About

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Please Entertain This Thought –

And enjoy reading the theatre reviews of Mary Alderson

Mary has been a fan of live theatre since her first visit to the Stratford Festival as a child, where she saw Christopher Walken and Louise Marleau in Romeo and Juliet.  As a teenager, she had a summer job at the Grand Bend Tourist Information booth.  Huron Country Playhouse founder James Murphy gave her free tickets to his inaugural season so she could promote it to visitors.  She has a vivid memory of sitting in a tent on a folding chair, with her feet up on the seat in front of her, to avoid the rivulets of rain flowing through the mud and gravel towards the stage.  Unfortunately, the productions that summer were less memorable, but improved greatly over the ensuing years.

Mary holds a B.A. in Honours English and an M.A. in Journalism from the University of Western Ontario, London.  After graduation, Mary was a reporter for the Exeter Times-Advocate and reviewed shows at Huron Country Playhouse.

Mary returned to writing theatre reviews in 2004 on a freelance basis. She currently supplies publications such as the Strathroy Age-Dispatch and Sarnia’s First Monday magazine, and websites www.stage-door.com, www.theatreinlondon.ca, www.beatmagazine.ca and www.grandbendstrip.com.  Her reviews are emailed to a list of more than 275 interested readers.

This website is the latest venue for Mary’s theatre reviews.  She welcomes visitors to return to Entertain This Thought regularly – after each opening night, a new review will be posted. From May to September, Mary goes to at least one show a week – sometimes two and three.  From October to April, she slows it down to a show every other week.  In addition to the growing number of new reviews, there are over 160 reviews posted in the Archives pages.

You can hear Mary on MyFM Radio Strathroy-Caradoc 105.7  and MyFM Exeter & Grand Bend 90.5 on Monday mornings as she reviews recent shows. 

Mary lives in Strathroy, Ontario, with her husband, Victor, who is Chair of Apprenticeship and Skilled Trades at Lambton College, Sarnia.  Their daughter Chelsey has a degree in Anthropology and completed a grad program in Emergency Management.  She is currently living and working in Port Hope.  Their son Thomas is a professional actor/singer/dancer.  He graduated from the Music Theatre Performance Program at Sheridan College, Oakville, receiving the Triple Threat Award in 2009.  It was Thomas’ work in theatre that re-kindled Mary’s interest in writing reviews. Thomas recently completed a North American tour as Mordred in Camelot, and is currently appearing as Tommy Djilas in The Music Man in Port Hope. 

Mary is a member of the Canadian Theatre Critics Association (www.canadiantheatrecritics.ca).

She is also the Members Services Coordinator with the Ontario Association of Community Futures Development Corporations, (www.ontcfdc.com) where she sees first hand how a professional theatre can be an asset to the economic development of a rural community or small town.

Mary frequently attends shows at

A special “Thank You” to Matt Mullen of Red Chair for his technical expertise in the creation of this website and blog.  www.redchair.ca