Category Archives: shaw festival

STRINDBERG’S THE DANCE OF DEATH AT THE SHAW FESTIVAL: INSIGHTFUL, MOVING, AND UNAVOIDABLE REVELATIONS

Posted on August 13, 2016 by strecker

Fiona Reid as Alice and Jim Mezon as Edgar in The Dance of Death. Photo by David Cooper. For the Shaw Festival’s production of Strindberg’s The Dance of Death, William Schmuck’s set is an existence-defining circular space with bars on … Continue reading →

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MASTER HAROLD AND THE BOYS AT THE SHAW FESTIVAL: AN UNFORGETTABLE PRODUCTION THAT IS “UNFLINCHING, UNRELENTING, PROFOUNDLY MOVING, AND EMOTIONALLY PAINFUL TO WATCH”

Posted on August 10, 2016 by strecker

André Sills as Sam, Allan Louis as Willie and James Daly as Hally in “Master Harold” …and the Boys. Photo by David Cooper When I saw the first New York production of Master Harold and the Boys in 1982, I … Continue reading →

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OSCAR WILDE’S A WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE AT THE SHAW FESTIVAL: A STRIKING UPDATE TO THE 1950S THAT IS STILL MUCH TOO RELEVANT

Posted on July 27, 2016 by strecker

Their identity solidifies in how they are seen, this group of women posing for the world, for each other, for themselves. Sir John Pontefract scurries about with a flash camera, taking one shot here and another there, and their demeanor … Continue reading →

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ENGAGED AT THE SHAW FESTIVAL: HILARITY IN THE HIGHLANDS……..AND LONDON

Posted on July 24, 2016 by strecker

In the Shaw Festival’s program for Engaged, we read the “Notes” of director Morris Panych on this play by W.S Gilbert of ensuing G&S fame. Panych comments how “we are all subject of the ongoing farce” and how “the characters … Continue reading →

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JOYFUL FUN IN “THE ADVENTURES OF THE BLACK GIRL IN HER SEARCH FOR GOD” AT THE SHAW FESTIVAL

Posted on July 20, 2016 by strecker

At the outset of The Adventures of the Black Girl in Her Search for God, Guy Bannerman’s crusty G B Shaw, whose short story is the springboard for Lisa Condrington’s adapted play before us, is determined to have a Preface. … Continue reading →

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MRS WARREN’S PROFESSION AT THE SHAW FESTIVAL: PROSTITUTION, MALE HYPOCRISY, MOMS AND DAUGHTERS, AND AN ALMOST THREE DECADE BAN

Posted on July 4, 2016 by strecker

Mrs. Warren’s Profession ends with daughter Vivie seated – or is it reborn? – behind a desk. Her blooming manner of efficiency is striking, as if in performance for her new self. She seems self-satisfied and seems washed clean. After … Continue reading →

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ALICE IN WONDERLAND AT THE SHAW FESTIVAL: SPECTACULAR SETTINGS, INTRIGUING CHARACTERS, CONSTANT FLUX

Posted on July 4, 2016 by strecker

In adapter-director Peter Hinton’s take on Alice in Wonderland at the Shaw Festival, Tara Rosling’s Alice brings an intriguing ambiguity of person to the table, with child and adult both decidedly present. Alice the intended child is unstoppable, a self-propelled … Continue reading →

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UNCLE VANYA AT THE SHAW FESTIVAL: VERY HUMAN AND POETIC AND REAL

Posted on June 29, 2016 by strecker

Moya O’Connell as Yelena and Neil Barclay as Vanya in Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya The Shaw Festival’s production of Uncle Vanya is top-notch for a number of reasons. We believe these lives before us as lives actually lived in what they … Continue reading →

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THE INTELLIGENT HOMOSEXUAL’S GUIDE TO CAPITALISM AND SOCIALISM WITH A KEY TO THE SCRIPTURES AT THE SHAW FESTIVAL -PROFOUND, MOVING, POTENT AND UNCOMPROMISING- A PRODUCTION THAT ALL SHOULD SEE

Posted on August 20, 2015 by strecker

The Shaw Festival’s production of Tony Kushner’s “The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures” resonates with deep and elusive truth on a number of levels. We in the audience cannot avoid what we … Continue reading →

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BUFFALO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA, THE GREAT DEBATE, PETER AND THE STARCATCHER, TOP GIRLS, AND A VEGAN WEEKEND AT THE SHAW FESTIVAL –PART III

Posted on August 13, 2015 by strecker

Above: Guitarist Marko Topchii, conductor JoAnn Falletta and the BPO  Below: Violinist Atis Bankas BUFFALO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA The Sunday July 20 performance by the Buffalo Philharmonic turns out to be the first ever symphonic concert on the Shaw Festival Stage. … Continue reading →

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