Anne-Marie Jennings
Northern News Services

NNSL (Sep 28/98) - John A. MacDonald will be visiting the North next week. So will Catherine the Great.

Confused? Don't be. The two historical figures are coming to town as part of a series of presentations leading up to and taking place during Literacy Week.

The characters taken from the history books will be visiting schools and appearing at the Yellowknife Public Library.

St. Albert, Alta.-based actor Paul Punyi, who will be portraying the character of Canada's first prime minister, says the interview with historical characters is designed to make the idea of studying history a more appealing idea to many students, particularly those at the high-school level.

Among the other characters he portrays, along with wife Maureen Rooney, are Vladimir Lenin, Leonardo Da Vinci, Catherine the Great and Canada's own Nellie McClung.

In addition to the Interviews with History series, Punyi and Rooney will be making a series of presentations in the schools to promote the importance of literacy. As for their role as members of Performers for Literacy, "It's something Maureen and I came up with four years ago," says Punyi, adding that the characters that they decided to portray were all suggestions from teachers in St. Albert.

Each character is presented in a 30-minute scripted interview, which Punyi says provides students who see the presentations a better sense of the character.

"It's quite thrilling for them. Having this character they have heard about and seen pictures walk into their class is much different from watching something about the character on TV. It's immediate."

As for dealing with the challenge of playing the same characters regularly, Punyi says while the script may be memorized, the situation the actors find themselves in is never the same twice.

"It's never the same thing because the interviewer is always different," he says.

In addition to their performances in Interview with History, Punyi and Rooney will also participate in another program that is designed to help promote the idea that reading is an essential element of every day life, regardless of what career path the students may follow.

The tour is sponsored by the NWT Literacy Council and has been organized to celebrate Literacy Week, Oct.3-10.