Suzannah At Here For Now Theatre – A Review
Suzannah At Here For Now Theatre Suzannah, a meditation on the life of Henrik Ibsen’s wife, by Norwegian Nobel laureate Jon Fosse in a translation by Dr. May Brit Akerholt, is receiving a reverential production under the precise direction of Peter Hinton-Davis at Stratford’s Here For Now Theatre. Fosse presents us with three iterations of […]
Saturday, Sunday, Monday At The Stratford Festival – A Review
Saturday, Sunday, Monday At The Stratford Festival Among the many good things retiring Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino has done during his nearly forty years at the Stratford Festival is championing the work of Italian playwright Eduardo di Filippo (1900-1984). His Saturday, Sunday, Monday from 1959 is receiving a resplendent production at the Avon Theatre under […]
Ship To Shore At The Port Stanley Festival – A Review
Ship To Shore At The Port Stanley Festival Like most Norm Foster two-handers, Ship To Shore begins simply. The deck of a cruise ship. One man. One woman. One deck chair. Who will prevail? But then, to quote a catchphrase from this engaging comedy, the plot thickens. Erin Walsh (Cailin Stadnyk) and James Goffman (Mark […]
The King James Bible Play At The Stratford Festival – A Review
The King James Bible Play At The Stratford Festival The awkwardly titled The King James Bible Play, by Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman, is a fascinating melange of ideas and notions of a distinctly feminist cast inspired by the work in the title. It is receiving a sprightly world premiere under the direction of Nina Lee Aquino at […]
The Odd Couple At Drayton Entertainment – A Review
The Odd Couple At Drayton Entertainment The Odd Couple, arguably the best thing ever written by Neil Simon, the United States’ Norm Foster, is getting a laugh-filled revival at Drayton Entertainment’s St. Jacobs Country Playhouse. The basic premise is no doubt familiar to everyone thanks to the long-running sitcom the 1965 Broadway hit inspired. The […]
Amadeus At The Shaw Festival – A Review
Amadeus At The Shaw Festival Amadeus, the 1979 hit by Peter Shaffer, is receiving a workmanlike revival under the direction of Shaw’s Artistic Director Tim Carroll. One wonders why. Amadeus tells the wildly ahistorical tale of the rivalry between Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Michael Therriault) and Antonio Salieri (Tom Rooney) in late eighteenth century Vienna. Fun […]
Euchre Night At The Foster Festival – A Review
Euchre Night At The Foster Festival Playwright Norm Foster’s gift for creating fully rounded and psychologically acute female characters is on ample display in his Euchre Night now enjoying its world premiere at the Foster Festival, at the Mandeville Theatre in St Catherines. By the way, if you (like me) have no idea what euchre […]
Early Genius At Here For Now Theatre – A Review
Early Genius At Here For Now Theatre Early Genius, the thoroughly delightful new play by Steve Ross, receiving its world premiere at Stratford’s Here For Now Theatre is, according to their website, sold out for its entire run. So what’s the point of writing this rave review? Well, you can always hang out at the […]
The Last Mayor Of Rusty River At The Blyth Festival – A Review
The Last Mayor Of Rusty River At The Blyth Festival Small town politics receives the Blyth Festival treatment in the delightful The Last Mayor of Rusty River, a broad comedy by David Scott and Blyth Artistic Director Gil Garratt, with original songs by John Powers. The action takes place in the council chambers of the […]
The Odyssey And The Oddity
The Odyssey And The Oddity I took a break from theatre to go see Christopher Nolan’s bladder-busting three-hour blockbuster The Odyssey. I can confidently report that it’s okay. I won’t presume to “review” it. Film criticism is above my pay grade, but I will permit myself some observations. It seems that, in addition to inventing […]