There’s a scene in Thom Fitzgerald’s 2003 film, The Event, where a 30-something man (Don McKellar) tells his mother (Olympia Dukakis) that he’s gay. “I know,” she says. “I’ve known for a long time…The last girl you brought back was a prom date, and you did her makeup.” In these few lines of dialogue, Dukakis […]
Kate Watson
Posted inArts + Music
Stage might
Alderney Landing Theatre was packed Monday night with members and supporters of the Nova Scotian theatre scene. The Merritt Awards—named for Dalhousie theatre professor Robert Merritt—celebrate excellence in acting, directing, playwrighting, design and production.Hosted by Marty Burt, the evening was punctuated by slide shows, videos, song and light-hearted banter, often aimed at Atlantic Theatre Festival’s […]
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When Dove flies
Emil Sher describes himself as a “news junkie,” and it shows in his work. His stage and radio plays often start with subjects ripped from the headlines—the tainted blood scandal, a child’s right to refuse medical treatment, the ethics of profiting from criminal acts or, as in the case of Mourning Dove, wrapping up at […]
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A new Moment
It has been almost 44 years since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. shared his dream of a world without segregation, racism or poverty from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. He spoke of a day when people of all races would join together and sing of freedom. For the past five years, Eastern […]
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All aboards
You’ve got to love Halifax. It’s a little city with a big arts community and an abundance of great live theatre. In the past year, there have been some outstanding professional shows, some unforgettable community theatre and some small productions mounted with low budgets and high passions. Here are some of the most memorable happenings […]
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Daisies chain
There is a crowd gathered on the side of Herring Cove Road, watching open-mouthed as smoke billows out of a soot-stained, green-roofed building. A fire engine is idling in the parking lot and several police officers are conferring officiously beside it. It looks as if the set of local writer/producer/director Chaz Thorne’s feature film Pushing […]
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The why of How
Is a “harmless” racist joke ever really harmless? Do ends sometimes justify means? Are there degrees of truth? These are just a few of the difficult questions raised by This is How it Goes , playwright Neil LaBute’s exploration of exploitation and race relations currently playing at Neptune’s Studio Theatre. While the questions may be […]
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Crossing time
We live in dangerous times. Canadian troops are dying with alarming frequency. Atomic weapons tests are rearing their ugly mushroom-shaped heads. War is a game played by countless young people in the flickering light of computers. Armed conflict is all around us, yet we are, for the most part, happily removed from it. Flash back […]
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Neptune squad
Practically any evening of channel-surfing will reveal an abundance of forensic crime dramas. But before CSI (in any city), before Bones, certainly before Cold Case, there was CTV’s Cold Squad, helmed by the spunky Sgt. Ali McCormick, AKA Julie Stewart. Stewart—the only cast member to work all of the show’s seven seasons—has been looking for […]
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On the waterfront
Cirque de CJThe cult of celebrity is alive and well in HRM. This is a town where local weather girl Cindy Day can barely get a cup of coffee in peace and where audiences who shun other homegrown shows will come out with bells on for Cathy Jones’ Cirque de CJ. For the most part, […]
