Andromache

We saw Graham McLaren's Hamlet a couple of years ago - a stripped-down version showing the bare bones of the revenge tragedy it would have been in the hands of one of Shakespeare's contemporaries. Not really comparable to a couple of the great Hamlet's we have seen, but better than the general run of them and exciting theatre in its own right.

Well, his production of Andromache has a similar pace and style, set in post-invasion Iraq (or somewhere similar). I am sure Evie Christie's writing was a big part of this, but she certainly appears to have found a soulmate in McLaren. (I don't know the Racine original, but I doubt much more than the basic plot outline survived here.)

The play is loud, savage, brash - like the emotions and obsessions of the main characters.

Arsinee Khanjian is the only actor I recognised, playing the only low-key (and relatively minor) role, that of Andromache. She was very dignified as the Iraqi/Trojan queen, but I think she could have turned up the wattage a bit to compete with the strutting American/Greek characters.

Christopher Morris was apparently in the 2009 Hamlet, but I did not recognise him. I found his performance a bit off, in that he tended to gesture and declaim, while the rest of the acting was more naturalistic. Still, lots of intensity.

Steven McCarthy (Orestes) and Ryan Hollyman (Pylades) I do not know, but were excellent and seemed thoroughly real.

Christine Horne (Hermione) was terrifying - but in a good way. Her Hermione is why men become heroes. Or monks.

A thrilling performance; I am glad I got to it. Eat your heart out Cathy!

1001 Nights

Two nights in a row, but we managed only the first act of the first night. The plot was repetitive, the staging weak, the cast merely adequate, the choreography amateur: in short there was no reason to stay. So we left and gave the tickets to night two away.

It was interesting to notice how quickly you forgot the fact the play was being performed in three languages,English, French and Arabic.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

It takes a heat actress to describe herself as MAggie the Cat, without causing the audience to giggle. Moya O'Connell managed to do it. she was a restless cat, not asking for sympathy but getting it anyway!
Gray Powell, described by a friend as "not hard to look at", turned in a repressed, depressed performance as Brick.
But the evening belonged to Jim Mezon as Big Daddy. He raged against his fate, his wife and his sons. ut he also managed to sympathize with the pain Brick was experiencing, even though he couldn't manage to express it .
It was a thoroughly satisfying production.

Candida

Nice production, good cast , nothing noteworthy.
I am not sure why we decided to to see it again so soon after the Kelly Fox version in 2002. You would think that nearly ten years was enough of a gap, but clearly not!
Claire Julien, Nigel Shawn Williams, Norman Browning and Graeme Somerville are all actors i like. Wade
Bogert O'Brien is definitely some one to watch. But the group did not coalesce and the play fellll flat.

Heartbreak House

What more can I say than I fell asleep in all three acts?
I have seen and enjoyed this play before but for some reason this production did not work for me. I definitely did not like the set and felt it was getting in the way of the actors and the action.
A very good cast, including Tara Rosling, the understudy for Laurie Paton as Lady Utterwood, who stepped in without missing a beat,could not salvage a rather boring and pedantic play. Benedict Campbell was great as the beleaguered Boss Manganese. Michael Ball was suitably gruff as Captain Shotover.
But the play does prove that Shaw knew Nothing about women and even less about the relationships between men and women.

My Fair Lady

OK, I have to admit my bias - I think this is the best musical ever written! when I was in high school I used to study with this playing in a continuous loop in the background. Probably explains why I know all the lyrics but can't remember any physics or chemistry.

In any case, the Shaw production met all my expectations. Deborah Hay was a loverly Eliza. Benedict Campbell was superb as Henry Higgins. Neil Barclay was born to play the part of Alfred Doolittle and Patrick Galligan was an excellent Pickering -even though he looks too young.

Great staging and scenery, wonderful costumes. You had to walk out singing!

Fronteras Americanas

Created and first performed at Tarragon in 1993, this production has been updated, but not significantly.

Keith and I had different reactions to the play - I thought the first act was very funny and was happy to stay for the second. He would have left at the intermission, but agreed to stay since I was enjoying it. I should have let him win - the first act was significantly better. It was funny and lively. The second act got preachy and slow.

The writer and star does make some valid points about Canadian society and our acceptance of people not like ourselves. But I would rather laugh at myself than be preached at. Clearly I was in the minority as the audience reaction was very positive.

Untitled by Edouard Lock

Cathy refuses to post on this show, but it was part of the Canadian Stage series, so I am going to break my rule and post, rather than comment.

The performance was by La La La Human Steps and I have to confess I am not really a dance fan - once I get over my awe at the dancers' strength and flexibility, I tend to lose interest.

Lock claims to tell stories - in this case Dido and Aeneas and Orpheus and Eurydice. I am not familiar with the Baroque operas he apparently based this production on, but both are stories of lovers parted - and I looked out for that in this production.

Well initially I thought I was doing well. The setting was clearly Canadian cottage country or small town. The women were trying to start two-stroke engines (lawnmowers? outboard motors?) while the guys were working under cars. In both cases, they were bothered by swarms of mosquitoes and kept flailing at them.

After that, I lost it and spent the time worrying about my eyesight - as there seemed to be a persistence of image thing happening with the dancers arms. Actually, Cathy and other people commented on the same thing, so perhaps it was deliberate. Which would be interesting. Nothing else was, though.