NS reviews

Reviews of theatre and art in Nova Scotia and beyond

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‘Accelerated Erosion:’ Clay about Clay (and the Environment)

Accelerated Erosion – exposing ancient clay is a beautiful, innovative exhibit about clay and erosion at the Craig Gallery, Alderney Landing, Dartmouth, to May 26. The medium is the message as Seaforth artists Iris Naessens-Patterson and Marlene York experiment with locally-found red clay for a variety of artworks from carved landscape plaques to York’s series of paintings using clay as paint. (Pottery enthusiasts take note; Naessens-Patterson’s functional dishes and vessels […]

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Leaving Home: a must-see, reboot of a Canadian classic with a crackerjack team

Rarely does a play come with a food allergy warning. But David French’s 1972 Canadian hit Leaving Home, in a must-see Halifax production of stunning acting and realism, requires the Mercer family to sit down for a tense dinner of seafood casserole and green beans. Director Jake Planinc dreamed of mounting the two-hour, semi-autobiographical story when his Mount Allison drama teacher recommended this fan of Chekhov and Ibsen read a […]

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DEEPWATER: gripping mystery from Dan Bray

Deepwater is a gripping, powerful mystery about a female detective trying to unravel the disappearance of a child over four years ago. Psychological, philosophical and poetic, this new play by The Villains Theatre’s Dan Bray is a departure for the author of often comic, classically-derived plays like the popular super-hero Knight of the Bat series. Set in Kempt Shore, N.S., the play opens with an experienced investigator, Questa (Liliona Quarmyne), […]

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N.S. 2024 Merritt Award Nominees hail from Parrsboro to Sydney

Fall on Your Knees, the epic six-hour co-production by Neptune Theatre and the National Arts Centre, among others, of Ann-Marie MacDonald’s novel by Hannah Moscovitch, and Downed Hearts, a new play staged at Ship’s Company Theatre, Parrsboro, by N.S. Governor General’s award-winner Catherine Banks, dominate this year’s list of Merritt theatre award nominees. However, most of the province’s major players including Festival Antigonish Summer Theatre, The Villains Theatre, Shakespeare by […]

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Rosencrantz and Guildenstern a soldout hit; some tickets available Wednesday 2 p.m.

I didn’t see the Lord of the Rings movies so I didn’t know who Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd were apart from the stars in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, now enjoying a soldout run at Neptune Theatre. But now, having seen this epic, existential play, I know what they are: fantastic British stage and film actors, as well as longtime friends, who bring an absurdist duo that would make […]

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A Colourful, Queer, Life-Affirming End to the World at Neptune’s Studio Theatre

The Last Show On Earth™! is an absurd, high-colour, funny yet compassionate story about the apocalypse told through a queer lens. Writer Breton Lalama, who played Riff Raff in The Rocky Horror Show at Neptune, started writing the play as they were coming out as trans and “…that felt a death of sorts, which made me start thinking about all the millions of little deaths, or world endings, that we […]

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Elsa is coming to Neptune for Christmas!

Disney’s Frozen will be Neptune Theatre’s holiday musical from Nov. 7 to Jan. 5, 2025, while the season-closing musical is the sci-fi, musical hit Little Shop of Horrors. Neptune’s artistic director Jeremy Webb announced the theatre’s 62nd season today. Its 330 performances include 11 productions, four musicals/musical events, four comedies, four dramas, six Canadian plays and one world premiere. “The season delivers everything that we seek from live theatre – […]

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True or False? The Gift leaves you mesmerized by magic and mystery

Robert Lamar asks if life is determined by chance or destiny in a powerful, mind-bending, theatrical experience like no other. The Gift, playing in the cozy St. Andrew’s United Church basement through March 9, is the product of a theatrical dream team: former Neptune Theatre artistic director Ron Ulrich as director and writer, Halifax creator and performer Robert Lamar and veteran producer Brookes Diamond. This is not pull-the-rabbit-out-of-the-hat magic. Lamar […]

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A Fantastic Connectivity of Colour, Movement and Soul in reView

Artist websites: marybarnardfitzgeraldart.com Shown in reView, clockwise from top left, Along Mill Road, Christiane Poulin; The Universe Within, acrylic on canvas, Monika Wright; Glimpse of Aqua/Teal Stairs Between Paintings, oil and acrylic on board, Mary Barnard Fitzgerald; Jawbone, bone, plaster, dyes, Genny Killin; Waves, wool on linen, Carla Middelburg. Colour, pattern and content weave in and out with startling connectivity in reView, a five-woman exhibit at the Chase Gallery, Nova […]

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All the World’s a Vision for 1 artist and 3 sets of 2

Clockwise top, left, Sunrise, September 26, oil on canvas, Sara MacCulloch; Fog Pusher, wool and silk on burlap, Laura Kenney; Semi Rural Landscape, reclaimed pine, acrylic paint, Ian Gilson, inspired by the houses in F. Scott MacLeod’s paintings; Ghost Net; Celestia, giclee print, Declan O’Dowd; Crazy Quilt, reclaimed bait bags, nylon twine, Carley Mullally. (Contributed) the places I miss and Newfoundland Sara MacCulloch has a sumptuous show of Nova Scotia […]

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