It’s been a banner season for comedies at our community theatres. First there was Dartmouth Players’s fun, frothy Don’t Dress for Dinner. Then, TAG’s outstanding production of Norm Foster’s Drinking Alone. Finally, there’s another Foster play, Maggie’s Getting Married, staged by the Bedford Players, and I must say, this is the best thing I’ve seen […]
Theatre
Posted inArts + Music
Saints Alive! production of Into the Woods nearly there
If the evening had ended after the first act of the Saints Alive! production of Stephen Sondheim’s dark and twisty Into the Woods, I would declare it a triumph. The innovative youth theatre company manages to pull together talented performers, an interesting and creatively wrought set and lovely costumes. Act 1 weaves together the stories […]
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Get into The Safety Position’s new play, Thom Pain
It’s no coincidence that Halifax actor Stewart Legere starred in two of my favourite plays from the past year—-Angels and Heroes’ production of Fewer Emergencies and Zuppa Circus’ gorgeous pop-fantasy Poor Boy. So I was pretty excited to hear that he’s formed a new theatre company, The Safety Position, with Tyler Foley and Lee-Anne Poole—-two […]
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Josh MacDonald’s Halo moves to the big screen
“I’ve done a lot of bracing over the years—I don’t think it’s any huge secret that any low-budget Canadian film has about 10 near-death experiences on its way to fruition,” says Josh MacDonald. “But here we were, first day of photography.” The Dartmouth writer first put the idea for Halo to paper a decade ago […]
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The Toxic Bus Incident
The Toxic Bus Incident is part of OneLight Theatre’s Civilian Project, a series of plays meant to examine how war affects “ordinary” people. Unfortunately, the characters in this play are not nearly ordinary or likeable enough to resonate with the audience. The play examines the disintegration of Helen, a middle-aged Vancouver woman (played by Pamela […]
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Bone Cage up for Savage award
Back in October 2007, Catherine Banks’ play, Bone Cage, had its original and only run on stage. Produced at Neptune Studio, there were some 10 performances over eight days, a series the playwright herself describes as “short.” The play was presented by Forerunner Playwrights Theatre, which, by its nature, involves the playwright as co-producer, with […]
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OneLight Theatre’s Terror within
“We are all affected by war, whether we realize it or not,” says Shahin Sayadi, artistic director of Halifax’s OneLight Theatre. “It influences so much, from the price of food and gas, to our connections with soldiers who go and come back, or who go and don’t. “And since 9/11, we are all forced to […]
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2b, now and forever
It’s a sunny Sunday morning outside Neptune Theatre’s carpentry shop, an inconspicuous spot tucked away on Creighton Street in north end Halifax. With the smell of sawdust mingling with the freshness of spring’s potential, a group of volunteers work together lugging carefully crafted rectangular flats of wood—there are 52 of them in all, each 14 […]
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Merritt Awards Results
I was worried the party atmosphere would be ruined without the cabaret-style seating of Alderney Landing, but the 10th annual Merritt Awards were equally as gala when set in the stuffier confines of the Neptune Theatre. This was due in part to some Coyote Ugly-worthy bartending by Neptune staff. (OK, there were no tricks, but […]
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Reed Jones: One angry man
Reed Jones stands at the bar, nervously. He stuffs his mouth with cold fries, trying to kill the hour before the filming of his show. Jones seems unsure how to act in the meantime, until his producer, Steve Morrison, suggestively nudges a fork his way. “You think I should use that?” says Jones, amused. “Nah, […]
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Zuppa powers
On a frigid Saturday afternoon, the cast of Zuppa Theatre’s Poor Boy is gathered in the Neptune Studio, where in four weeks they’ll launch a show that’s changing every day. The set is beginning to come together—long strings through a series of paper sheets, dangling record sleeves, actual vinyl and a suitcase here and there, […]
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Facing the music
Jason MacIsaac and David Christensen have collaborated for over a decade, but they don’t write songs together. “We each take half,” says MacIsaac. “I don’t want to be absolute about that, but that tends to be the case. Certainly Dave arranges a lot of my contributions to Zuppa, but he writes his stuff and I […]
