Mary

Taking Sibling Rivalry to a New Level Reviewed by Mary Alderson It’s a scenario that many of us have been through: moving Mom and Dad into a nursing home, and dividing up the spoils left behind in the family home. It’s a sad and difficult task, made worse if Mom is refusing to make the

A Renowned Story Comes Home Reviewed by Vicki Stokes What better place to stage a play set in Ontario’s farm country than Blyth Festival’s Harvest Stage? What better time than 50 years after the conception of an idea that led to The Farm Show, which eventually lead to Michael Healey’s The Drawer Boy. The idea

For Potter Fans Closes July 2, 2023* Reviewed by Mary Alderson There are three types of people:  1. Harry Potter fans who have read all seven books and seen all the movies. These people went in to deep depression when J.K. Rowling announced the end of the series. Then when the play Harry Potter and

Getting Wiggy With It at the VPP Reviewed by Vicki Stokes Not everyone looks good in a wig, but Jennifer Walls and Alex Baerg can pull it off. Ba-dum tss. One can expect a similar style of humour from David Hogan at the beginning of a D2 Entertainment show. But not everything is predictable about

Music, Lessons Learned, and a Life-Long Friendship Reviewed by Mary Alderson It’s always fun to see the creators of a work present it on stage. You know that what you’re seeing is exactly what was intended. I have seen 2 Pianos 4 Hands twice before, both with different actors. So this time it was especially

Remembering a Life Cut Short Reviewed by Mary Alderson I don’t count myself among country music fans, but having seen the Patsy Cline show several times, I now call myself a Patsy fan. She had her own sound, a combination of her gentle southern accent and her smooth deep singing voice. While some of her

An Energy-Filled Wild Ride into Fake News Reviewed by Mary Alderson Director/Choreographer Donna Feore has come back from the pandemic closure with a big bang. This season’s musical Chicago is her flashiest, brightest, fastest-paced, most energetic show yet! This is certainly the musical that has it all – excellent singing, dancing, acting – probably the

A Fresh New Staging of Richard III Reviewed by Vicki Stokes Richard III was presented in Stratford when the Festival first opened in 1953. The title role was performed by the great British actor, Sir Alec Guinness. Now, 69 seasons after Tom Patterson founded the Stratford Festival, it is fitting for one of its veterans,

A Prince of Denmark for 2022 Reviewed by Mary Alderson At Stratford Festival’s 2022 opening night, you might have thought Hamlet is a comedy! Never has there been so much laughter at a tragedy. If you went by the audience’s amusement in the Festival Theatre, you would think there was nothing rotten in Denmark. This