Mary

The Play’s the Thing In high school, I wrote an essay entitled something like “Hamlet’s madness:  Feigned or real?”.  I honestly can’t tell you now which side I supported, but after seeing Stratford Festival’s production of Hamlet which opened the 2015 season, I have the answer. It’s both. Jonathan Goad’s Hamlet is brilliant.  He portrays […]

When the Tupperware Falls out of the Cupboard As the season opener at Victoria Playhouse Petrolia last year, Church Basement Ladies sold out early.  Following the adage “Don’t mess with success”, Co-Artistic Directors David Rogers and David Hogan have gone down the same path this year, presenting A Second Helping – The Church Basement Ladies

An Epic Tale of Titanic Proportions I went to Titanic~The Musical not expecting to like it.  After all, this is a story of a great tragedy – how could they turn it into a musical? But to my surprise, I thoroughly enjoyed the production now on stage at Toronto’s Princess of Wales Theatre. The show’s

Beware! The Black Stache! At first blush, Peter and the Starcatcher seems very un-Shaw-like.  Not their usual fare. But on second thought, when you take into account that it is the prequel to Peter Pan, it fits Shaw’s updated mandate just fine.  Peter and the Starcatcher is now on stage at the Shaw Festival’s Royal

Those Crazy Sixties Sweet Charity is the story of a dance hall girl living a rough life but remaining thoroughly optimistic.  The Shaw Festival’s production, now on stage at the Festival theatre, is well cast and they make it a very entertaining evening. Charity earns her living at a sleazy dance hall, where she and

A Good Old French Taunting Monty Python’s Spamalot, now on stage at The Dunfield Theatre in Cambridge bears the warning “irreverent adult content”.  Here’s the good news:  the irreverence is based on equality:  the ridicule reaches out to all people and institutions on an equal basis, so no one can take particular offence. The show

Heart Wrenching Performance There is that moment in West Side Story where you have a brief glimmer of hope that everything is going to be alright. Tony is calling for Chino to shoot him, when suddenly Maria shows up and Tony runs into her arms, so happy to see her alive after being told she

Talkin’ ’bout My Generation Boom is a tribute to the talent, energy and ambition of Rick Miller – one cannot help being in awe of him as he handles all roles in this huge one-man show, now on stage at London’s Grand Theatre. Miller is Canada’s best impressionist since André-Philippe Gagnon and Rich Little.   He

Critical, Crazy Mid-Life Crisis Ladies, are you looking for a girls’ night out?  Then this is the show: The Crazy Time was written for women of a certain age, who want some laughs at the expense of their men. Following the opening night performance of The Crazy Time, now on stage at St. Jacobs Country