Tag Archives: Shaw Festival

AN UNMISSABLE CANDIDA AT THE SHAW FESTIVAL & A PRICELESS JUDI DENCH BOOK, SHAKESPEARE: THE MAN WHO PAYS THE RENT

I’ve long maintained that an exceptional production of a play by, say, Shaw is much akin to a memorable concert of, say, Beethoven. Try this synchronicity. The August issue of Gramophone was sitting in our mailbox, when I arrived home … Continue reading

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THEATRICAL RICHES IN SHAW FESTIVAL PRODUCTION: SHAW’S TOO TRUE TO BE GOOD IS, WELL, TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE!

Last Sunday during the first interval of Too True to Be Good, I was reading the play’s program and realizing again how the Shaw Festival has long provided an unending treasury of theatrical riches in my life. My first memory, … Continue reading

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WELCOME BACK, SHAW FESTIVAL, AND THANKS FOR THE DEVIL’S DISCIPLE

I think it was 1968 on one of my first trips to the Shaw Festival, situated at the time in the charmingly tiny Court House of Niagara-on-the Lake, when the announcement was made that Frances Hyland was too ill to … Continue reading

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TARA ROSLING: SHAW FESTIVAL, FILM, AND TELEVISION ACTRESS DECLARES “OFTEN IT OCCURS TO ME – AFTER DEDICATING HOURS OF REHEARSAL AND THOUGHT AND CARE, AND GIVING ALL OF ONESELF OVER TO A PIECE OF THEATRE, ONLY TO HAVE IT SUBJECTIVELY SHREDDED TO PIECES BY ONE PERSON ON OPENING NIGHT – THAT THE CURRENT & TRADITIONAL ROLE OF CRITICS IS A SYSTEMIC ABSURDITY. IT FEELS LIKE THE TIME IS RIPE TO RE-EVALUATE THE ROLE OF THEATRE CRITICS.” … A REVIEWER’S INTERVIEW WITH PEOPLE IN THE ARTS

JAMES STRECKER: 1 If you were asked for 50 words for an encyclopedia to summarize what you do, or have done, in the arts, what would you say? TARA ROSLING: As an actress, I attempt to offer the fullest life … Continue reading

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FIONA BYRNE: ACTRESS UPCOMING IN 2018 SHAW FESTIVAL’S “STAGE KISS” AND “MAN OF DESTINY” DECLARES “I FIND IT DEPRESSING HOW COMMONLY POWER IS MISUSED AND ABUSED IN MANY REHEARSAL HALLS AND THEATRES AROUND THE COUNTRY. I AM REALLY FED UP. AND I FEEL LUCKY TO HAVE WORKED IN GENERALLY HEALTHY SPACES THROUGHOUT MY CAREER, WHERE I FELT RESPECTED AND SAFE. AND ABLE TO DO MY JOB. BECAUSE I KNOW THAT’S NOT THE CASE FOR SO MANY.” …A REVIEWER’S INTERVIEW WITH PEOPLE IN THE ARTS

JAMES STRECKER: If you were asked for 50 words for an encyclopedia to summarize what you do, or have done, in the arts, what would you say? FIONA BYRNE: Fiona discovered her love for acting while studying English and Drama … Continue reading

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EVAN BULIUNG: LEADING ACTOR EXPLAINS “THEATRE IS NOT MOUNTED ON A WALL, IT IS A LIVING BREATHING ORGANISM THAT CHANGES FROM SHOW TO SHOW, SO TO BASE CRITIQUES ON ONE SHOW IS MOOT. I WOULD HOPE MOST GOOD REVIEWERS WOULD KNOW AND APPRECIATE THIS” … A REVIEWER’S INTERVIEW WITH PEOPLE IN THE ARTS

JAMES STRECKER: If you were asked for 50 words for an encyclopedia to summarize what you do, or have done, in the arts, what would you say? EVAN BULIUNG: We​ ​gather​ ​together​ ​as​ ​a​ ​group​ ​of​ ​performers​ ​with​ ​generally​ ​low​ … Continue reading

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PETER KRANTZ: THE BUSY ACTOR STATES “SOMETIMES WE WONDER IF THE PUBLIC REALIZES HOW MUCH WORK HAS GONE INTO MAKING IT SEEM LIKE NO WORK. AND FOR SOME OF THE WORK, HOW MUCH OF A COST, EMOTIONALLY AND PHYSICALLY, THE ACTING IS. I DON’T THINK MANY OF THEM UNDERSTAND THAT”….. A REVIEWER’S INTERVIEW WITH PEOPLE IN THE ARTS

JAMES STRECKER: If you were asked for 50 words for an encyclopedia to summarize what you do, or have done, in the arts, what would you say? PETER KRANTZ; I am a Canadian actor, working predominately in theatre. I have … Continue reading

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MOYA O’CONNELL: ACTRESS AND SHAW FESTIVAL MAINSTAY DISCUSSES THEATRE AND HER CREATIVE LIFE -“I ONLY ASK THAT THE AUDIENCE ALLOW THEMSELVES TO BE OPEN. I WANT THEM TO GIVE THEMSELVES TO ME. I WANT THEM TO BE MY PARTNER IN ADVENTURE.” — A REVIEWER’S INTERVIEW WITH PEOPLE IN THE ARTS

JAMES STRECKER: If you were asked for 50 words for an encyclopedia to summarize what you do, or have done, in the arts, what would you say? MOYA O’CONNEL: Canadian theatre actress. Anglo-Irish heritage. Spent 6 seasons at Bard on … Continue reading

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RECENT PLEASURES: A REVIEWER’S NOTES ON ELISABETH LOUISE VIGEE LE BRUN, PETER TOGNI WITH STACIE DUNLOP, AND THE DEPARTING JACKIE MAXWELL OF THE SHAW FESTIVAL –THANK YOU, JACKIE!

PLEASURE 1: Several years ago I was walking through London’s National Gallery on the way to view The Adoration of the Shepherds from about 1640 by the Le Nain Brothers. Was this profoundly gentle painting more the work of Antoine? … Continue reading

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

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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