Beauty and the Beast To October 9 Neptune Theatre, 1593 Argyle Street $30-$84 The closing show for Neptune Theatre’s 2006-07 season was a blockbuster hit. Beauty and the Beast was so popular it was held over, closing after 16 weeks only because actors had previously booked engagements. Beauty is again gracing the Neptune stage as […]
Kate Watson
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King Lear is a bloody success
King Lear Thursday, August 25; Saturday, August 27; Tuesday, August 30; Friday, September 2, 7pm Cambridge Battery, Point Pleasant Park PWYC (reserved seat $25) It’s no surprise the stage is littered with bodies at the end of King Lear—this is a Shakespearean tragedy, after all. However, what actually surprised me was how much I cared. […]
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Theatre review: As You Like It
Romance is in the air in Point Pleasant Park, as Shakespeare by the Sea brings to life the Bard’s playful, pastoral comedy As You Like It. It’s a story of love of many kinds, from “unrequited” to “at first sight.” Rosalind (Catherine Rainville) is deprived of her father’s love when the cruel Duke Frederick (Henri […]
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Two Planks and 25 years of passion
It’s show time on a Saturday night at the Ross Creek Centre for the Arts, and the sun is peeking out from behind wispy clouds as people make their way toward the “stage”—a meadow surrounded by forest. The crowd walks through grass, still wet from an afternoon shower, along a path marked by unlit tiki […]
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Play review: Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet)
Constance Ledbelly is a doormat—albeit a brilliant, passionate doormat. The problem is, she doesn’t recognize her own brilliance and passion. In Ann-Marie MacDonald’s award-winning comedy Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet), that changes when Constance is sucked down the rabbit hole (or in this case, through a waste basket) into the middle of two Shakespearean tragedies. […]
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Shakespeare by the Sea’s Pinocchio is winning by a nose
Shakespeare by the Sea has spruced up the children’s classic Pinocchio with some quirky new characters (a muscle-shirted clam and a bearded baby for starters), lovely, hummable tunes rooted in Italian folk music and clever humour that will leave you laughing. Melissa MacGougan gives an anything-but-wooden performance as the titular would-be boy, who is led […]
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Sistine Chapel is a theatrical miracle
2b Theatre’s Unconscious at the Sistine Chapel is a theatrical delight at the Stages Theatre Festival, playing through the fest’s final weekend. It brings together technical magic, outstanding performances and a finely layered script filled with sharp, funny dialogue. Playwright Michael Mackenzie imagines a chance meeting in the Sistine Chapel between two couples: Minna Bernays […]
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Stages theatre festival is playing around for two weeks
Eastern Front Theatre’s new artistic director Jeremy Webb wants the Stages Festival to appeal to a wide audience, and that’s reflected in this year’s jam-packed lineup. The two-week-long festival is offering a smorgasbord of entertainment including comedy, dance and plays in various stages of development. There’s theatre for kids and theatre for young people. And […]
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Summer 2016’s must-see plays
June 15-26 Stages Theatre Festival and NextSTAGES Theatre Festival for Families You don’t need to be an elephant to remember the name of a festival that offers shows in different stages of development aimed at different stages of life on different stages around town. This year’s festival offers workshops, play readings, theatre for children (The […]
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Walter Borden plays 10 characters in his Tightrope update
Juanita Peters was smitten more than 30 years ago when she first read the script for Tightrope Time: Ain’t Nuthin’ More Than Some Itty Bitty Madness Between Twilight and Dawn. The play, written by Walter Borden, told the story of a young man growing up black and gay in rural Nova Scotia, and was being […]
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YAS King!
When Henry Purcell wrote his semi-opera King Arthur in the 17th century, there’s no way he could’ve imagined a production like Opera Nova Scotia’s. “Modern technology is sharing the stage with this operatic entertainment,” explains Walter Kemp, Opera NS’s artistic director. “We chose to do this great piece filled with lovely music, but we wanted […]
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The Weekend Healer is diagnosed as excellent theatre
Lindalou (Stephanie MacDonald) is a loving but unconventional mother. Her sensitive, 16-year-old son Curtis (Allie MacDonald) is more like a brother to her since they’re only 15 years a part in age. Lindalou’s estranged mother Betina (Kathryn MacLellan) is focused only on appearances and is willfully blind to the suffering of those around her. When […]