Theatre

The theatre gods were certainly smiling down on Dartmouth Players when they assembled the fantastic cast of The Fantasticks. To a man (and woman), they are remarkable actors and singers who would not be out of place on any stage in the city. As the story’s love-struck young couple, Justin Gavel and Tamara Fifield are […]

Scott Burke was walking down a street in Paris when he heard an accident behind him. He turned around, like the hundreds of other tourists in the crowd. “It stopped everybody,” he remembers. “Everybody stopped in the middle of their beautiful, fabulous trip to Paris, trip of a lifetime.” Burke didn’t see what exactly happened, […]

You might think that in romantic comedy, three’s a crowd. But Scott Burke’s fantastique Fall in Paris works beautifully with three characters, perhaps because Paris itself is so lovingly realized that it becomes a kind of fourth character. The gist of the story is that a bitter, battered divorcee (played with heart and humour by […]

Bedford Players is a community theatre company that has become known for staging light comedy. And while there is a devoted fan base that enjoys this frothy and fun type of theatre, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. However, farce-fan or not, I predict that you’ll laugh hard and long at Busybody, a “comedy/whodunnit” written […]

It’s not what you think. Well, maybe a little. Plutonium Playhouse artistic director Thom Fitzgerald went through dozens of film submissions for this opening event of The Sex Festival (see page 35 for more), while board member and playwright Lee-Anne Poole did the same—rating each one from zero to five. “If we both like it, […]

Just in time for Halloween, Taboo Theatre is bringing some suitably chilling and macabre works to the stage. An Evening of Grand Guignol is made up of three plays that were written in the very early 20th century, when this lurid, sensational style of theatre was popular in France. The evening includes a very funny […]

The Neptune studio production of Don Hannah’s Fathers and Sons begins with actor John Fitzgerald Jay as a giant, slightly creepy baby gurgling in his playpen while is father Hilt (played by Theo Pitsiavas) talks about his longing to be close to his son. Hilt wants to experience the happy home life he missed out […]

Zuppa Theatre’s new play will open with Jasper (Stewart Legere), staring meditatively ahead, a piano accompanying his silence. It will be in the basement of the Historic Farmers’ Market, so the lights will be dim and the audience crammed all around him, part of the scene itself. He’ll start slow, with a monologue, but then […]

Halifax has experienced quite the year for Shakespeare. There’ve been two Twelfth Nights, two Julius Caesars, a Romeo and Juliet and now, a terrific Hamlet. Acting-wise the cast (a mix of amateur and professional actors) is a bit uneven, but a tour-de-force performance by Gregory Slack as the titular character goes a long way to making […]

DaPoPo Theatre settled into Theatre Nova Scotia’s Living Room for a month last year, and member Andrew Chandler says it went so well that they’re doing it again. Chandler explains the Live-In as “a month-long event, with play readings, workshops and performances” with work from DaPoPo and the larger theatre community, adding that the inspiration […]

“Prismatic is about bringing aboriginal and culturally diverse artists to the attention of the ‘mainstream,’” says Maggie Stewart, managing director of Onelight Theatre, the company that brings Prismatic Festival to Halifax every other year. This year, Onelight partnered with Debajehmujig Storytellers to get the message out. “It has been [Onelight’s] experience that culturally diverse artists/organizations […]

When several of the cast bios say things like “Thanks for giving a newbie a chance” or “First time on stage since the elementary school play,” it makes you wonder what you’re in for. But I’m happy to say that although many of the actors in TAG’s production of The Odd Couple (Female Version) had […]