I have to admit I was a little afraid. Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf is a harrowing play, and it’s a long play. On top of that, in the Dal Theatre Society Production, it’s a play about a world-worn middle-aged-couple played by two fresh-faced twenty-somethings. Scary stuff. Well, my fears proved unfounded. The […]
Kate Watson
Posted inArts + Music
The glow from Glace Bay
It seems incredible that a play as dark and disturbing as The Glace Bay Miners’ Museum left me feeling warm all over, but it did. Part of the glow came from seeing a beautiful production that included a wonderfully versatile and evocative set, music that was integrated in and integral to the play, and masterful […]
Posted inArts + Music
The San Family
There’s a lot to like about Juanita Peter’s new play The San Family. It packs a lot of history into 90 minutes and touches on important issues. It’s an interesting story that educators will love for shining a light on the shameful segregation of the past while offering an ultimately hopeful message. It contains some […]
Posted inArts + Music
Power of music
Juanita Peters didn’t set out to write or direct a play. She’s a well-known filmmaker, after all, at home behind the camera. But she had the germ of an idea for a feature film about racial segregation set in a Nova Scotia sanatorium in the early 1940s. It was an idea she began to explore […]
Posted inArts + Music
Sublime indeed.
The written program for Sublime-Flamenco Valentine talks about pushing boundaries and fusing genres in dance and music, and the show itself certainly delivered. It offers 90 minutes of flamenco married with blues and opera and Spanish guitar and voice. Each piece is a marvel of choreography, both in the dances themselves and in how the […]
Posted inArts + Music
Sissydude: A Dandy Rock Musical
You may have missed Trrrash Production’s Sissydude at last year’s Queer Acts Festival, but the campy rock musical is being offered again in a new and improved version. This incarnation features a more substantial set (sans collapsing walls), a more cohesive plot line and some great new songs. Ian Mullan struts his stuff as Jamie, […]
Posted inArts + Music
Don’t miss The (Post) Mistress
It’s hard to imagine anyone but Martha Irving playing Marie-Louise Faucon, the endearing titular character in Tomson Highway’s The (Post) Mistress. Irving’s gorgeous singing voice and wonderfully conspiratorial storytelling draw the audience into the life of this passionate small-town postmistress who embraces the wider world through the letters that pass through her post office. Marie-Louise […]
Posted inArts + Music
Memory, loss and legacy Unraveled
I would never presume to critique choral music. I don’t know the whys and hows of what makes it good or bad. But that being said, one doesn’t need to be an expert to recognize that the Camerata Xara Young Woman’s Choir makes very beautiful music, and that their new show Unraveled is brilliant on […]
Posted inArts + Music
The Importance of Being hilarious
Oscar Wilde is the king of intelligent comedy and The Importance of Being Earnest is his crowning achievement. The Neptune Theatre production gives this gem all its due with a sumptuous set, opulent costumes and first-rate performances. Michael Therriault is a suitably impish Algernon and his puppyish manner is balanced nicely by David Leyshon as […]
Posted inArts + Music
Strawberries in January
The beginning of January is often a theatre wasteland (who wants to be in rehearsal over the holidays?), but this year we’ve already had LunaSea’s stunning Estate, and now Lions Den’s charming and quirky Strawberries in January. The play can be described in simple terms as a romantic comedy with a happy ending, but it […]
Posted inArts + Music
Branching out
Hannah Rittner considers herself very fortunate. The 23-year-old recent King’s College graduate has found her passion, and it’s not what she expected. Rittner pursued a degree in contemporary studies and English, but her ideas about her future changed after taking one course a couple of years ago taught by Martha Irving (actor and co-founding member […]
Posted inArts + Music
Top 12 plays of 2012
Choosing my favourite plays every year is both a challenging and pleasurable task. Challenging because Nova Scotia’s theatre community produces so many outstanding shows that it’s impossible to give all their due. Pleasurable because it’s an opportunity to take a walk down memory lane and recognize at least some of the fabulous plays I’ve seen […]
