Betsy Carstairs

One-person plays can be riveting. I vividly remember The Collector, acted by one person in London's fringe theatre district in 1979. In the theatre of strata life, the equivalent would be watching a dictatorship and most unwelcome.

No, in strata life there are many roles to be played and experience is not required.

In my last column, Deryk Norton, a strata owner on Vancouver Island and the editor of Strata Advocate ( www.strataadvocate.ca)described the roles he's come across, including the ''condo commando'' and "strata Nazi." I asked Vancouver Sun readers to send me examples of roles they've endured. Given the passion and dedication of some of these actors, I'm beginning to think I'm missing out on some excellent theatre by not living in a strata! I won't divulge the names of the actors, but here are some additional roles.

THE TATTLETALE

Just like a child on the school ground, a strata tattletale complains about others: the driver of the red car who was speeding; the neighbour whose curtains are the wrong colour; noisy children/grandchildren next door. The tattletale won't comply with strata council requests to file his or her complaints in writing.

THE ENTITLED

It takes a strong council to deal with an owner who has lived in a building for decades and feels that he or she can bend the rules to suit themselves. (If the entitled is an owner who helps out around the building it takes very strong council, indeed.)

THE ENTRENCHED

This role is played by the councillor who has been elected many times; has become, over the years, unresponsive to other owners' issues; cannot be corrected; and will do as they please.

The entrenched enjoy exercising power and authority and though not Nazis, they are condescending and arrogant.

THE SPENDTHRIFT

The financially illiterate owner demands all sorts of expenditures, especially cosmetic upgrades, despite there being insufficient money in the bank due to maintenance and repairs.

THE CHEAPSKATE

This owner doesn't want to spend any money on maintenance, preventive maintenance and improvements, using the excuse ''the kid's getting it anyway, why should I spend my pension money?'' (A scene where the spendthrift challenges the cheapskate could be high drama.)

THE BULLY PRESIDENT

This is the strata Nazi with a title. This character is an overbearing leader who dismisses anything that he or she isn't interested in, and lobbies relentlessly for pet projects, even demanding meetings with owners and stacking meetings in his or her favour.

THE PUPPET

A council member who has been hand-picked by the Nazi-style strata manager and agrees with everything the manager tells him or her. Rather than upsetting the manager, the dumb puppet goes along with everything.