Back in 2006, I did my first theatre review for The Coast. The play was The Donahue Sisters by Irish playwright Geraldine Aron. Coincidentally, it was the first production by a brand new theatre company called LunaSea. I loved it. Flash forward four years, and I am again watching LunaSea perform a play by an […]
Theatre
Posted inArts + Music
SuperNova: Impromptu Splendor
I saw a really funny play last night called The Steamy Root Cellar, but there’s no point recommending it to you, since it will never be seen again. You see, it was created by Impromptu Splendor, a talented group of actors who improvise one-act plays in the style of famous playwrights. While the sets and […]
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SuperNova: One Man Lord of the Rings
Charles Ross is a self-described sweaty nerd, but I only agree with the sweaty part. His intimate knowledge of nerd classics like Lord of the Rings and Star Wars makes him a theatrical power house and not a basement-dwelling loner. However, he comes by the sweaty part honestly—bringing to life the myriad of characters in […]
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Grandma Noda’s Tigers brings puppets with bite
Grandma Noda’s Tigers is a unique gem of a play that touches on everything from the impermanence of worldly things to the enduring, endearing quality of love and forgiveness. Not bad for a 55-minute puppet show that speaks to everyone from the very young to the very old. From the first ethereal ping of the […]
Posted inArts + Music
SuperNova: Grandma Noda’s Tigers
Grandma Noda’s Tigers is a unique gem of a play that touches on everything from the impermanence of worldly things to the enduring, endearing quality of love and forgiveness. Not bad for a 55-minute puppet show that speaks to everyone from the very young to the very old. From the first ethereal ping of the […]
Posted inArts + Music
SuperNova: The Misfit
There’s a lot to like about Anita Majumdar’s exploration of so-called “honour killings”, not the least of which is the actress herself. Majumdar is talented mimic, bringing to like a whole cast of quirky, memorable characters. She is also a breathtakingly graceful dancer and a playwright adept at using humour to explore difficult topics. The […]
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SuperNova: The Bone House
Is exercise anything that makes your heart beat fast? If so, The Bone House could be considered a first-class workout. It’s a very different kind of theatre experience, one that had people giggling nervously from the moment that “mind hunter” Eugene Crowley (Chris Fassbender) stepped on to the stage and flashed his wide, slightly creepy […]
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SuperNova: Piaf: Love Conquers All
Edith Piaf—or should I say Naomi Emmerson as Edith Piaf—played to a packed house at the opening night of the SuperNova Theatre Festival. The French singer’s story, from her impoverished beginnings through her superstardom to her sad descent to death, is played out in the one-woman show Piaf: Love Conquers All. The play is a […]
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Theatre Arts Guild: How it Works
There’s no doubt in my mind that Daniel MacIvor is a brilliant playwright. I’ve seen five of his plays in Halifax in the past few years, and I’ve been smitten with every one. But the sixth, How it Works, is by far my favourite. In Brooke, the 19-year-old crystal meth addict who is at the heart […]
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View to a kill
Actor Chris Fassbender still remembers the day over 10 years ago when playwright Marty Chan asked him to read the script for The Bone House. He’d worked with Chan—who is also a well-known writer of fiction for young adults and children—on several light-hearted comedies, but this was something totally different. “I flipped through the script […]
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Merlin engrosses and endures
As someone who was enraptured by Arthurian legends as a child, I think it’s wonderful that the Halifax Theatre for Young People is staging Paul Ledoux’s Merlin. What a great opportunity to turn kids on to an engrossing, enduring story. This is an action-packed play filled with swordfights and magic tricks that will appeal to a […]
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Eastern Front Theatre: Lauchie, Liza & Rory
It’s magical to watch actors Natasha MacLellan and Christian Murray transform themselves into the memorable charters who inhabit the 1940s Cape Breton mining town in Lauchie, Liza and Rory. MacLellan manages to morph from the story’s narrator, a spinster with a wry sense of humour and a wonderful grasp of what makes people tick, to […]
