JAI Entertainment
writing assignment. The two also will
visit their son in Japan.
"As a Canadian actor, I wouldn't feel
complete if I hadn't worked at Stratford,"
he said. "I've directed in the theater a
lot, but this is the first time I've been act-
ing on stage for a long time. It's very ex-
citing, thrilling and wonderful."
Al Waxman as Willy Loman in Death of a Salesmair.
"There's something profound in the character of
Willie that makes the play always relevant."
lthough Jennifer Gould has been
a Stratford Festival understudy
f or three years, she never has
A been called to fill in for an ab-
sent actress.
That doesn't mean she is left with any
excess time. With 12 productions in this
season's repertoire, Gould performs in
three as a member of the festival's Young
Company.
Prepared to become Guenevere in
Camelot, she is otherwise caught up in
the production as part of the dance en-
semble. She also is part of the ensemble
for The Taming of the Shrew.
A different side of her talents is shown
as she plays a saucy maid in the Italian
comedy Filumena.
"It's nice that the roles are spread out
because it gives me time to clear my head,"
said Gould, 26, who came to Stratford short-
ly after graduating from York University
and having a brief assignment as co-host
for "Clips," a children's game show on Cana-
dian television.
"Almost all of my professional experience
has been in Stratford, and getting to work
with some of the best actors in Canada has
been extremely thrilling. I've learned more
here than I've learned all my life includ-
ing at the university."
The Young Company includes 15 mem-
bers who have the younger roles and attend
ongoing classes. At the end of the season,
they put on a collective piece.
Gould's interest in theater started at age
10, when she and her father auditioned for
roles in a community theater production of
The Music Man.
"It was a wonderful experience socially
and culturally," she explained. "My father
was in a few shows after that, and then he
went on to produce plays for the Jewish
Community Center in Ottawa.
"I actually got into the JCC before my fa-
ther did. I was the choreographer for Fid-
dler on the Roof, which was very successful,
and then I helped choreograph Grease.
Jennifer Gould, right foreground, holding a blue streamer, is in the ensemble in Camelot, and the understudy for the lead role of Guenevere.
During my last year of high school, I
played Audrey in the JCC production of Lit-
de Shop of Horrors."
Gould has had to audition for each of the
seasons at Stratford, where she works eight
months out of the year. Her home is in
Toronto, where her husband, Hayes, is a
copywriter. He joins her for weekends.
"For the past three Passovers, we've had
to go to a synagogue in a town a half hour
away," she said. "It was good in a way be-
cause I've been making my own seders."
Although Gould has not worked in the
Detroit area, she has shopped in Birming-
ham while visiting a friend at the Univer-
sity of Windsor.
"I consider myself lucky because I could
be working across the country in Vancou-
ver or Manitoba, in which case my husband
and I wouldn't be able to see each other
every weekend," Gould said. "An actor in
Canada, unless doing film work in Toron-
to, would most likely be in another
province."
Gould already is planning to audition for
the next Stratford season.
"I love everything about theater," she
said. "I couldn't imagine myself doing any-
thing else. I love doing it as my work, and I