Category Archives: Uncategorized

ALL MY SONS: A STUNNING STRATFORD FESTIVAL PRODUCTION OF ARTHUR MILLER’S PLAY THAT FORCES OUR HONEST INTROSPECTION

Posted on September 7, 2016 by strecker

Very soon into the Stratford Festival’s production of All My Sons, we realize that we intimately know these people before us. We run into them by the hour in our daily lives. However, if we have the guts to admit … Continue reading →

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STEWART GOODYEAR: A “MASTER PIANIST” (AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE) AND “BRILLIANT ON EVERY LEVEL” (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER) PLAYS BRAHMS # 1 WITH THE HAMILTON PHILHARMONIC ON SEPTEMBER 17: A REVIEWER’S INTERVIEW WITH PEOPLE IN THE ARTS

Posted on September 5, 2016 by strecker

James Strecker: Please tell us about one or more projects that you have been working on, are preparing, or have recently completed. Why do they matter to you and why should they matter to us? Stewart Goodyear: This year has … Continue reading →

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NURHAN ARMAN: CONDUCTOR OF SINFONIA TORONTO AND MAESTRO ON FOUR CONTINENTS: A REVIEWER’S INTERVIEWS WITH PEOPLE IN THE ARTS

Posted on August 21, 2016 by strecker

James Strecker: Please tell us about one or more projects that you have been working on, are preparing, or have recently completed. Why do they matter to you and why should they matter to us? Nurhan Arman: Throughout this summer … Continue reading →

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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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AUTHOR & PETA FOUNDER INGRID NEWKIRK: A REVIEWER’S INTERVIEW WITH PEOPLE IN THE ARTS

Posted on August 8, 2016 by strecker

INTRODUCTION: My purpose in these interviews for my blog James Strecker Reviews the Arts is to give readers a deeper understanding of creative people  and their work, however the latter perceive it. JAMES STRECKER: Please tell us about something you … 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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