Just in time for dark nights of swirling leaves, Neptune Theatre is staging Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors, a seriously-crafted piece of silliness and a wild comic ride through Bram Stoker’s classic tale. The 90-minute romp, on the main stage through Oct. 25, stars Allie MacDonald in an unforgettable, chest-baring performance as an over-sexed, vainglorious Dracula with beautiful hair and an inability to pronounce “w” as anything other than “v.” […]
Edward Albee’s 1962 hit, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, glitters in all of its comedy and savagery in a riveting production at Neptune Theatre just to March 15. Albee’s suspenseful psychological drama about a devastated marriage — and so much more — is a cat-and-mouse game between two couples who take the gloves off as soon as they connect on a night of alcohol, revelations and personal attacks. It shocked […]
Dearest Diary Mamma Mia! is a blast!. A wonderful escape just when the news is so awful globally and even locally. It’s so dry here – brown grass and not a drop of rain in the forecast – and there’s a woods travel ban BUT – thank heavens! – all the outdoor theatre is still happening. But first to indoor theatre. As you know I’ve played the Mamma Mia CD […]
Festival Antigonish Summer Theatre opened its 38th season with the world premiere of For Love Nor Money, an historical drama by Antigonish writer Laura Teasdale. Its eight-day run in a FAST/Mulgrave Road Theatre co-production wrapped up Saturday, with both a matinee and evening performance. Mulgrave Road Theatre commissioned Teasdale, who co-wrote FAST’s outdoor Robin Hood with FAST’s artistic director Andrea Boyd, and developed the script with a view to staging […]
I’ve always loved Little Shop of Horrors and Neptune Theatre’s high-energy, sumptuously-lit, sci-fi extravaganza is a great opportunity to see it again and get a pure entertainment timeout from the news. The plant is amazing, the cast excellent and artistic director Jeremy Webb’s direction suitably playful for this campy, horror-comedy musical with its wonderful 1960s rock and roll, doo-wop and Motown music. Fans of the songs “Skid Row (Downtown), “Somewhere […]
Controlled Damage is excellent, complex, passionate theatre about Halifax civil rights activist Viola Desmond. First staged just before the pandemic, the two-hour play by Toronto writer Andrea Scott, returns in a new co-production by Neptune Theatre and the National Arts Centre (NAC), running just to Feb. 2 in Neptune’s intimate studio theatre. While this story is sheathed in a glorious cloak of visual design and music, its power lies in […]
I’ve never liked Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream; he’s often an irritating, high-energy boy flitting about like Peter Pan. Enter Walter Borden, 82, in an elegant, glittering emerald coat and hat, rolling his wonderful, sonorous voice around Shakespeare’s gorgeous language, not rushing it but luxuriating in it, finding the humour, the pace, the perfect articulation. It’s a brilliant piece of casting and just one of director Jeremy Webb’s inspired […]
Two Planks and a Passion Theatre creates a magical, unforgettable experience with its fireside shows as people sit encircling actors who themselves encircle a roaring fire. The flames are the only source of light and as you look into the orange flickering shadows your imagination is lit by a timeless story. The occasional flitting bat adds to the magic. Chased by The Bear, a spellbinding musical re-telling of Shakespeare’s The […]
Shakespeare by the Sea’s vaudeville twist on Twelfth Night is a fun and funny, passionate production steeped in Nova Scotia singer-songwriter Eliza Rhinelander’s original tunes as atmospheric as foggy coasts or smoke-filled, 1920s Paris bars. Director Drew Douris-O’Hara’s remarkably clear and tight-knit adaptation of Shakespeare’s play about love and tomfoolery was inspired by his visit to the Moulin Rouge in Paris during his honeymoon. (His wife Jade Douris-O’Hara plays Olivia, […]
Shakespeare By The Sea’s 31st summer season re-opens tonight in Point Pleasant Park after COVID cases forced the company to cancel nearly a week of performances during excellent weather – “tis true, tis pity.” This season features Alice in Wonderland the Musical and Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, which opened triumphantly last Friday night with a huge audience. But the next day four out of the eight-member cast developed COVID symptoms and […]
