NS reviews

Reviews of theatre and art in Nova Scotia and beyond

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KOQM: powerful stories of L’nu Mi’kmaw women at Neptune Theatre

L’nu (Mi’kmaw) storyteller shalan joudry powerfully brings Mi’kmaw women through the centuries to life in her enchanting, emotionally moving show Koqm. Koqm – playing on Neptune’s main stage to April 17 – is full of heartache, humour and a harsh history. What shines through most is the remarkable spirit of joudry’s women, their strength and their struggle to preserve their culture and people. The play starts with a Mi’kmaw woman […]

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SBTS’s guiding light leaves the company in good hands

I remember many years ago sitting in Trident Cafe on Argyle Street talking to Elizabeth Murphy, Patrick Christopher and the late Jean Morpurgo about their dream to stage Shakespearean plays outdoors in Point Pleasant Park. It seemed like a wonderful but elusive idea for a city where new creative projects were (and still are) hard to fund. However, I underestimated the steely determination of this trio. Now, 28 years later, […]

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Unconfined is chewy, rewarding theatre

Liz Richardson explores the essence of life, connection and the human soul in a fascinating, true story about an American prisoner on death row and his affect on three individuals: a painter, a professor and another prisoner. Unconfined, a 70-minute drama produced by Kazan Co-op at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia lecture theatre through April 10, is chewy, engaging and thought-provoking theatre. Unconfined is a metaphysical journey taken by […]

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Feel the hand of the maker in Connections and Creations in Tatamagouche

Clockwise from top, Dawn MacNutt, Four Friends, painted, woven, bronze wirecloth; Meryl Cook, Cozy Chakra Joy, rug hooking on linen; Christene Sandeson, Early, acrylic on canvas; Genny Killin, Jawbone, mixed media. You can literally feel hands at work on clay, wool and wire at Connections and Contrasts, a vivid and varied exhibit by five women artists at the Ice House Gallery, Grace Jollymore Centre, Tatamagouche, to March 20. Sculptor Dawn […]

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A Merry Little Covid Christmas Pageant

Due to Covid cancellation of my church’s Christmas pageant I have doctored the original script to reflect the realities of the times. Don’t worry. This will never be performed! START (Narrator is fully masked, as are all the cast, and is in place at the lectern with the brass angel and standing on a box and speaking into the microphone) Narrator: Hear the words of the prophet Isaiah and join […]

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Neptune Comes Alive with Alice in Pantoland and a Winter/Spring Season

Alice in Pantoland is an explosion of colour and comedy, song and dance, at Neptune Theatre to Jan. 9. The annual, family, holiday show is back – yay! It is the largest cast on the Neptune stage since the pandemic and there is no skimping on costumes or props. Written and directed by Neptune’s artistic director Jeremy Webb, the show is about time travel, the evil Queen of Hearts and […]

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At This Hour: Unique and Brilliant Retelling of the Halifax Explosion

You wouldn’t think the words “playful” and “Halifax Explosion” could ever go together. However, Zuppa Theatre takes a witty, playful and super-lively approach to a unique retelling of the story of the disaster at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic to Dec. 12. Amazingly, At This Hour is accessible to both deaf and blind or partially sighted audiences with the pairing of hearing and deaf actors, with Brian Riley’s great […]

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The December Man: Soul-wrenching Theatre at its Best, at the Bus Stop to Dec. 5

Never doubt the power of theatre to tap into the human soul and wrench it. The December Man, a HomeFirst production at the Bus Stop Theatre to Dec. 5, is exceptionally powerful and painful theatre delivered by a top-notch, Nova Scotia team. Colleen Murphy’s superbly crafted, Governor General’s Award-winning drama explores the trauma of the Montreal Massacre in a fictional story about a guilt-ridden male student at École Polytechnique and […]

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The Imagery of DEBRIS

Four Annapolis Royal artists who love to take photographs come together under the theme of “debris.” They are exhibiting in Debris, to Nov. 20 at Lucky Rabbit & Co. Art Gallery, 15 Church St., Annapolis Royal. The works in this contemplative show, with themes of mortality, environmental degradation and the passage of time, are arranged in clusters by the artists: ceramic artist Ray Mackie, photographer Susan Tileston, painter and multi-disciplinary […]

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