The Devil's Disciple

I would not have described this as one of my favourite Shaw plays, but this was a terrific production. Pacing was great and the cast was superb.
Evan Buliung was terrific as Dick Dudgeon - he carried the show, although he had a lot of help from Donna Belleville, Fiona Byrne and Peter Krantz. Jim Mezon nearly stole it form him with his performance as General Burgoyne - the world weary, cynical, realist.
I think this is the first time we have seen Buliung in the lead role, although we have been watching him develop with interest for some time now.

Brief Encounters

Another three of the Coward Ten. Different cast, but still a set of virtuoso performances. Deborah Hay was so quiet and intense in Still Life- hard to believe she was Louise Charteris later that afternoon and Billie Dawn later in the weekend!
Still Life took tooo long to get anywhere.
We have all had those strange moments of attraction that fade suddenly - brilliantly captured in We were Dancing. And Hands Across the Sea describes a seniors moment writ large - who were those people? Of course we knew them, but who were they? Again , wonderful performances by Deborah Hay as Piggie and Corrine Koslo as Mrs Wadhurst. Patrick Galligan is still one of my favourites and seems well matched with Thom Marriott - they contrast so well.

The Entertainer

A star vehicle, and Benedict Campbell certainly stood up to the role, delivering a fabulous performance as Archie Rice.
Corrine Koslo also gave an outstanding performance as Phoebe. The others had supporting parts, but as usual the whole cast was excellent. (One almost hopes for a terrible performance, jsut to ba able to complain about it.)
This was the first time we had been in the new studio theatre, which worked extremely well for this play. Very intimate space with stages at both ends, and the family home in the middle. It will be interesting to see how it is configured for other shows, if in fact it changes.
The play is definitely dated and I don't think it will wear well for many more years, but it was interesting as a piece reflecting a time and place.

Play, Orchestra, Play

Doing all of Noel Coward's short plays must have seemed like a great idea. Everyone loves Coward and in the current economic climate, putting on something like this was a smart move.
In her introductory notes, Jackie Maxwell comments that these plays provide an oppportunity to show case the huge range of talents in the company. Very true. Comedy, tragedy, dancing and singing by the same cast all in three hours.
That said, the plays are slight. Red Peppers portrays a couple of antque vaudevillians. Fumed Oak - a family where Dad has finally had enough and talks back! (The kind of talk back that we have all secretly thought of at some point in our lives, but most of us have not actually spoken!)
Shadow Play is interesting but does not seem to have much point.

Born Yesterday

Wow, what a great production. Thom Marriott literally dominated the stage as Harry Brock, but Deborah hay stole the show with her performance as Billie Dawn.
The show is fast paced and fun, although a bit dated. The sexism and violence throughout are offset by the great ending.
Great set.
Now if we could just get the aduience to stop talking!

Rice Boy

Sunil Kuruvilla has apparently rewritten and tightened up this play, but it still seems a bit fragmented. I wish I had notes from the last time we saw it at Canstage, because I think I liked it better the first time. It did not seem sufficiently edgy to be at the Studio.

Excellent cast, especially Sanjay Talwar as Uncle, Raoul Baneja as Father and Araya Mengesha as Tommy. (We've seen the first two before, Talwar at Stratford and Baneja in Bashir Lazar at Tarragon and they both are very strong actors.)

Zastrozzi

Odd play for a Canadian author (George F. Walker) to write, but very interesting all the same. It is a modern revenge tragedy, with everyone appropriately dead at the end.

Rick Roberts was excellent in the title role, as was Andrew Shaver as the protagonist, Verezzi.
It was nice to see Sarah Orenstein again as Matilda - she had just the right style and attitude! Even if her dress was a bit sluttish (joke).

John Vickery was great as Victor and I look forward to seeing him again.

Billy Bishop Goes to War

Eric Petersen succeeds brilliantly in bringing to life the heroic WW1 pilot. Now the age Bishop was when he died, Petersen and John Gray have had to make a number of changes. Insted of playing the young hero, he plays the older hero thinking back. Wearing pyjamas and a bathrobe throughout is very effective.

One front row spectator committed the cardinal sin, and did not turn off his cell phone. The look he got from Petersen when it ran was truly chilling. If looks could kill...