Mending Fences is the story of 28-year-old Drew (Iain Stewart) who returns to a farmhouse in rural Saskatchewan to re-connect with his emotionally-distant and difficult father after 13 years apart. While this set-up may not sound laugh-out-loud funny, in the hands of playwright Norm Foster, there are plenty of comic moments and zingy one-liners to […]
Kate Watson
Posted inArts + Music
David for Queen
Technology has certainly evolved in 25 years, but the Halifax Theatre for Young People production of John Lazarus’ 1988 play David for Queen proves that attitudes are much slower to change. It‘s the story of a gay junior high student’s journey towards self-and-social-acceptance, and while playwright Kristin Slaney has updated the script to incorporate current […]
Posted inArts + Music
DaPoPo Theatre’s Live-In lives on
You know the part in the Wizard of Oz where Toto pulls back the curtain and exposes a guy who’s pulling levers to create a talking head holograph that’s supposedly the wizard? That’s the scene Garry Williams uses to explain the theme of this year’s DaPoPo Theatre Live-In. “We’ve called this Live-In ‘Looking Behind the […]
Posted inArts + Music
It is Solved by Walking
It is Solved by Walking is a journey into the mind and heart of a 53-year-old woman named Margaret (Ruth Lawrence) who’s struggling to unearth the roots of her failed marriage and her thwarted dream of becoming a poet. She has the help of an unusual muse: the dead American poet Wallace Stevens (Hugh Thompson), […]
Posted inArts + Music
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead
Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead is a brilliantly-structured comic re-imagining of Hamlet from the point of view of the two doomed minor characters. The brainy Guildenstern (Katie Dorian) and the simple Rosencrantz (Ira Henderson) exist in a kind of surreal, dreamlike state as Hamlet unfolds around them. The world makes little sense to […]
Posted inArts + Music
Tasty theatre morsels from Ibsen Bites
Hot ticket alert! With “Ibsen Bites”, LunaSea Theatre is revisiting the eclectic, immersive theatre experience template that they used in 2012’s fabulous “Chekhov at Home”. The evening includes six 15-minute theatre pieces that are built around the theme of exploring the life and work of 19th-century Norwegian playwright Henrik Johan Ibsen. The evening is held in a […]
Posted inArts + Music
Settling Africville: Powerful poetry brings history to light
George Elliott Clarke is a conductor of words. He commands, cajoles and coaxes them to make beautiful music. In his new play, Settling Africville, Clarke brings history to life and light with his trade-mark poetic, heightened language and witty word play. Settling Africville is not a verbatim history of the founding of the black community […]
Posted inArts + Music
Fringe Binge 2014: Day 11
The 24th annual Atlantic Fringe Festival came to a close last night with a lively party and awards show at The Bus Stop Theatre. Hungry artists scarfed down pizza. Beverages were consumed. Buckets of cold ice water poured. (Hardworking Festival Chair Kevin Kindred rose to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge). Festival Director Thom Fitzgerald announced […]
Posted inArts + Music
Fringe Binge 2014: Day 10
So ho, by so ★★★★ This play took me by surprise. It’s a rich, layered theatre experience that delivers an emotional punch in only 15 minutes. So ho, by so takes the Jacobean comedy The Birth of Merlin as its starting point, but viewers don’t need to be familiar with either Arthurian legend or 17th […]
Posted inArts + Music
Fringe Binge 2014: Day 9
Broadway the 13th ★★★½ This show is a high-energy showcase that strings together a series of favourite hits from stage musicals with a slight but cute plot. Four young actors (played by Lena Andriani, Becca Guilderson, Marietta Laan and Taylor Long) venture to a cabin in the woods to write a musical, only to find […]
Posted inArts + Music
Fringe Binge 2014: Day 8
Wake Up, Rosie! ★★★★ Adorable! This original take on Red Riding Hood is sweet, fun and clever. It’s tone is just right for a young audience (maybe 8 and under), but also highly entertaining for adults. Rosie is a hilariously precocious four-year-old (perfectly played by Melanie Patten) who’d rather sleep than play outdoors. However, circumstances […]
Posted inArts + Music
Fringe Binge 2014: Day 7
I have to confess. I’ve not only been binging on theatre, but on food and drink as well. Yes, much of the down time between shows has been spent visiting many of the fine establishments around town. Countless cups of coffee and fresh-baked cookies at Alteregos. Sparkling wine (and conversation) at Obladee. Cheese and sangria at […]
