Jitters

David French wrote this in 1979 and it is just as funny today. It is very definitely a Canadian comedy, and one wonders if anyone outside of Canada would really appreciate it. Certainly the basic theme of stage fright, ego and human relationships woule resonate everywhere, but I must admit to finding the asides about Canadian culture, bureaucracy and our well known inferiority complex to be some of the funniest lines in the play. Are they funnier now than in 1979, I wonder, since they are not nearly as true as they used to be?

Oliver Dennis gave an outstanding performance as Phil, with strong competition from Diane D'aquila,(Jessica) Kevin Bundy (George) and C. David Johnson (Patrick) but my favourite was Jordan Pettle as Nick. Mike Ross is a promising new comer.

Fairy Tale Ending

Aiden's first theatrical experience was a great success. This musical, voted best of the Fringe (for kids) was a fun production starring Megan Tuck and produced Toronto Youth theatre.

The Doctor's Dilemma

Morris Panych and Ken MacDonald are a formidable duo when it comes to directing and designing. I particularly loved the sets of this play - stark, elegant and witty.
This is one of Shaw's better plays and the issue is as relevant now as ever before. Who lives and who dies, in a time of scarce resources?

Patrick Galligan was appealing as the doctor who falls in love with the patient's wife (Krista Colosimo.) The patient Louis Dubedat was played by Jonathan gould who hit all the right notes as the charming, amoral scoundrel, who happens to be a genius, too.
The other doctors were all excellent - Michael Ball, Ric Reid, Thom Marriott and Jonathan Widdifield.

An Ideal Husband

This is at least the second time we've seen this play at Shaw, and have seen the movie at least twice as well, so there are no surprises in the plot. The success depends entirely on the cast and the production.
I enjoyed the play, but was certainly not overwhelmed by it. I found the wife, played by Catherine McGregor, to be too cool to be appealing or to engage my sympathy. Idealism is one thing, but it can be played with a little more passion.
The rest of the cast were excellent, in particular Wendy Thatcher as Lady Markby, Steven Sutcliffe as Viscount Goring and Lorne Kennedy as as Lord Caversham. Moya O'Connell was delightfully evil as Mrs Cheveley.

Half an Hour

J. M. Barrie wrote this play and true to the title, it has a running time of half an hour.
Diana Donnelly was great as the wife who plans to run away with her lover, only to have her daring plan overthrown when he is run over by a bus! What can she do but go home again and hope she can get safely inside before her husband finds out she has gone.
Peter Krantz, Gord Rand and Michael Ball round out the rest of the cast, managing to make their characters real, even in such a short time.
Fun and suspenseful all at once.

Harvey

I am a big fan of Peter Krantz and had no doubt that he would be an excellent Elwood P. Dowd. He was. Not only was he delightful as Elwood, he made Harvey seem so real you could practically see him.
Shaw did their usual excellent job with this play. Great cast, excellent scenry and great overall production. Who cares if it is a silly slight play? It was a very enjoyable evening at the theatre.

Evita

There was really only one thing I did not like about this production - in the first act everyone seemed to be screaming rather than singing- a great pity since the music is great. Maybe it was a problem with the mikes because it did not happen in the second act.
The audience loved it and gave a standing ovation - I would not go that far. Great performances by Chilina Kennedy (Evita) and Josh Young (Che). Juan Chioran was fine as Peron, but it is actually quite a small part.
I love the music in this show and am always happy when I can leave a musical singing.
The director Gary Griffin also directed the acclaimed West Side Story last year, which we did not see.