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Reviews of theatre and art in Nova Scotia and beyond

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Summer Theatre kicks off with hilarious Half-Cracked at Ship’s Co. (Part II: the N.S. season)

Nova Scotia summer theatre roars back to life with Ship’s Company Theatre’s magical, laugh-out-loud production of Mary-Colin Chisholm’s Half-Cracked. Artistic director Richie Wilcox saw the 2018 Eastern Front Theatre/Neptune Theatre premiere in Halifax and “I knew I had to program it!” I also saw the 2018 show but so desperately wanted to see professional theatre again that I decided to drive up for a 2 p.m. matinee. It got a […]

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Lucky Rabbits, Odd Creatures and Creature Comfort: 2 art shows of ceramics and paint

There was a lineup at Studio 21 when it could finally open Curved Space: Debra Kuzyk and Ray Mackie to the public as COVID-19 restrictions eased. Together Kuzyk and Mackie form the very popular Lucky Rabbit Pottery, which they set up in 1999 in Annapolis Royal and which is a mecca for pottery lovers. The married couple’s colourful, carved vessels decorated in flowers and birds are a marvel that uplifts […]

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JUDAS PRIEST LIVE IN HALI IN NOVEMBER

Whether your are a metal fan or not, it’s a good sign that Judas Priest is performing live in Halifax Nov. 2 at the Scotiabank Centre, with the opening act TBA. One of heavy metal’s all-time greats, Judas Priest celebrates its 50th anniversary this year with a North American tour, the 50 Heavy Metal Years Tour. The band’s recent and highest-charting album Firepower hit #5 on the Billboard 200. Tickets […]

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Flower Power in Argyle Fine Art’s Windows

Argyle Fine Art won’t let COVID-19 spoil the show. Owner Adriana Afford is exhibiting gorgeous and uplifting, flower paintings – in a first solo show by emerging Halifax artist Raquel Roth – in the gallery’s front windows. The acrylic paintings, visible during the day and magically lit at night, are a must for anyone who loves flowers – fluffy peonies like prom dresses; roses bursting out of a thin, stem-crowded […]

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Frequencies: looking out to the universe and into the human heart

In this odd time of no live theatre, the depths of winter and a spiritual hunger, Aaron Collier mines the cosmos to find meaning in life, love and loss. His 75-minute, multimedia performance Frequencies, streaming online through Sunday, is celestial and individual, philosophically expansive in ideas about time, love and grief but also a simply-told personal story. How this fusion of theatre, techno concert and digital scenography is told is […]

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At FAST the Show Must go on – Outdoors!

Festival Antigonish Summer Theatre is moving outdoors with Robin Hood: The Great Escape in August at Keppoch Mountain. After cancelling all live productions in 2020 due to COVID-19, the 34-year-old repertory company, based in the Bauer Theatre, decided outdoor theatre was the only way to ensure live performance. “This summer, I want to make sure that we have the greatest chance possible of bringing live theatre back to our community,” […]

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Billy Bishop Goes to War a kaleidoscope of colour and emotion

Highland Arts Theatre turns the 40-year-old classic Billy Bishop Goes to War into a kaleidoscope of colour, passion and story in its 70-minute production, extended through Friday, 8 p.m., due to popular demand. Over the years Truro-born playwright John Gray and actor Eric Peterson have revisited their musical about the Owen Sound flying ace to combine boyish excitement and high spirits with an awareness of the horror and loss of […]

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See hot, new movies and Atlantic shorts at HIFF

The 14th annual Halifax Independent Filmmakers Festival (HIFF) is free and online starting today and running to Nov. 15. Produced by the Atlantic Filmmakers Cooperative, it includes a 14-hour film shown in three parts, Atlantic Canadian shorts, a Centre for Art Tapes digital art tour and 10 Canadian and international feature films. (To view the full program and select tickets go to: https://watch.eventive.org.) United Kingdom director Mark Jenkin’s BAFTA-nominated film […]

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Whitney Pier House Perfect Set for Suspenseful Drama

Highland Arts Theatre invites people into a haunted house for Hannah Moscovitch’s psychological thriller Little One, just extended to Nov. 15 because it’s been selling out. A masked audience of 15 is guided through a Whitney Pier home under renovation to watch this intense and chilling 75-minute drama with striking performances by Tayves Fiddis (Mary’s Wedding) and Bhreagh MacNeil (Werewolf). Director Alison Crosby moves her actors through dingy rooms of […]

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Festival Antigonish pivots to lively, radio comedy

Festival Antigonish Summer Theatre has blasted through the restrictions of COVID-19 to make a locally-inspired radio drama that is tons of fun. Hector the Spectre Steals the Show is a six-part weekly series on radio and online about the Bauer Theatre’s legendary ghost Hector. The story, written by FAST artistic director Andrea Boyd and Antigonish artist/playwright Laura Teasdale, is theatre-about-theatre with lots of funny references to Festival Antigonish, Nova Scotia […]

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