Sky-Struck

By T.E. Kalem

BILLY BISHOP GOES TO WAR

Written, Composed and Directed by John Gray with Eric Peterson

Canadian Ace Billy Bishop shot down 72 enemy aircraft in World War I, 25 in an astonishing ten-day burst. Baron Manfred von Richthofen was first in kills with 80. The irony is that Bishop was not a very skillful flyer and received severe reprimands for cracking up Royal Flying Corps planes.

Bishop's singular wartime career forms the subject of a one-man show starring Canadian Actor Eric Peterson at off-Broadway's Theater De Lys. "One-man show" is scarcely precise, for Peterson plays 16 characters in addition to Bishop. He is immeasurably aided by John Gray's work at the piano; music underscores the evening. Early on, the songs have bravado: "We were off to fight the Hun . . ./ And it looked like lots of fun," but they end somberly: "We were daring young men with hearts of gold/ And most of us never got old ..."

The mood of Billy Bishop is constantly changing, like the surface of a lake under scudding clouds. It is sad, romantic, exultant. Billy is racked by fear, but victory is his adrenaline. One-on-one combat in the air is the last remnant of chivalry. He gets to Buckingham Palace to receive three decorations from the hand of King George V. His Majesty's first words: "Well, you have been a busy little bugger."

From the snorting mimicry of airplane engines at kick-off to lyric invocations of the beauty of the sky at dawn and dusk, Peterson holds his audience in a trance. The most appealing of his acting skills is his ability to endow Bishop with both vulnerable humanity and dare devil courage.

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