Halifax, Nova Scotia | THE COAST: Arts

Two Plays, Two Winners on Day 3 of the Fringe

editor@thecoast.ca (Kate Watson) — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 12:00:55 -0300

Good old Hurricane Earl forced the closure of all but two plays yesterday, but as luck would have, it they were both winners!

Back in 1916, a New York newspaper columnist named Don Marquis introduced Archy the cockroach and Mehitabel the free-spirited cat to the world. Archy, who claimed to be a reincarnated poet and thus was qualified to comment upon both the human and insect worlds, supposedly left free verse social commentary on Marquis’ typewriter at night.…

Keeping Cool on Day 2 of the Fringe

editor@thecoast.ca (Kate Watson) — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 10:57:57 -0300

With temperatures soaring as Hurricane Earl (Hot Juan??) lumbered towards the city, the air conditioned splendor of Plutonium Playhouse offered sweet relief as well as a mixed bag of Fringey entertainment…

The first show, Black Jack Justice, proved to be the best of the evening.…

Day 1 of the Fringe Odyssey

editor@thecoast.ca (Kate Watson) — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 13:24:43 -0300

Okay, the marathon has begun. Last night marked the beginning of an 11-day Fringe odyssey where this intrepid reviewer will attempt to view —-and coherently review—-all 30 theatre offerings.…

Layering on the Urban Sprawl

editor@thecoast.ca (Holly Gordon) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Jack Bishop's gorgeous, bold paintings speak to consumerism. by Holly Gordon CONSUMERISM Jack Bishop: Urban Sprawl …

Contemporary Verse 2's Travelling 35th anniversary bash

editor@thecoast.ca (Holly Gordon) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Local poets Matt Robinson, Jeanette Lynes, Miki Fukuda and Sue Goyette help celebrate. by Holly Gordon Quarterly magazine Contemporary Verse 2 is celebrating its 35th anniversary with a coast-to-coast tour, and it's pulling up to the Halifax stop Sunday for an evening of readings from local poets Matt Robinson, Jeanette Lynes, Miki Fukuda and Sue Goyette. "I jumped at the chance," says Robinson, explaining that CV2 contacted him as a former contributor to participate in Sunday's event.…

The big C on small stages

editor@thecoast.ca (Kate Watson) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Art or therapy? Two local plays at this year�s Fringe Fest centre on the effects of cancer on individuals and the people around them. by Kate Watson It's often said that cancer touches all of us, so it's not surprising that two plays at this year's Atlantic Fringe Festival, Ed's Story: The Dragon Chronicles and Vanishing Twins, centre on the disease. Both works make use of the inspiring, healing and teaching power of theatre to explore the effects of cancer on the affected individual, and on the people around them.…

Sweet Tooth Vol. 1: Out of the Woods

editor@thecoast.ca (Shannon Fay) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Jeff Lemire (Vertigo) by Shannon Fay Gus is a young boy with deer ears and antlers. He�s a hybrid�a child born with animal features after a great plague killed most of humanity.…

Swimming Ginger

editor@thecoast.ca (Sean Flinn) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Gary Geddes (Goose Lane) by Sean Flinn In this suite of narrative poems published by Goose Lane, award-winning British Columbia poet Gary Geddes adds a dimension (of voice) to the Qingming Shanghe Tu scroll, an expansive and highly detailed 12th-century painting thought to be produced by Zhang Zeduan of Bianliang. The painting reproduced over several middle pages in the (8� x 5.5�) book.…

Ali Nickerson's art starts at home

editor@thecoast.ca (Sue Carter Flinn) — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 12:20:00 -0300

Frustrated by gallery bureaucracy, Ali Nickerson decided to take matters into her own home: Her exhibition Everyone Knew What Had to Happen is opening at 2387 Gallery (2387 Agricola), which just happens to be her new apartment, and an ideal place to show work that explores “my experience as a bartender and the relationships I developed with the regulars,” Nickerson writes.

The installation is made up of eight chairs that, using textiles and sculptural elements—-”hand-printed and dyed fabrics that are infected with a variety of materials (ceramic insects, fur, resin, hair)”—-represent personality traits Nickerson encountered while bartending.…

Reigning Spamalot

editor@thecoast.ca (Sue Carter Flinn) — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 11:49:00 -0300

Nerd alert: if “it’s only a flesh wound” makes you giddy, this news is for you. Monty Python’s Spamalot is coming to the Metro Centre for three performances, Saturday, October 16 at 2pm and 8pm, and Sunday, October 17 at 2pm.…

Atlantic Fringe preview

editor@thecoast.ca (Sue Carter Flinn) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Fringe Fest doesn't have to be scary: take the plunge with these seven productions. by Sue Carter Flinn September 2-12 Tickets and schedule at atlanticfringe.ca. Call 471-7081 for any changes.…

The Bus Stop�s here

editor@thecoast.ca (Michael Fraiman) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 04:00:00 -0300

With plans to turn the Gottingen space into a non-profit organization, and as a popular venue for the Fringe Festival, The Bus Stop Theatre is becoming the centre of Halifax�s alternative theatre scene. by Michael Fraiman The Bus Stop Theatre doesn't look like much. Ask for a tour, and managing director Clare Waqué will show you the small but newly renovated lobby; the short but newly painted black box stage; the cumbersome 70-year-old safes in the back room, remnants from the venue's former pharmacy days and her office, a small desk in an unfinished basement, with pipes hanging so low they seem tailor-made for the five-foot, four-inch manager herself.…

Inside the Lodge

editor@thecoast.ca (Laura Kenins) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Scott Saunders� Grand Lodge is built out of furniture and other materials he salvaged from the old Barrington Freemasons Hall. by Laura Kenins Scott Saunders wants to maintain an almost Masonic level of secrecy about his show at Saint Mary's University Art Gallery. It's appropriate, since his installation Grand Lodge is derived from Freemasonry and built out of artifacts taken from the former Freemasons hall on Barrington Street.…

Chester Playhouse Summer Theatre Festival: Village Wooing

editor@thecoast.ca (Kate Watson) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Sparking chemistry puts actors Kristin Howell and Marty Burt's latest at the top of the must-see summer theatre list. by Kate Watson In Village Wooing, Kristin Howell plays a quick-witted, strong-willed force of nature who sets her sights on an eligible widower played by Marty Burt. Howell, a classic, porcelain-skinned "English" beauty, is perfectly cast.…

Giving Notice:Words on Walls appears

editor@thecoast.ca (Holly Gordon) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 04:00:00 -0300

The new Dalhousie Art Gallery exhibit invited a group of local and international artists to install their typography directly on the gallery's walls. by Holly Gordon "New!" reads a gallery wall-sized red bubble, slightly to the left of Dalhousie Art Gallery's entrance. Garry Neill Kennedy's painted wall projection yells at you as a Future Shop flyer would, but his installation for the gallery's newest exhibition, Giving Notice: Words on Walls, is inspired by a small stamp placed throughout a medal catalogue for American soldiers in Iraq.…

Hope for Wildlife Society's Annual Open House

editor@thecoast.ca (Holly Gordon) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 04:00:00 -0300

The wildlife rehabilitation centre in Seaforth opens up its doors to celebrate. by Holly Gordon The Hope for Wildlife Society's hosting its ninth open house this Sunday, and Hope Swinimer and the animals are waiting for your visit. "We'll have the wildlife garden open, the learning centre, the rooftop garden, the flight cage---the only area that's off limits is the white-tailed deer unit," says Swinimer, who runs the facility.…

Children of the Atom

editor@thecoast.ca (Laura Kenins) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Dave Lapp (Conundrum) by Laura Kenins Toronto comic artist Dave Lapp won acclaim for his first book, Drop-in; Children of the Atom collects his strips from the Vancouver weekly Georgia Straight, telling the stories of his two characters Franklin-Boy and Jim-Jam Girl. The two speak in riddles, playing and dancing a line between childhood and adulthood at varying times.…

Iain Reid

editor@thecoast.ca (Sue Carter Flinn) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 04:00:00 -0300

One Bird�s Choice (Anansi) by Sue Carter Flinn The subtitle of Reid�s book sums up his timely story better than any review: �A Year in the Life of an Overeducated, Underemployed Twenty-Something Who Moves Back Home.� Reid takes a part-time summer gig at CBC Radio, but the only way he can afford to do it is to move back home to his parents� hobby farm, where puttering and meal planning takes up a good part of the day. His parents--- in particular, Reid�s father and his favourite corduroy pants---are charming and familiar, which makes this memoir fun to read.…

Tracks: Visual Arts Nova Scotia Mentorship Program

editor@thecoast.ca (Holly Gordon) — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Eyelevel Gallery hosts this VANS exhibition, showcasing emerging talents alongside their program mentors. by Holly Gordon Eyelevel Gallery has two giant papier mache fists resting on their pink knuckles, with forearms reaching up to where elbows don't exist. They're part of artist Chantal Tardiff's work (pictured above) for Visual Arts Nova Scotia's mentorship program exhibition, Tracks, and are coupled with shots of Tardiff wearing the giant fists and playing with positions in different spaces.…

On the periphery

editor@thecoast.ca (Sean Flinn) — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Losing It, a new exhibition at MSVU Art Gallery, intimately peers into mental health and anxiety issues. by Sean Flinn The day demands focus and clarity. Part of the world blurs, becoming peripheral.…

The Woman in Black

editor@thecoast.ca (Kate Watson) — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Valley Summer Theatre delivers a well-performed, and classic, psychological thriller. by Kate Watson There's a delicious contrast in stepping from a sunny street in Wolfville into the darkened Al Whittle Theatre where an eerie mist billows gently from offstage. It's even more delicious to discover that sometimes a well-performed classic psychological thriller like A Woman in Black can still be scarier than blood-and-guts-spewing horror flick.…

Blackbird flies with honesty

editor@thecoast.ca (Kate Watson) — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 04:00:00 -0300

The play at Living Room Theatre is thought-provoking, but hits hard. by Kate Watson If you like your theatre hard-hitting and thought-provoking, then Blackbird is the play for you. You won't like what you hear and see‚ but you won't be able to turn away.…

The Halifax Summer Opera Workshop

editor@thecoast.ca (Kate Watson) — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Susannah and Alcina grace the James Dunn stage in this year's workshop series. by Kate Watson The Halifax Summer Opera Workshop For the past six years, the Halifax Summer Opera Workshop has been bringing young opera singers from across the country together for an intensive period of study that culminates in the staging of two full operas. This year, the offerings are Susannah, a modern opera set in the American South and Handel's Alcina, a Baroque opera in Italian with English subtitles.…

Ship's Company Summer Theatre: The Net

editor@thecoast.ca (Kate Watson) — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 04:00:00 -0300

A taught and suspenseful thriller centered on a wealthy New Brunswick family will rock your boat. by Kate Watson new review Ship's Company Summer Theatre: The Net If you've never ventured out to Parrsboro to take in a show at the Ship's Company Theatre, I can't think of a better lure than Marcel-Romain Theriault's The Net. This taut and suspenseful thriller centres on a wealthy New Brunswick family that made its fortune in the crab fishery.…

Eating Animals

editor@thecoast.ca (Jon Dempsey) — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Jonathan Safran Foer (Little, Brown and Company) by Jon Dempsey After penning two acclaimed novels, author Jonathan Safran Foer writes his first non-fiction account, Eating Animals on, well, not eating animals. After learning of his wife�s pregnancy, Foer, faced with health and moral implications of feeding his then-unborn son, began more than a year�s worth of research into factory farming and vegetarianism.…