It began with a bump. A big bump. On Thursday, October 23, 1958 at 8:06pm, a series of shock waves thundered through the Number 2 Colliery of the Springhill Coal Mine, creating an intense, localized earthquake that was felt 23 kilometres away. One hundred seventy-four miners were trapped or crushed as floors smashed into ceilings […]
Theatre
Posted inArts + Music
The Big Hit
If there is such a thing as a higher being, she is probably smiling down at the North Street Church right now. Not because of an enlightened sermon or confession of juicy sins, but because of the loud movements and joyful sounds that are echoing off its peeling walls. For the past two months, the […]
Posted inArts + Music
Funny boy
Shaun Majumder’s a funny guy. Which is lucky, because his singing career won’t be taking off anytime soon. After missing his first few interview calls, Majumder answers his cell phone singing “I’m a loser, I’m a big fat loser.” The sentiment is endearing, the tunefulness debatable. But with a full slate of acting, stand-up and […]
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Death and the king
The reign of Yazdgerd III, king of Persia from 632 to 637 AD, is not an enviable one by any standard. In his first year, Yazdgerd’s kingdom was invaded by Arab armies. Then, they occupied his capital city of Ctesiphon, forcing Yazdgerd to go into exile in 637 AD. Fourteen years later, he was tracked […]
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Cowboy Show
Dustin Harvey used to be such a trusting young man. One year ago, he happily promoted his new stage production Winding Up Godot, a parody of the classic Waiting for Godot starring wind-up toys. Unfortunately, the estate of Samuel Beckett found out about Harvey’s little spoof (possibly from a Coast article) and threatened to sue […]
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The passion of Pelagie
When Pelagie, the latest production from Two Planks and a Passion Theatre, opens in Halifax this week, it will be une affaire bilangue. The show, based on 1979’s Pelagie: La Charrette by author Antonine Maillet (consider her an Acadian Margaret Atwood, if not in terms of subject matter then at least in terms of importance […]
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Inside the Fringes
Challenging the very definition of the term fringe, this year’s Atlantic Fringe Festival includes three established companies: Angels and Heroes, Foghorn and Exodus Theatres. Alongside Angels and Heroes’s raunchy Hard-On House (a take-off on George Bernard Shaw’s Heartbreak House) and Foghorn’s emotionally raw I Stand Before You Naked by Joyce Carol Oates, Exodus’s production of […]
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Stage duty
Martha Irving has come a long way since her directoral debut for Shipwrecked on a Haunted Island. The play, a terrifying ghost story, opened (and closed) 40-odd years ago in Irving’s friend Karen’s backyard. “I was a real tyrant,” says Irving of her 11-year-old self. “I wanted to play all the parts so I kept […]