I wish I had gotten this review out earlier for many reasons. Of course it would have been nice if the show was still running and maybe some of you reading this could decide to go see it on my recommendation; it’s also a lot easier to write with the show freshly in mind. But […]

At least once a year, my father tells me he’d rather not go see Romeo & Juliet. When I ask why, he always says it’s because he’s seen it before. Personally, I think the great thing about Shakespeare is that it’s always different. No matter how many times you’ve seen Hamlet, the actors and director […]

I, like almost everyone else, had never seen The Winter’s Tale before this year at the Stratford Festival . I’d read it, discussed possible stagings, and analyzed the characters, but never seen for myself the play with 2 worlds. That, I suppose, is a theme at Stratford this year: 2 contrasting worlds in a single […]

 

I love Toronto. There are many many reasons for this, not the least of which is the independent theatre scene. Every week it seems I stumble upon another company dedicated to doing theatre their way, whatever way that may be. Often small, rarely well-funded and often brimming with talent, Toronto’s many many theatre companies are […]

The Two Gentlemen of Verona is my favourite production at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival this year. If you know me at all, it wouldn’t have been very difficult to predict that. First of all, it’s the first show I’ve ever seen in the festival’s relatively new studio theatre (a beautiful and intimate space with a […]

That quote is actually referencing Lear but seems somehow appropriate to The Stratford Shakespeare Festival’s current production of The Tempest. First of all, it’s from Slings and Arrows, a television show based on the festival. Second, it’s addressed to William Hutt, a Stratford star with insurmountable gravitas (not unlike Christopher Plummer), who’s final role before […]

 

In a joint article with other My Entertainment World website My Cinema, here is a preview photo from one of my most anticipated films of the year: Julie Taymour’s adapatation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Due out on December 10 (in the year of the play’s 400th anniversary) from Touchstone pictures, The Tempest stars Helen Mirren […]

Stage Fighting or Choreographed Violence for Violence’s Sake There are a few things that people always find memorable when they go to the theater. For my purposes, I’ll use Shakespeare’s Hamlet to illustrate (I have a theme, and I like to stick to it). People will always remember “To be or not to be” (but few […]