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"West Wylie Story"
April 2005
Childs Auditorium, Deep River
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News Release
"WEST WYLIE" CREATOR ADDS PERSONAL TOUCH
When "West Wylie Story" opens on April 1st in Deep River's Childs Auditorium, it will chronicle more than just the local events and people of 60 years ago.
The whimsical musical comedy also draws upon the personal experiences of its writer, Phyllis Heeney.
Heeney, an AECL engineer and member of the Deep River Players, conceived the idea for the show in 2003, as a way to celebrate the vibrant mix of rural and scientific culture that has enlivened the upper Ottawa Valley since 1944.
By coincidence the show's centrepiece, the ZEEP reactor, is in the news this year as Canada's wartime achievement marks its 60th anniversary (including an upcoming display at the Canadian Museum of Science and Technology in Ottawa).
Heeney spent over a year researching and writing the script and lyrics, finding ample fodder for her tale in the local archives - but also adding a sprinkle or two from her own life.
"I'm a lot like the character of Dolores," says Heeney with a grin, "I'm independent and a pacifist, and I always go to the woods by myself to find comfort."
It was in those woods that Heeney found more than just comfort one day.
"When Dolores gets skunked in the play - that's a true story that happened to me."
Other West Wylie characters are coloured from the palette of Heeney's life.
"My mom is a strong, independent, clever woman like Elizabeth (Dolores' mother)."
"When I first came to AECL I felt a little like Jane (one of the scientists) - one of few women in an all-male environment, trying to get some respect and recognition."
Growing up in rural southern Ontario, Heeney remembers one of the first fresh "vegetables" each year being Dandelion greens.
That country upbringing didn't prepare her for the blackflies of Deep River, however, which she first discovered (or rather, which discovered her) as a co-op student at AECL in 1988.
The sentiment found its way into the "I Feel Itchy" number in West Wylie's first Act.
Like countless others, Heeney overlooked the blackflies and fell in love with the area, starting full-time at AECL in 1989.
Working on shift in the NRU gave her an insight into the world of valley lads and ladies, game dinners, local dialect, and other aspects later to surface in her script.
With pride she speaks of her shack on the Wylie Road, which she built herself and lived in for two years in the early 90s, with a large vegetable garden and no electricity.
"West Wylie's" Dolores Stewart would be proud.
"I am so impressed with the energy and enthusiasm of the cast", says Heeney, with no small amount of energy and enthusiasm herself.
"As well as the production team and very creative people that have helped to make this happen. The band is amazing."
"It's also a relief to see that most of the lines that I thought were funny, actually are funny when delivered by these talented actors."
"It's great to hear a lot of laughter at rehearsals. I can't wait to hear the laughter of a full house."
The Deep River Players present "West Wylie Story" on April 1, 2, 7, 8, and 9, with reserved-seating tickets available at Snider's PharmaPlus in Deep River, and Country Meats in Chalk River.
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