Toronto Star - February 9, 1988

"The effect of drama on a mom and kids"
Henry Mietkiewicz

It's lunchtime backstage at Young People's Theatre, and mom and the kids are sniping again.

Between bites of a thick, drippy sandwich, Samantha Follows declares with a sneer how happy she is that her role lets her "take revenge on these two devils."

Sighing quietly, Dawn Greenhalgh rolls her eyes and admits that lately she finds it "really hard to be nice" to her daughters.

Not to be outdone, Megan Follows suppresses a giggle and murmurs that some days her fondest wish is to "get safely back home and then kill them both."

Appearances to the contrary, everything is proceeding smoothly as Greenhalgh and her daughters prepare to open tomorrow at YPT in Paul Zindel's award-winning play, The Effect Of Gamma Rays On Man-In-The- Moon Marigolds.

In fact, more often than not, snide comments and barbed phrases are followed by pats of reassurance and beaming smiles of pride.

But their sarcastic give-and-take, far from gratuitous horseplay, is also a defence mechanism against the taut, psychological rigors of Zindel's harrowing drama.

Gamma Rays - winner of a 1971 Pulitzer Prize and an Obie for best Off-Broadway production - is the story of a selfish, abusive widow (played by Greenhalgh) who favors her older, outgoing daughter (Samantha) over her sensitive, warm-hearted child (Megan).

The mother's anger and envy are particularly inflamed by the younger daughter's academic success in a project that gives the play its title - an experiment that measures the effects of radiation on a certain type of flower.

So shattering are some of the family's scenes that Young People's Theatre is advising parents and teachers that the show is unsuitable for those under the age of 12.

Small wonder that Zindel's script would strain the patience of any three actresses. In this case, the pressures are further magnified, since a real mother and her two daughters have stepped into the roles.

Hence the ribbing - a form of reassurance that trust and affection still unite the three women, no matter what they say on stage or appear to say off stage.

This encouragement also helps to calm potential jitters over two other novelties. Gamma Rays marks the stage debut for Megan, who has received international raves for her movie and TV appearances in productions like Anne Of Green Gables and the sequel. It's also the first time that Greenhalgh, 22-year-old Samantha and 20-year-old Megan have performed together.

And it means that fully half of their showbiz family will be represented on stage. Behind the scenes are veteran actor Ted Follows (now divorced from Greenhalgh), son Laurence who's a fourth- year drama student at Julliard, and daughter Edwina, currently writing a TV series.

"When I got the call last year from (director) Peter Moss asking me if I'd like to do the show, I agreed almost immediately," says Greenhalgh who was in Stage West's production of Noises Off last summer.

"Then, not long afterward, I happened to mention it to Megan and she said she wanted to do it, too. That was really quite a coincidence, because she'd been thinking for some time about trying the stage. And Young People's Theatre seemed like the perfect space for her.

"In the meantime, Samantha heard about all of this and her reaction was 'What about me?' And that's how it all came together.

"I'm sure this casting crossed Peter's mind, because he's worked with Samantha before (in A Christmas Carol in 1985). But he told me later he didn't make the suggestion originally because he wasn't sure how I'd react to working with my own children."

Perhaps the greatest adjustment was made by Megan, who'll be seen next month opposite William Hurt and Timothy Hutton in the theatrical movie Destiny and with Jason Robards and Kirk Douglas in the NBC-TV remake of Inherit The Wind.

For her, setting aside time for Gamma Rays meant passing up a stage show in New York and possible parts in two movies. "What it came down to was a chance to work with my mother and sister. It was also a good way of exploring a new discipline in surroundings where I know the others in the cast are with me all the way."

Working on stage is something Megan has wanted to do for some time, but previous offers - including one from Young People's Theatre - would have disrupted her high school studies in Los Angeles.

Still, says Samantha, the experience has its many benefits, too. "When Megan and I were kids, we were inseparable - we shared the same room, took baths together, the whole thing. But she moved to L.A. and I went to New York, so we haven't spent much time together in the past couple of years. Now we're together for a two-month stretch and it feels great."

"What we have going for us," says Greenhalgh, "is that our family is fairly honest, we have good communication and, after all this time, there aren't many skeletons left in our closet.

"But I've got to admit there sometimes is a slight reluctance on my part to hurt them on stage in the role of the mother. I've got a natural tendency to pull back, because the nurturing part of me comes out with them in a way that it wouldn't with any two other actresses.

"But that's part of the reason we feel so good about doing this play. On one level, we can show people the terrible results of psychological abuse of children.

"But underneath it all, the audience realizes that here are a real mother and daughters who are still close enough to be able to go through an ordeal like this and come out with love and respect for one another."

Source: Toronto Star