Archives

A Slice of Canadian History, Served with Onions and Peaches Reviewed by Mary Alderson The 4th Line Theatre has two good things going for it. First, it’s outdoor location – lots of free parking, albeit in a rather rough field, and tents with tables set up so you can bring your own picnic supper or […]

Keeping Secrets Never Works, Except… Reviewed by Mary Alderson Many problems in dysfunctional families are rooted in secrets. Or at least that is what some plays tell us. Sometimes it’s deep dark secrets that cause pain when they are uncovered. But sometimes it’s secrets that are better told and everyone feels a little better once

 This Show is NOT For The Birds Reviewed by Sookie Mei It was a lively crowd at the Port Stanley Festival Theatre for opening night of They’re Found In Trees, written by “Canada’s most-produced playwright,” Norm Foster.  The audience was ready to be entertained, even cheering during the pre-show announcements by Artistic Director Liz Gilroy,

The Perfect Pride Play Reviewed by Mary Alderson NOTE:  This production of Bed and Breakfast moved to Winnipeg’s venerable Prairie Theatre Exchange this fall, running September 24 to October 6.  Pride events took over Port Hope this weekend and the Capitol Theatre did its part with a production of Bed and Breakfast, a hilarious, yet

Family Tradition Reviewed by Vicki Stokes A sign of a great theatrical production is its sticking power: revisiting it in your mind the next day, the following week, or even years later. Some performances will never be forgotten. So where does Fiddler on the Roof stand? I know this one will stick for a long

A Lite Musical, Heavy on Talent Reviewed by Vicki Stokes How do you finally emerge from your nagging mother’s basement without getting a job? You enter a talent contest and rehearse your heart out! Having a run at the Drayton Festival Theatre last year, Drayton Entertainment has brought Sh-Boom! to the South Huron Stage at

Kicking off the Summer Side of Life in Petrolia Reviewed by Adam Hobbs Lake Superior is no lake at all. It is an inland sea and it has seen wrecks of several ships throughout the centuries, including the Edmund Fitzgerald. The sea of sound and emotion took me through a journey of Canadian legend, Gordon

Charming Canadian Crooner Reviewed by Sookie Mei The new show at the PSFT is not a play but a stylized concert, starring Jay Davis in a tribute to Canadian singer Michael Bublé.  The show also stars Neil Henry on guitar, Gord Mowat on bass, Matt Newton on piano, and Tim Shia on percussion.  This band

Beautiful Voices Sing Dear Rita’s Songs Reviewed by Mary Alderson Rita MacNeil was a great Canadian singer-songwriter and Cape Breton’s First Lady of Music. But did we really know anything about her?  In a new show, Dear Rita, A Musical Toast to Rita MacNeil, on stage with Tweed & Co., I learned that I knew

Losing at the Dating Game. Again. Reviewed by Mary Alderson Ironically, two happily married acting couples star in the dating game – Sarah Quick and James Barrett, Artistic Director and Artistic Producer at Globus Theatre, and well-known to the audiences as the pair that do everything. With them on stage are comedy power couple Lisa