionary, play is an exciting experience as expected from the people involved, with director Gary Walsh at the helm.

Marat was an intellectual (a journalist in fact) who, with Robespierre, played a major part in the 1789 French Revolution that seemed to have changed the world for the better. At least we thought it did. (You, reader, be the judge!)

The play, set shortly after the revolution within the Charenton psychiatric hospital in the Paris suburbs, has a character of its own. No doubt it is a challenging play but the creators of the Boardmore performance have succeeded in making it a delight and deserve an ovation for sure.

One of the features that struck me was the attention to details. All the “figurants” played the insanity role relentlessly. The attention to detail is remarkable and constant. You feel yourself immersed in a psychiatric asylum. Congratulations to all the “figurants” who play their parts beautifully every minute of the play. The costumes are top notch and reflect the tumultuous times of the era. The play is also accompanied by a lot of vibrant music.

Everyone involved in the various domains of creating such a performance has to be congratulated. I will only single out Carol Anne Gillis, the herald, who carries the play from A to Z.

Well done, everybody, and thank you. Christiane Tanner Westmount

How much longer are we, the people of Cape Breton Island, willing to stand by as our home is turned into a third-world country?

Our government does not have the funding or the right people in place to keep our island and province running properly.

We all know that to prosper we need to have a solid tax base generated by a strong population who are employed and paying taxes to keep everything (schools, hospitals, child welfare, roads, etc.) flowing as it should.

Our population is at its lowest point in decades, due to a poorly run and greedy government who tax people to the point where they decide to move their families elsewhere.

Taxpayers have paid to have our children educated only to have them move to other parts of the country.

This is great for western Canada who reap the rewards of receiving skilled tradespeople without any investment whatsoever.

We have one of the highest provincial tax rates in Canada. Wouldn’t it have made more sense to reward our young people for leaving their families behind, going out west for work and bringing back money to make our island prosper instead of taxing them to the point where they had enough and relocated their families? Maybe we could give them an incentive or a tax break to stay here?

I read in a recent edition of the Cape Breton Post that over 4,100 immigrants have now relocated in Nova Scotia. That’s fine and I wish them well. My question is: “What was wrong with the people that were here 5–10 years ago – our children, grand-children and friends that the government made little or no effort to try to keep here on our island?”

We have to start looking at the overall picture. Until people are treated properly they will continue to leave and our economy will continue to weaken.

Premier Stephen McNeil needs to open his eyes before its too late.

I thank you for the opportunity to voice my opinion and I welcome feedback.