“The Ladykillers” a lesser farce at The Shaw

Farce is a sub-genre of dramatic comedy with the intent of making an audience laugh.  The story line is the device that gets the amusement-reaction. The plot in a farce is likely to be improbable, and maybe even incomprehensible.  That’s part of the humor-inducing methodology.  Verbal humor runs the show.   An example of a classical farcical play is Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest.”  Ken Ludwig’s “Lend Me a Tenor” is another.

The farcical genre sometime takes on the guise of low comedy when it goes beyond using language to get the desired laughs by adding slap-stick physical absurdity.  Examples of physical farces are “Noises Off,” ‘The Torch Bearers” and, the present off-Broadway hit, “The Play That Goes Wrong.”

It takes special directing and acting skill to get the desired effect of farce, especially the physical variety.  Special attention needs to be paid to getting the audience to laugh at the spoken word, not at the actors exaggerated presentational skills.  If over-done the ridiculous becomes so absurd that it is no longer funny, but stupid.

Graham Linehan’s “The Ladykillers,” now on stage at The Shaw, bills itself as a farce. It is of the physical variety, with lots of shticks and gimmicks inserted to get the audience to laugh not only at what is said, but for what is done. 

The slight plot concerns a sweet little old lady, alone in her house, who is pitted against a gang of criminal misfits.

Professor Marcus and his fellow robbers rent a room in the home of eccentric Mrs. Wilberforce.  The villains plot to involve her, unwittingly, in a supposedly well-conceived heist.

Their pose to the landlady is that they are musicians and need a place to practice.  A series of ridiculous events, including hiding the money from the heist in a bass case, killing each other off, playing a concert for a group of Mrs. Wilberforce’s friends, and trying to keep one-step ahead of the landlady and the police, gives open invitation to lots of ridiculousness.

“The Ladykillers” is a 2011 stage adaptation based on the film of the same name.  Those who saw the movie, which starred Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers and Danny Green, know what a delight it was.  The West End reviews of the play stated that it was a “perfect pitch performance,” "A joy from start to finish," and "An exuberantly inventive evening."

I wish I could say the same of the Shaw production. 

The script is not of the same quality as Wilde or Ludwig, but it is serviceable.

Unfortunately, though there were many funny and audience laugh-inducing moments, Tim Carroll’s directing begged the audience for laughs.  There were enough naturally funny moments in the play that would have brought laughter, without begging for the humor. 

Sight gags were repeated over and over.  The first time someone is hit in the head by a turning blackboard it was funny.  By the fifth time it was not.  How many times can we be induced to laugh by an off-kilter picture being straightened?  An actor’s over-expressed confusion may be amusing the first time.  When repeated over and over it becomes boring.  The same with the over-done parrot squawking. 

Judith Bowden’s clever turn-table set design was a nice visual addition as was Paul Sortelli’s original music. 
Chick Reid was delightful as Mrs. Wilberforce.  Damien Atkins was on-point as Professor Marcus.  Steven Sutcliffe nicely developed the role of the old-lady-hating Louis.  Ric Reid properly phumphered his way as Major Courtney.

Capsule judgment: “The Ladykillers” gets an over-done farcical production at The Shaw.  It will be of great glee to many, however, it would have been more amusing if the material had been allowed to develop its natural farcical level, without redundant shticks and over-done characterizations.
WHAT:  THE LADYKILLERS
WHERE:   FESTIVAL THEATRE
WHEN:  Through October 12

“Sex”—Mae West as you never thought you’d see her!

Many know Mae West as a sex symbol and purveyor of bawdy double entendre, as well as an advocate of sexual independence. 

Did you know that she was also a playwright? 

Yes, Mary Jane West, who many know only from her famous lines, “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough," "Too much of a good thing can be wonderful," and "It is better to be looked over than overlooked," wrote many play scripts including “Sex” which now is onstage at The Shaw Festival.

The pillar of sexuality had a seven-decade career as a performer in amateur shows and beauty contests, as well as vaudeville and Broadway productions.   She later moved to Hollywood where she gained fame and fortune on the silver screen. 

Her career was capped when The American Film Institute named her 15th among the greatest female stars of classic American cinema.

“When her cinematic career ended, she wrote books and plays and continued to perform in Las Vegas and in the United Kingdom, on radio and television, and she recorded rock and roll albums.”
West’s Broadway career started in 1926 with the play, “Sex,” which she wrote, produced and directed.  The production was panned by the critics.  One review stated, “The play is nasty, infantile, amateurish, and has vicious dialog.”  Another commented, “We were shown not sex but lust—stark naked lust.”

The city officials raided the theatre, arrested West and the entire cast.  She was prosecuted on morals charges and for "corrupting the morals of youth."

Instead of paying a fine, in a good publicity stunt, she chose to go to jail.  It is reported that “while incarcerated on Welfare Island, she dined with the warden and his wife; she told reporters that she had worn her silk panties while serving time, in lieu of the burlap the other girls had to wear. She served eight days with two days off for good behavior. Media attention surrounding the incident enhanced her career by crowning her the darling bad girl who had climbed the ladder of success wrong by wrong.”

Audiences loved the show and the arrest publicity and awarded it with good ticket sales for the 375 performance run.  The marquee boasted the bright, glittering word ‘SEX’ and posters were shouting “Sex with Mae West.”  

Eventually, “the guards of morality in New York had had enough.  After complaints from key religious and political figures permanently closed the show.”
What was the fuss all about?

The story centers on Margy LaMont, an ambitious prostitute, who, in search of a better life, travels from a Montreal brothel to a Trinidad night club to a Connecticut upper class dwelling.  The humorous and sex innuendo–loaded plot is filled with gangsters, sailors and society matrons while displaying both tongue-in-cheek and out-and-out humorous incidents and inciting language.
The production is cleverly directed by Peter Hinton-Davis.  Creative scene changes, inventive use of cross-dressing, and a key eye on the humorous, leads the audience on a fun-filled, often outrageous journey.

The cast is outstanding.  Diana Donnelly looks like Mae West, but wisely makes the role of Margy hers, not doing a West-like imitation.  She textures the lines, indicating not only a fine sense of comic timing, but the ability to wring meaning from the speeches.

Though it is sometimes hard to accept her as a him, Julia Course gives the correct illusions to the role of Jimmy, Margy’s wealthy young lover.

Fiona Byrne does a nice turn as Clara, the society woman caught in an act of deviance.

Jonathan Tan is touchingly brilliant as Agnes, a put-upon prostitute.

The costumes, set and lighting all enhance the production.

Capsule Judgment: “Sex” is a delightful surprise.  Besides getting a compelling production at The Shaw, it is an eye-opener into the life of an American sex symbol who not only fought censorship, but once quipped, “I believe in censorship. I made a fortune out of it.”  This is a must see show!
 
WHAT: “Sex”
WHERE:  Jackie Maxwell Studio Theatre
WHEN:  Runs through October 13.

G B Shaw merrily mutilates, mystifies and maligns marital bliss in “Getting Married” @ The Shaw

George Bernard Shaw is noted for his stands on women’s liberation, religiosity and the British cast system. 

In his “Getting Married” the Irish curmudgeon is in full voice as he dissects, debunks, devalues and basically destroys the institution of marriage, while making his case for women’s rights and the ridiculousness of religious customs and practices.

Specifically, GBS “analyses and satirizes the status of marriage in Shaw's day, with a particular focus on the necessity of liberalizing divorce laws.”  And, where better to do this than on the day of a marriage.

Though generally considered one of Shaw’s lesser works, most critics agree that though it is short on action and some of the sharper barbs that are included in the Shavian lexicon, it is an excellent discussion on the foibles of the traditional Western world’s laws about marriage, divorce, having children and the role of women in the work world.

Shaw is noted for the preface to his plays where he often sets forth the views he is expressing in his scripts.  In “Getting Married” he takes the view that "Marriage remains practically inevitable.” 

“In a future society, he argued, there could be no practicable replacement for marriage, neither individually negotiated deals or unconstrained free love. Despite this, there was a very pressing question of improving its conditions. Shaw went on to argue for sensible divorce laws to protect the welfare of adults and children.”

It’s 1908. Edith, youngest daughter of Bishop Bridgenorth, is about to be married. Her uncle will give her away, as he has all her sisters. As at all the other weddings, he proposes to Lesbia, the bride's aunt, who refuses him for the "tenth and last" time. Lesbia wants a family, but not a husband who smokes and is as untidy as the General.  The General is soon shocked to find that his disreputable brother Reginald will be at the wedding. Reginald was recently divorced by his wife for assaulting her and for his adultery with a prostitute.  

Thus is laid the foundation for a battle over marriage, divorce, family values, the reproduction of children.  A pamphlet about the dangers of marriage, which is being read by both the potential bride and groom, adds to the angst.  

An attempt to write “new” rules for marriage just adds to the frustration.  Such matters as disagreement over rights and responsibilities about medical, religious, and financial matters, and how to get divorced emerge. 

As must happen, for this is a dramatic comedy, the young couple gets married, several other problematic relationships get solved, and everyone dances in the curtain call.

The Shaw’s nicely paced, often whimsical production, under the direction of Tanja Jacobs is delightful, especially the first act.

Many patrons thought the play had ended when the initial act curtain descended, only to be told there was more to come.  The second act, which brought about the final denouement, was not as fun-filled as the first.  In fact, cutting out much of it would have not left much of a hole in the writer’s intent and purpose.

The cast, which was both racially and age inclusive, sometimes with confusing results, was mostly excellent.  Standouts were Damien Atkins, Martin Happer, Stephen Sutcliffe, Graeme Somerville and Chick Reid. 

The technical aspects of the show were excellent.

Capsule judgment:  George Bernard Shaw is the master at skewering social, religious and political actions and concepts with which he disagrees.  His sharp, satirical and comedic language is put to good use in the delightful and pointed “Getting Married.”

WHAT: “Getting Married”
WHERE: Royal George Theatre
WHEN:   Runs through October 13

“Rope”—a treatise on Nietzscheism and religious questioning masquerading as a mystery

When theatrical mysteries are thought of the works of Agatha Christie (“The Mousetrap”), Anthony Schaffer (“Sleuth”), Tim Kelly (“The Butler Did It”), Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (“Sherlock Holmes”) and Tom Stoppard (“The Real Inspector Hound”) come to mind. 

These shows build tension and suspense, leave the audience grasping at clues to solve “who did it” or what twist and turn will reveal the villain.

Patrick Hamilton’s “Rope,” which is now on stage at The Shaw’s Royal George Theatre, unfortunately wouldn’t make the well-made mystery list, as it suffers from poor concept development and a weakly conceived production. 

The British play is set on the first floor of a house in London in 1929.  The story, centers on Wyndham Brandon and Charles Granillo, two young university students who have pulled off what they perceive to be the perfect crime, that of murdering a fellow student. 

Much like in the real Leopold and Loeb murder of young Bobby Franks, their reason centers on the belief that they can get away with the act because of their supposed intellectual superiority, a very Nietzschesque concept.

Friedrich Nietzsche proposed an ethical relativism philosophy in which superior men ignore the concept of good and evil and, because they are super beings, transcend the morality of the herd.  He stated, “Man is a rope, fastened between animal and Superman—a rope over an abyss.”

It is from this quote that the play’s title emerges.

As the play opens, in a dimly lit room, we see the duo carry in a body and dump it into a chest center stage. 

In a bizarre twist, the young men host a party at which the locked chest, which contains the corpse, is used to serve a buffet.  Included in the guests is the father of the dead student.

“After the party, one guest, a former professor of the murderers, returns and contrives to open the chest. He is shocked and ashamed that they have acted in response to his own declarations of amorality. The play ends with this quandary unresolved.”

The play was first an experimental BBC show, then an Alfred Hitchcock film.  The latter contained many changes to the stage play.  (Changes it appears should have been considered for this production.)

The script which, in the Shaw program is compared to Meyer Levin’s “Compulsion,” is neither as well-written or intriguing as that masterful play. 

Some of the characters are weakly developed, others seem to have no place in the tale, and the plot lacks the needed twists and turns to grab and hold the audience.

As for the production, director Jani Lauzon does what she can to breathe life into to it, with little success. 

Joanna Yu has done a masterful job of creating a multi-level set which allows us, through the use of a scrim back wall, to see people ascending and descending a staircase.  The lighting, however, did little to enhance the production.

Capsule judgment: “Rope” is a weakly written script which fails to compel or demand attention.  One can only wonder why the powers that be decided that it was worth the time and effort of the cast, crew and audience.

WHAT:  ROPE
WHERE:  Royal George Theatre
WHEN:  Runs through October 12

Audience-pleasing “Brigadoon” at The Shaw

The Golden Age of the American theatre, which is generally identified as from 1943 to 1975, starting with “Oklahoma” and ending with “Chorus Line,” were highlighted by a combination of songs, spoken dialogue and dancing contained in a story which had a clear structure, emotional content, and whose components were integrated together.

The shows that followed “Oklahoma” generally followed a format.

An important aspect of the musicals was of a two-level plot.  The first consisted of a love story, the second a tale of comic relief.  (e.g., Curley and Lauri—love story, Will and Ado Annie—comic relief, in “Oklahoma.”)

The script generally also included an opening number that set the emotional mood for the story (e.g., “Comedy Tonight” from “Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”).

There was an “I Want Song” in which the lead character told what they want from life (e.g., “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly” from “My Fair Lady.”) 

Other elements were a conditional love song that set up the romantic tale (e.g., “If I Loved You” from “Carousel.”  And, a “noise” song, a show stopper in each act intended to “wake up” the audience (e.g., “Bloody Mary” and “There is Nothing Like a Dame” in “South Pacific.”)

Though there were many successful Golden Age writers, probably the kings of the movement were the duos of Rogers and Hammerstein and Lerner and Loewe.

The former centered most of their shows on exploring community and social messages (e.g., “The King and I” and “Flower Drum Song.”)  The latter duet of writers, including their “Camelot” and “Brigadoon,” looked at the perfect time, the perfect place and the perfect love story.”
 
“Brigadoon,” which is now on stage at The Shaw Festival, tells the tale of two men, who, following World War II, while vacationing in Scotland stumble upon Brigadoon, a magical and mythical place that appears for only one day every 100 years. 

As must happen in any good romantic musical, Tommy, one of the tourists, falls in love with Fiona, a young woman from Brigadoon.  Problems abound as he is engaged, the wee village only has a short period of presence based on a deal made between the town’s pastor and the powers-that-be, and Tommy needs to stay forever or return to a life in New York sans love.   Added to the problems is the tale of a young Scottish lad, frustrated that the love of his life has been given to another, threatens to leave Brigadoon, thus breaking the spell, leading to its disappearance, forever.
 
From the opening number, we see and feel that “the mist is on the gloamin', and all the clouds are holdin' still,” that we are going to “go roamin' through the heather on the hill.” 

Love is in the air and we are aware from the “Vendors Call” and Fiona’s I wish song, “Waitin’ for My Dearie,” that song and dance are going to take us on a “wee” wonderful journey in which “Almost Like Being in Love” will become a reality.

“Brigadoon” is filled with enchanting and endearing songs.  It’s almost impossible to leave the theatre not humming such standards as “Almost Like Being in Love,” “From This Day On,” and “There But For You Go I.”

The Shaw production is an audience pleaser.  The story is clearly told, the almost cartoonish set illuminates the lack of reality of the goings on, and the music, in most instances, is well sung and interpreted.

As illustrated by Agnes DeMile’s dynamic original choreography for the Broadway production, the dancing in the Shaw staging is a little too controlled, needing more spontaneity and dynamism.  This was especially true in the “The Chase” in which the danger of the very existence of Brigadoon should be apparent, and “The Sword Dance” which needed to highlight the strong emotional feeling of impending doom.

The “noise” songs, “The Love of My Life” and “My Mother’s Wedding Day,” needed more abandonment and clearer diction to ensure that the humor of the musical tales could be understood and enjoyed.

The cast was generally strong.  Lovely Alexis Gordon was charming as Fiona MacLaren, the romantic lead.  She has a fine singing voice as was well illustrated in “From This Day On.” 

Handsome George Krissa created a totally believable Tommy, Fiona’s “Heather on the Hill” partner.  His “There But For You Go I” was a production emotional highlight.  He and Gordon displayed a nice interpersonal connection.

Mike Nadajewski was generally pleasing as Jeff, but both he and pert Kristi Frank as the seductive Meg, needed to have more dynamism as the comic reliefs.

The costumes, musical sound, lighting and sound all enhanced the production.

Capsule Judgment: “Brigadoon,” which is a classic example of one of the great American musicals, gets a very credible, audience-pleasing performance, at The Shaw. 

WHAT:  BRIGADOON
WHERE:  Festival Theatre
WHEN:  Through October 13

“The Glass Menagerie” shimmers at The Shaw

The modern era of theater was highlighted by the writings of Arthur Miller, William Inge and Tennessee Williams. 

Miller, the sophisticated Jewish easterner, who as a social philosopher, asked in his writings, “Is this the best way to live?”

Inge, reflecting on his Mid-western sensibilities and Christian moralism, plus his guilt over his homosexuality, viewed a world peopled by solitary protagonists encumbered with strained sexual relationships.

Williams, writing in a style referred to as “Poetic Realism,” was a man born of the south.  His messages and symbolism reflected his family and its influences as he wrote of those fighting to retain their dignity, find their lives unsatisfactory, often doomed to go unnoticed while being overwhelmed.  His lead characters are often crushed by the world around them, specifically the women who found themselves living in worlds which they didn’t understand and which didn’t understand them.

His “The Glass Menagerie,” now in production at The Shaw, is probably the best example of pure Williams.  It premiered in 1944 and catapulted Williams to theatrical prominence.

A memory play, a biographical treatise which centers on his mother, sister, himself and his absent father, it reveals all of the author’s digging for his devils, including alcoholism and homosexuality.  This is Williams probing for his “why,” his issues and his writing style. 

The play opens with Tom (the compelling Andre Sills) stating to the audience, “Yes, I have tricks in my pocket, I have things up my sleeve. But I am the opposite of a stage magician. He gives you illusion that has the appearance of truth. I give you truth in the pleasant disguise of illusion."

This line, the key to understanding Williams use of symbolism throughout the script, is heightened by Sills having interacted with the audience before the start of the show, doing sleight of hand coin and scarf illusions.  A device added in this production, not prescribed in the script.

The setting is a dingy St. Louis apartment.  It’s the home of Amanda Wingfield (extremely well-portrayed by Allegra Fulton), a middle aged woman with remembrances, real and illusionary, of her days as a Southern belle.  A time when she supposedly danced at cotillions, had beautiful dresses and numerous gentlemen callers.  A time before she married a man who abandoned the family, out of frustration and personal need. 

The other occupant is Laura, Tom’s sister (sensitively portrayed by Julia Course).  She is a woman with a limp as the result of a bout with polio, who is socially challenged, is basically an agoraphobic who has made an escape world for herself populated by crystal figurines, her glass menagerie, and a set of records left by their father. 

Amanda yearns for the comforts and life she lived as a girl, worries extensively of what will happen to Laura when she is left alone, with her fears of the outside world and her reactions to the abandonment by her husband and the possibility of Tom departing and leaving Laura and her. 

Her constant nagging for Tom to bring home a gentleman caller for Laura, with the plot of getting him to marry the girl, finally is satisfied when Tom asks a fellow worker at the shoe warehouse where he is employed. 

Unknown to Tom is that Jim, the gentleman caller, (sensitively portrayed by Jonathan Tan), casually knew Laura in high school and called her "Blue Roses", when she returned to school after a bout of pleurosis.   Also unknown is Laura’s crush on Tom when the two were in school.

Amanda’s plans for Laura and Tom are dashed when, after being kind to the young woman, Tom reveals that he is engaged. 

And so the drama spirals to a sad conclusion, as Tom leaves, in an ingeniously staged exit march around the stage, to  seek a way to satisfy his yearnings and Laura blows out the candles leaving her and Amanda to live out their lives in a veil of darkness and unrequited dreams.
The characters and story mimic Williams' own life more closely than any of his other works.  It spotlights Williams (whose real name was Thomas), his mother, Amanda, and his sickly and mentally unstable older sister, Rose.

Williams learned in 1943 that, in his absence his sister had been subjected to a botched lobotomy, leaving her incapacitated (and institutionalized) for the rest of her life.
With the success of “The Glass Menagerie,” Williams gave half of the royalties to his mother, designated half of the royalties from his play “Summer and Smoke” to provide for Rose's care, arranging for her move from a state hospital to a private sanitarium. Eventually he was to leave the bulk of his estate to ensure Rose's continuing care.  Rose died in 1996.

The Shaw production, under the adept and creative direction of László Bérczes is magical.  The clarity of many of Williams’ symbolic radiate.  The theatre in the square stage is effectively used.  The characterizations are cleanly-etched and the performances are nicely textured. 

Tom’s need to escape, while feeling a need to fill in for his absent father, is obvious.  

Amanda is pathetic, not crazy, a woman caught in a time and place she does not understand.  

Laura is maimed, not crippled.  Maimed by having to live with a delusional mother and a slight impediment, made larger by her mother’s unrealistic expectations for her.  

Jim is sensitively interpreted.

Capsule judgment:  The Shaw’s “The Glass Menagerie” is a masterfully staged show of one of the finest dramas in the American theatrical lexicon.  This is an absolutely must see production!  Huzzah!

WHAT:  THE GLASS MENAGERIE
WHERE:  JACKIE MAXWELL STUDIO THEATRE
RUNNING THROUGH OCTOBER 12

Shaw Festival Reviews--2019

As I walked down the main street in Niagara-on-the-Lake in Ontario, Canada, I had several people look at my black t-shirt with the white letters which stated, “I liked Cleveland before it was cool” and make positive comments or give a thumbs up.

The Shaw Festival is often like being in downtown Cleveland on game day.   Lots of 216/440 residents migrate North for a day, days or a week to visit “the most beautiful little city in Canada.” 

They purchase peaches, cherries, and nectarines, tour the wine country, play golf,  and attend plays at The Shaw.  It also doesn't hurt that the present exchange rate is $1.32 American for the Canadian dollar.  (For the non- mathematical—Americans get a little over 30-cents back for every dollar they spend. Use credit cards to get the highest exchange rate.)


The Shaw Festival is a tribute to George Bernard Shaw, his writing contemporaries, and plays that share Shaw’s provocative exploration of society and celebration of humanity.  


 
It’s a good idea to make both theatre and lodging reservations in advance, especially with the B&Bs on weekends. Our home away from home is the beautiful and well-placed Wellington House (http://www.wellington.house@sympatico.ca), directly across the street from The Festival Theatre, within easy walking distance of all the theatres, where the breakfasts are great and the furnishings lovely.  Unfortunately, this is the last year that the proprietors will accommodate new guests.  So, if you’d like to stay there, reserve for this year, now! For information on other B&Bs go to www.niagaraonthelake.com/showbedandbreakfasts




There are some wonderful restaurants.  My in-town favorites are The Grill on King Street (905-468-7222, 233 King Street) and Niagara’s Finest Thai (905-468-1224, 88 Picton Street).  There is also Gingers (905-468-387, 1390 Mary Street) a short ride out of the main square.  The Epicurean is a nice place for a seasonal food lunch.


Having just returned from the Festival, I offer these capsule judgments of some of the shows:

SEX-- “Sex” is a delightful surprise.  Besides getting a compelling production, it is an eye-opener into the life of an American sex symbol who not only fought censorship, but once quipped, “I believe in censorship. I made a fortune out of it.”  This is a must see show!

THE GLASS MENAGERIE--“The Glass Menagerie” is a masterfully staged show of one of the finest dramas in the American theatrical lexicon.  This is an absolutely must see production!  Huzzah!
 
THE LADY KILLERS--“The Lady Killers” gets an over-done farcical production at The Shaw.  It will be of great glee to many, however, it would have been more amusing if the material had been allowed to develop its natural farcical level, without redundant shticks and over-done characterizations.
 
BRIGADOON-- “Brigadoon,” which is a classic example of one of the great American musicals, gets a very credible, audience-pleasing performance.
 
ROPE--“Rope” is a weakly written script which fails to compel or demand attention.  One can only wonder why the powers that be decided that it was worth the time and effort of the cast, crew and audience.

GETTING MARRIED-- George Bernard Shaw is the master at skewering social, religious and political actions and concepts with which he disagrees.  His sharp, satirical and comedic language is put to good use in the delightful and pointed “Getting Married.”  See this one!
To read the complete reviews of the shows I saw, go to:  http://www.royberko.info
 
Other festival shows are:
THE HORSE AND HIS BOY, THE RUSSIAN PLAY, CYRANO DE BERGERAC and VICTORY.  The holiday season offerings are HOLIDAY INN and A CHRISTMAS CAROL.
 
For theatre information, a brochure or tickets, call 800-511-7429 or go on-line to http://www.shawfest.com.  Ask about packages that include lodging, meals and tickets.  Also be aware that the festival offers day-of-the-show rush tickets and senior matinee prices.

 
Go to the Shaw Festival!  Find out what lovely hosts Canadians are and see some theater! 

Don’t forget your passport as it’s the only form of identification that will be accepted for re-entry into the U.S.  Figure in time to get through customs at the U.S.-Canadian border.

The Shaw Festival’s 2019 season

It’s still cold and snowing, especially in the eastern provinces of our neighbors to the north, but things are heating up in Niagara-on-the-Lake, home of Canada’s Shaw Festival.  It’s getting closer to “curtain up, light the lights at Shaw Festival 19.


Many Clevelanders take the four-hour drive up to “The Shaw,” as it is called by locals, just to participate in theater.  Others tour the “most beautiful little city in Canada,” eat at the many restaurants and go shopping for Canadian goods.  Some take a side trip to Niagara Falls to see the world’s water wonder or to gamble.  Other go to shoot-the-rapids on the Niagara River.  Some go for a round or two of golf.  Whatever, The Shaw is a wonderful spring, summer or fall adventure.

 

It’s a good idea to make both theater and lodging reservations early, especially on weekends. 

Our home away from home is the beautiful and well-placed Wellington House (www.wellington.house@sympatico.ca), directly across the street from The Festival Theatre, where Karen, and her fabulous breakfasts and immaculate rooms, holds forth. For information on other B&Bs go to www.niagaraonthelake.com/showbedandbreakfasts




There are some wonderful restaurants.  My in-town favorites are The Grill on King Street (905-468-7222, 233 King Street), Ginger Restaurant (905-468-3871, 390 Mary Street) and Niagara’s Finest Thai (905-468-1224), 88 Picton Street, with Old Winery, (2228 Niagara Stone Road/905-468-8900), a worth-while ten-minute ride from downtown.

Tim Carroll says, of the varied play choices in this, his third season as The Shaw’s Artistic Director, “I could afford to be bold in my [play] choices, because of the incredible Ensemble there.”

The season, which opens on April 6 and runs through December 22, has audiences experiencing musicals, passion, crime, laughter, pure escapism, and romance. 

Here are his 2019 theater offerings:

THE HORSE AND HIS BOY—C. S. Lewis’s family friendly tale of four runaways—a boy, a girl and their horses, who are called upon to rescue Narnia.  (Recommendation:  Strongly consider a pre-show workshop that is filled with an exposition of the magic that happens on the stage.  A great fun and educational delight for adults and children.  April 6-July 21.

BRIGADOON—Lerner and Loewe’s charming musical, which contains such songs as “Almost Like Being in Love” and “I’ll Go Home with Bonnie Jean” asks, “What would you give up for love?”  May 5-October 13.

THE LADYKILLERS—Based on the beloved Alex Guinness film, this comedy is set in post-World War II London where five oddball crooks find out how hard it is to kill a little old lady who is getting in the way of their heist.  June 11-October 12.

MAN AND SUPERMAN WITH DON JUAN IN HELL—G.B. Shaw’s script which states, “There are two tragedies in life.  One is not to get your heart’s desire.  The other is to get it.”  Only 17 performances.  August 27-October 5.

ROPE—A gripping psychological thriller about two friends who commit a murder and host a party for the victim’s friends with his hidden body as the center piece.  April 12-October 12.

GETTING MARRIED—Shaw’s witty comedy which claims, “Married people should take holidays from one another if they are to keep at all fresh.” May 10-October 13.

THE RUSSIAN PLAY (lunchtime one-act)—A small-town flower girl falls for a gravedigger in Stalinist Russia.  What can go wrong?  About everything! (mature content) June 8-October 12.

CYRANO de BERGERAC—The tale of Rostand’s swashbuckling 17 th century swordsman who can do anything—except tell the woman he loves, how he feels.  July 27-October 20

THE GLASS MENAGERIE—Tennessee Williams’ classic autobiographical play which asks if we can ever truly escape the life we have been given.  May 22-October 12.

SEX—Margy LaMont, a quick-witted prostitute in Roaring Twenties Montreal, is looking for a better life.   This comedy drama got its author locked up for “corrupting the morals of youth.”  June 21-October 13.

VICTORY—A controversial play set in the aftermath of Charles II’s Restoration on the thrown of England.  The play may enrage you, but it won’t leave you!  (Warning: “VICTORY is deliberately offensive.  It is not for the squeamish as it contains very strong language.”)  July 14-October 12.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL—Ebenezer Scrooge is back. ”Bah, humbug!”   November 13-December 22.

IRVING BERLIN’S HOLIDAY INN—Fun loving, tap-dancing, romantic comedy with such classic songs as “Cheek to Cheek,” “Easter Parade” and “White Christmas.”  November 16-December 22.

For theater information, a brochure or tickets, call 800-511-7429 or go on-line to http://www.shawfest.com. Ask about packages that include lodging, meals and tickets. Also be aware that the festival offers day-of-the-show rush tickets
and senior matinee prices.

The Shaw’s social consciousness is clearly stated in their statement: “We acknowledge and honour the land upon which we gather as the historic and traditional territory of First Nations peoples.  In particular we recognize and thank the Neutral Nation, the Mississauga and the Haudenosaunee for their stewardship of these lands over the millennia.  



Go to the Shaw Festival! Find out what lovely hosts Canadians are, and see some great theater! 

Don’t forget your passport as it’s the only form of identification that will be accepted for re-entry into the US.

Clevelanders invade Canada for the Shaw Festival—2018

The Shaw Festival, located in Niagara-on-the Lake, is often like being in downtown Cleveland on game day.   Lots of 216/440 residents migrate North for a day, days or a week to visit “the most beautiful little city in Canada,” as Niagara-on-the Lake is often called.  They purchase peaches, cherries, and nectarines, tour the wine country and attend plays at The Shaw.  It also doesn't hurt that the present exchange rate is $ .77 American for the Canadian dollar.  (For the non- mathematical—Americans get a little over 20-cents back for every dollar they spend. Use credit cards to get the highest exchange rate.)


The Shaw Festival is a tribute to George Bernard Shaw, his writing contemporaries, and plays that share Shaw’s provocative exploration of society and celebration of humanity.  

 

It’s a good idea to make both theatre and lodging reservations early, especially with the B&Bs on weekends. Our home away from home is the beautiful and well-placed Wellington House (http://www.wellington.house@sympatico.ca), directly across the street from The Festival Theatre, within easy walking distance of all the theatres, where the breakfasts are great and the furnishings lovely. For information on other B&Bs go to www.niagaraonthelake.com/showbedandbreakfasts




There are some wonderful restaurants.  My in-town favorites are The Grill on King Street (905-468-7222, 233 King Street) and Niagara’s Finest Thai (905-468-1224, 88 Picton Street), with Old Winery, (905-468-8900, 2228 Niagara Stone Road), a worth-while five-minute ride from downtown.



Having just returned from the Festival, I offer these capsule judgments of some of the shows:

OH WHAT A LOVELY WAR-- “Oh What a Lovely War” is not only a compelling stage production, it is a fine history lesson and one of the few real highlights of The Shaw’s 1918 season.  This is a must see!

GRAND HOTEL--“Grand Hotel, the Musical” is a pleasant evening of theatre.  The plot is overdrawn, unrealistic, and typical of musicals where dance, singing and melodrama reign.  This is a musical, like “42nd Street” and “Anything Goes,” filled with dancing and meaningless dialogue and shtick.

THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW--“The Magician’s Nephew” is a visual wonder.  Whether you buy into the story’s religious implications, or not, it’s worth attending, just to see the stage illusions in action.  This is one of this year’s Shaw highlight productions!

STAGE KISS-- Most audience members should find “Stage Kiss” cute, even delightful, but as this production proves, farce is hard to do.  In fact, it is the most difficult of all acting/performance forms.  The performances and the results are not bad, just missing the special quality that makes Ruhl’s plays shine.  

OF MARRIAGE AND MEN-- One must wonder, with all the great Shaw scripts available, why Artistic Director Tim Carroll selected this tandem of one-acts to perform.  In program notes he claims that the world is in a state of distraction and needs to “reclaim our attention.”  Though “Of Marriage and Men” is not a distraction, it is not great theater that will not “waste our time,” it is not the quality of script that will make us want to “switch off our phone.”  

O’FLAHERTY V.C.-- As is often the case at The Shaw, the lunch time play is one of the Festival’s highlights. ”O’Flaherty V.C.” is no exception!  It is a delightful and revealing lesson on his writing and the Shavian attitudes and ability to make his points with wit and satire!  Hurrah!

To read the complete reviews of the shows I saw, go to:  http://www.royberko.info
Other season shows are: “The Orchard (After Chekhov),” “Mythos:  A Trilogy,” ”The Hound of the Baskervilles,” “A Christmas Carol,” “The Baroness and the Pig,” and “Henry V.”


For theatre information, a brochure or tickets, call 800-511-7429 or go on-line to http://www.shawfest.com. Ask about packages that include lodging, meals and tickets. Also be aware that the festival offers day-of-the-show rush tickets and senior matinee prices.


Go to the Shaw Festival!  Find out what lovely hosts Canadians are and see some theater! 

Don’t forget your passport as it’s the only form of identification that will be accepted for re-entry into the U.S. and figure in time to get through customs at the U.S.-Canadian border.

“O’FLAHERTY V.C.” delights and instructs at The Shaw

“Nations are like bees; they cannot kill except at the cost of their own lives.”

Satirist and playwright George Bernard Shaw is noted for skewing the English, their class governmental and educational systems, their treatment of the Irish and women, as well as religion and any form of government other than socialism.  His “O’Flaherty V.C.” is a classic one-act example of Shaw at his best. 

The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest of the British military award system.  It was first presented by Queen Victoria during the Crimean War.  In its 162-year history it has on been granted only 1,358 times. 

“O’Flaherty V.C.” the Shavian comic/satire, centers on a young World War I Irish soldier, Dennis O’Flaherty, who, while serving in the British army, exhibited such bravery that he was awarded the VC.   Under the banner “Boys! Come along.  You’re wanted,” he has been returned to his Irish village to recruit for the armed services.  (It should be known that, at the time, Irish republicans were opposed to a war to defend the British Empire.)

The return home is not only an issue of politics, but, O’Flaherty had not told his mother that he would be fighting on the British side in the war, not against it.   He also admits, in a conversation with General Sir Pearce Madigan, a local landowner, he had no idea why the war was being fought.  He just joined up to get away from home.

When his mother appears, all hell breaks loose when she discovers he's been fighting for the British.  He also reveals that he is sick of life in provincial Ireland and since he's experienced France, he never wants to come back and hopes he can get a French wife.

An Irish brough-ha-ha breaks out between mother and girlfriend, Teresa, when she appears and reveals that Dennis gave her a valuable gold watch.

Dennis says he can't wait to get back to the peace and quiet of the trenches. General Madigan sympathizes, commenting, "Do you think that we should have got an army without conscription if domestic life had been as happy as people say it is?"

In the play’s preface, Shaw argues that “most soldiers do not enlist for patriotic reasons, but through a desire for adventure, or to get away from a restricted life.  This is especially true of the Irish, since an Irishman's hopes and opportunities depend on getting out of Ireland.”

The acting is top-notch.  Ben Sanders creates reality as O’Flaherty.  Tara Rosling delights as the opinionated, controlling Irish mother. Patrick McManus is properly stuffy and military-like as General Madigan, and Gabriella Sundar Singh gives a nice imitation of a put-upon Irish lass.

Director Kimberley Rampersad keeps the action moving swiftly along!

Capsule judgment:  As is often the case at The Shaw, the lunch time play is one of the Festival’s highlights. ”O’Flaherty V.C.” is no exception!  It is a delightful and revealing lesson on his writing and the Shavian attitudes and ability to make his points with wit and satire!  Hurrah!

Shaw’s “Of Marriage and Men” two one-acts dedicated to women, and the men around them

“The test of a man’s or woman’s breeding is how they behave in  quarrel.  Anybody can behave well when things are going smoothly.” (G. Bernard Shaw)

Showcasing the complex nature of marriage and relationships, George Bernard Shaw’s attitudes about the superiority of women, attacks on the British class system, the French-English war of words, definition of desire and the role of heart versus needs is on display in his two slight scripts, ”How He Lied to Her Husband” and “The Man of Destiny,” being performed at The Shaw as “Of Marriage and Men.”

Supposedly written over a period of four days while he was vacationing in Scotland in 1904, the satirical commentary is a takeoff on Shaw’s “Candida.”

Of the play, Shaw stated, "Nothing in the theatre is staler than the situation of husband, wife and lover in which assumptions and false points of honor are made."  And that is exactly what “How He Lied to Her Husband” is about.

A handsome young man (Her Lover/Henry) writes poems to a young beautiful young lady (Herself, in fact, named Aurora), expressing his undying love.  Herself is married to an elderly man (Teddy) who plies her with diamonds and beautiful clothes.

What will happen if her husband finds out about the poetry and the affair?  Henry to confesses his love for Aurora, which pleases Teddy so much he proposes having the poems published as a tribute to his wife.  What should the volume be called?  Henry replies, "I should call it ‘How He Lied to Her Husband.’"

The play is slight, as is the production, under the direction of Philip Akin. 

A very cleverly choreographed set change transformed the stage from an English  drawing-room to an Italian inn and garden!

“The Man of Destiny,” the second half of the program, is an 1897 play by Shaw.   It is set during the early career of Napoleon, shortly after his victory at the Battle of Lodi. 

While eating, Napoleon receives news that some dispatches that a courier had been carrying were stolen by a devious youth.  The youth turns out to be a woman, dressed like a man.  A convoluted tale follows in which a battle of wits between the great leader and the woman takes place, which includes the possibility of an affair by Napoleon’s wife, Josephine and a possible scandal.

As with “How He Lied to Her Husband,” ‘The Man of Destiny” is not a major work in Shaw’s cannon.   A pastiche, it is neither compelling nor overly entertaining.   And, as was the curtain raiser, it gets an acceptable production.   

Capsule judgment:  One must wonder, with all the great Shaw scripts available, why Artistic Director Tim Carroll selected this tandem of one-acts to perform.  In program notes he claims that the world is in a state of distraction and needs to “reclaim our attention.”  Though “Of Marriage and Men” is not a distraction, it is not great theatre that will not “waste our time,” it is not the quality of script that will make us want to “switch off our phone.”  

Farcical “Stage Kiss” entertains a little at The Shaw

“I am an advocate for state illusion; stage realism is a contradiction in terms (G. Bernard Shaw)

Sarah Ruhl, an American playwright and essayist, and a two-time nominee for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, is noted for creating vivid theatrical works.  She tends to center on the mundane aspects of daily life, with side trips into love and war.

She is noted for setting up plot lines and using a nonlinear form of realism, throw in “curve balls,” surprises, plot twists and complications.  She once said of her writing, "Everyone has a great, horrible opera inside him. I feel that my plays, in a way, are very old-fashioned. They're pre-Freudian in the sense that the Greeks and Shakespeare worked with similar assumptions. Catharsis isn't a wound being excavated from childhood.”

“Stage Kiss,” a farcical tale of what happens when two actors (He and She), who were former lovers, are forced to share a stage kiss, with unforeseen consequences.  The line between reality and stage pretense soon blur.  It is a play within a play and is typical Ruhl.   

The story concerns He and She, who meet again, after many years of separation, to perform in a badly written 1930s melodrama.  They take up where they left off decades earlier with life-changing consequences.  Or, what could be life changing consequences.  She leaves her husband and surly daughter.  He dumps his kindergarten-teacher girlfriend, who moves in with She’s husband.  The reality of the past hits as the duo rehearse yet another bad play, this one about a hooker and an IRS operative.  He and She realize that their past history was probably right and they move beyond their “stage kiss” and face reality!

The show, under the directorship of Anita Rochon, is quite adequate, but misses being the hysterically funny illusion that it could be.  Part of the issue is that the farcical aspects of Ruhl’s are not fully developed.

The cast, (Fiona Byrne (She), Neil Barclay (Director), Jeff meadows (Kevin), Martin Happer (He), Sanjay Talwar (Husband), Sarena Parmar (Millie), and Rong Fu (Millicent) just doesn’t ever get the needed realistic, over-done aspects that make farce work.  The ridiculous has to come from the difficult balance of being overly sincere, realistically false, and making the characters bigger than life while not making them over-blown.  

Capsule judgment:  Most audience members should find “Stage Kiss” cute, even delightful, but as this production proves, farce is hard to do.  In fact, it is the most difficult of all acting/performance forms.  The performances and the results are not bad, just missing the special quality that makes Ruhl’s plays shine. 

Creatively staged “The Magician’s Nephew” captures the imagination with cardboard boxes and electronic graphics

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing (G. Bernard Shaw)

“The Chronicles of Narnia” is a series of seven fantasy novels by C. S. Lewis.  Many consider that this series, and Lewis’s writing style, changed the very nature of children’s literature.

The series, which has sold over 100 million copies, takes place in the mythical land of Narnia, where magic, mythical beasts and talking animals interact with children. 

The series includes such titles as “Prince Caspian:  The Return to Narnia,” “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” “The Silver Chair,” and “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” which have been transformed into a stage play, as has “The Magician’s Nephew.”

The books are not without controversy.  Taking his themes from Greek and Roman mythology, as well as British and Irish fairy tales, the stories overlay Christian themes.  The latter causes difficulties for those who do not subscribe to religious teachings.

Lewis has suggested that he did not directly intend to write his Narnia stories as Christian tales, but that these aspects appeared subconsciously as he wrote.  In ‘The Magician’s Nephew,’ for example, the story explores a number of themes, including “atonement, original sin, temptation and the order of nature.”

“The Magician’s Nephew,” was published in 1955 and is a prequel to the series, tells the tale of how Narnia was created and how evil first entered it.  It relates how “Digory Kirke and his friend, Polly Plummer, stumble into different worlds by experimenting with magic rings made by Digory's uncle. 

In the dying world of Charn they awaken Queen Jadis, and they witness the creation of a Narnian world (where Jadis later becomes the White Witch).  Many long-standing questions about the world are answered as a result.”

The Shaw production, under the very creative touch of director, Tim Carroll, set designer Douglas Paraschuk and projections designer Cameron Davis is visually and aesthetically compelling, easily transferring us from London, at the turn of the twentieth century to the worlds beyond.

Magically, brown cardboard boxes become walls, thrones, rocks, trees and so much more.  Perfectly choreographed moves the objects, and the appearance of images on them.  Use of masks and puppets add to the illusions, as do the well-conceived costumes designed by Jennifer Goodman.

The acting is top notch.  Vanessa Sears (Polly) and Travis Seetoo (Digory) convincingly transform themselves into tweens.  Their enthusiasm and joyousness easily convey the curiosity, fear and adventuresomeness of youth.

Special note:  Backstage tours of the Festival Theatre are available to allow participants to not only see the stage, dressing rooms, costume production areas and make-up areas, but to participate in mask making and reproducing the stage actions of “The Magician’s Nephew.”  It is a great experience for both kids and adults.

Capsule judgment: “The Magician’s Nephew” is a visual wonder.  Whether you buy into the story’s religious implications, or not, it’s worth attending, just to see the stage illusions in action.  This is one of this year’s Shaw highlight productions!
 

"Grand Hotel' a minor musical treat at The Shaw

“The great advantage of a hotel is that it’s a refuge from home (G. Bernard Shaw)

“Grand Hotel, Berlin. Always the same – people come, people go – One life ends while another begins – one heart breaks while another beats faster – one man goes to jail while another goes to Paris – always the same. ... I'll stay – one more day."  Thus, one of the lead characters in the Luther Davis (book) and Robert Wright (music and lyrics) conceived “Grand Hotel, The Musical” summarizes life in the center-piece of the musical.

Based on Vicki Baum’s novel and play, “Menschen im Hotel” (“People in a Hotel”) and the 1932 feature film, the story focuses on a 1928 weekend in the elegant facility.  A weekend in which a multitude of guests come and go in pleasure, frustration and chaos.
 
The show was Broadway bound in 1958, but bad reviews out of town, and the illness of one of the lead actors, caused the New York opening to be cancelled.

Thirty years later, much due to the creative efforts of Tommy Tune, who demanded new songs and a story rewrite, the show’s 1989 production received 12 Tony Award nominations, including a well-deserved one for direction and choreography for Tune.  It became one of the select group of Broadway shows to top 1,000 performance on the Great White Way.

It’s 1928.  The roaring ‘20s are at its height.  Decadence, outrageous extravagance, gangsters, high living and low morals, jazz and uninhibited dancing are the vogue.  

Using a series of overlapping tales, the plot showcases “a fading prima ballerina; a fatally ill Jewish bookkeeper, who wants to spend his final days living in luxury; a young, handsome, but destitute Baron; a cynical doctor; an honest businessman gone bad, and a typist dreaming of Hollywood success.”

Lots of plot twists and turns are in high gear.   A morphine addict as a result of his World War I injury, loosely narrates as the front desk clerk waits for the birth of his son, a young good-looking and broke Baron uses his charisma to charm the women while trying to get out of the clutches of a gangster, a past her prime prima ballerina is scheduled to make her last attempt at pleasing an audience, her dresser tries to hide her love-feelings for the dancer, a fatally ill bookkeeper tries to live a weekend of splendor, a textile mill manager tries to fake his way through an ill-conceived business deal, and . . . . . .

The production, under the directorship of Eda Holmes, gets what it can from the material.  Parker Esse’s choreography is creative and era correct.  The vocals are good.  The acting fits the material.

Deborah Hay is diva correct as the ballerina, matinee-idol handsome James Daly charms as Baron von Gaigern, Michael Therriault is appealing as Otto Kringelein, Vanessa Sears is character correct as Flaemmchen.

The music, which is continuous throughout the show, is well interpreted by Paul Sportelli and his orchestra.  The show’s set is well-designed by Judith Bowden.

Capsule judgment: “Grand Hotel, the Musical” is a pleasant evening of theater.  The plot is overdrawn, unrealistic, and typical of musicals where dance, singing and melodrama reign.  This is a musical, like “42nd Street” and “Anything Goes,” filled with dancing and meaningless dialogue and shtick.

Creative, history exposing “Oh What a Lovely War, compels at The Shaw

“You’ll never have a quiet world till you knock the patriotism out of the human race.”  (G. Bernard Shaw)


World War I, “the war to end all wars,” lasted in Europe from July 1914 to November 1918.  Yes, this November marks the 100th anniversary of the end of that horrific and senseless conflict. 

“Over nine million combatants and seven million civilians died as a result of the war (including the victims of a number of genocides), a casualty rate exacerbated by the belligerents' technological and industrial sophistication [gas, airplanes, cannons, tanks] and the tactical stalemate caused by grueling trench warfare. It was one of the deadliest conflicts in history and precipitated major political change.” 

About 67,000 Canadians were killed in the battles and numerous others suffered from psychological issues, which, today, are called Post Traumatic Stress Disorders.

It is therefore appropriate that The Shaw dedicate at least part of its season to examining the conflict between the Central Powers—Germany, Austria-Hungry and Turkey and The Allies—France, Great Britain, Russia, Italy, Japan and from 1917 on—The USA.

“Oh What a Lovely War” was conceived as a radio play which was transferred to the stage in 1963 under the foresighted direction of Joan Littlewood.  It was her creativity that makes it possible to adapt each production to the venue in which it its produced. 

It is a juke box musical in which previously written songs are shoe-boxed into a story line (think “Jersey Boys” and “Mamma Mia”).  Song order and selection can be adjusted as to the perception of the director.

Other Littlewood theatrical practices include the use of Commedia dell’arte which encourages actors to improvise and be larger-than life regarding gestures, dance and acrobatics.  Clowns playing various characters, music hall song, dance, slapstick and drama is also present.  Actors switch roles.

Following Littlewood’s concept of “Fun Palaces,” the creation of spaces where local people could come together, designer Teresa Przybylski and director Peter Hinton, have the audience using The Royal George theatre, as it was in 1918.  The time of play jumps from then to today, with speeches given both from the stage and the auditorium to envelop the audience in the production.

The staging includes numerous film clips and projections to create visual war and anti-war feelings.

Using “Tommy Tunes,” a book of 1917 songs written in the trenches, well-known songs of the era, hymns and songs from west end shows, the production is a critique of the great war.

The title comes from one of those songs. 
“Who wouldn't join the army?
That's what we all inquire,
Don't we pity the poor civilians sitting beside the fire.
Chorus
Oh! Oh! Oh! it's a lovely war,
Who wouldn't be a soldier eh?”
Hinton’s direction of the very long show, 2 hours and 50 minutes including intermission, grabs and holds the attention.

Using pianos to not only be played, but to create trenches, horses and walls, the ever changing sets are choreographed nicely to make for smooth transitions from one scene to another.

The dialogue has been adjusted to include the difficult role of the Indigenous people, blacks and women to actively participate in the war.  Numerous references to the Niagara area are also incorporated.

Song highlights include “Row, Row, Row,” “I’ll Make a Man Out of You,” “Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kitbag,” “Roses of Picardy,” “And When I Die,” “I Want to Go Home,” and “Keep the Home Fires Burning.”

The ensemble cast is universally strong, switching roles, accents and even genders, with ease.  The singing and acting are top notch.

Capsule judgment: “Oh What a Lovely War” is not only a compelling stage production, it is a fine history lesson and one of the few real highlights of The Shaw’s 1918 season.  This is a must see!

Clevelanders invade Canada for the Shaw Festival—2018

The Shaw Festival, located in Niagara-on-the Lake, is often like being in downtown Cleveland on game day.   Lots of 216/440 residents migrate North for a day, days or a week to visit “the most beautiful little city in Canada,” as Niagara-on-the Lake is often called.  They purchase peaches, cherries, and nectarines, tour the wine country and attend plays at The Shaw.  It also doesn't hurt that the present exchange rate is $ .77 American for the Canadian dollar.  (For the non- mathematical—Americans get a little over 20-cents back for every dollar they spend. Use credit cards to get the highest exchange rate.)


The Shaw Festival is a tribute to George Bernard Shaw, his writing contemporaries, and plays that share Shaw’s provocative exploration of society and celebration of humanity.  


 
It’s a good idea to make both theatre and lodging reservations early, especially with the B&Bs on weekends. Our home away from home is the beautiful and well-placed Wellington House (http://www.wellington.house@sympatico.ca), directly across the street from The Festival Theatre, within easy walking distance of all the theatres, where the breakfasts are great and the furnishings lovely. For information on other B&Bs go to www.niagaraonthelake.com/showbedandbreakfasts




There are some wonderful restaurants.  My in-town favorites are The Grill on King Street (905-468-7222, 233 King Street) and Niagara’s Finest Thai (905-468-1224, 88 Picton Street), with Old Winery, (905-468-8900, 2228 Niagara Stone Road), a worth-while five-minute ride from downtown.


Having just returned from the Festival, I offer these capsule judgments of some of the shows:

OH WHAT A LOVELY WAR-- “Oh What a Lovely War” is not only a compelling stage production, it is a fine history lesson and one of the few real highlights of The Shaw’s 1918 season.  This is a must see! 

GRAND HOTEL--“Grand Hotel, the Musical” is a pleasant evening of theatre.  The plot is overdrawn, unrealistic, and typical of musicals where dance, singing and melodrama reign.  This is a musical, like “42nd Street” and “Anything Goes,” filled with dancing and meaningless dialogue and shtick.

THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW--“The Magician’s Nephew” is a visual wonder.  Whether you buy into the story’s religious implications, or not, it’s worth attending, just to see the stage illusions in action.  This is one of this year’s Shaw highlight productions!

STAGE KISS-- Most audience members should find “Stage Kiss” cute, even delightful, but as this production proves, farce is hard to do.  In fact, it is the most difficult of all acting/performance forms.  The performances and the results are not bad, just missing the special quality that makes Ruhl’s plays shine.
 
OF MARRIAGE AND MEN-- One must wonder, with all the great Shaw scripts available, why Artistic Director Tim Carroll selected this tandem of one-acts to perform.  In program notes he claims that the world is in a state of distraction and needs to “reclaim our attention.”  Though “Of Marriage and Men” is not a distraction, it is not great theater that will not “waste our time,” it is not the quality of script that will make us want to “switch off our phone.”  

O’FLAHERTY V.C.-- As is often the case at The Shaw, the lunch time play is one of the Festival’s highlights. ”O’Flaherty V.C.” is no exception!  It is a delightful and revealing lesson on his writing and the Shavian attitudes and ability to make his points with wit and satire!  Hurrah!

To read the complete reviews of the shows I saw, go to:  http://www.royberko.info

Other season shows are: “The Orchard (After Chekhov),” “Mythos:  A Trilogy,” ”The Hound of the Baskervilles,” “A Christmas Carol,” “The Baroness and the Pig,” and “Henry V.”


For theatre information, a brochure or tickets, call 800-511-7429 or go on-line to http://www.shawfest.com. Ask about packages that include lodging, meals and tickets. Also be aware that the festival offers day-of-the-show rush tickets and senior matinee prices.

 
Go to the Shaw Festival!  Find out what lovely hosts Canadians are and see some theater! 

Don’t forget your passport as it’s the only form of identification that will be accepted for re-entry into the U.S. and figure in time to get through customs at the U.S.-Canadian border.

The Shaw Festival’s 2018 season

Canada's Shaw Festival is a tribute to George Bernard Shaw and his writing contemporaries.  


Many Clevelanders take the four-hour drive up to “The Shaw,” as it is called by locals, just to participate in theatre.  Others tour the “most beautiful little city in Canada,” eat at the many restaurants, and go shopping for Canadian goods.  Some take a side trip to Niagara Falls to see the world’s water wonder or to gamble.  Whatever, The Shaw is a wonderful spring, summer or fall adventure.



It’s a good idea to make both theatre and lodging reservations early, especially with the B&Bs on weekends. Our home away from home is the beautiful and well-placed Wellington House (www.wellington.house@sympatico.ca), directly across the street from The Festival Theatre, and within easy walking distance of all the theatres. I also like the Two Bees B&B (1-289-868-9357), which is downtown.  For information on other B&Bs go to www.niagaraonthelake.com/showbedandbreakfasts




There are some wonderful restaurants.  My in-town favorites are The Grill on King Street (905-468-7222, 233 King Street), Ginger Restaurant (905-468-3871, 390 Mary Street) and Niagara’s Finest Thai (905-468-1224), 88 Picton Street, with Old Winery, (2228 Niagara Stone Road/905-468-8900), a worth-while ten-minute ride from downtown.

Tim Carroll, in his second season as The Shaw’s Artistic Director, dedicates this season to a chance to put into practice what he learned in his first season.  The audiences love musicals, passion, crime, laughter, brilliant writing, pure escapism, in-person performers and romance.  So, here are his 2018 theater offerings:

THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW—C. S. Lewis’s plunge into Narnia at its very beginning. An adventure of what it means to do the right thing. (World Premiere) April 4-October 13.

GRAND HOTEL—Check into the lavish Grand Hotel, where the lives of ten hotel guests collide over one unforgettable night with songs and dance.  May 3-October 14.

MYTHOS--Stephen Fry, one of the great story tellers, uses humor and a company of the Greek gods, heroes and men, to tell gripping tales.  May 24-July 15.

THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES—Sherlock Holmes is on the case to find a murderer in this sly, darkly funny and suspenseful tale.  August 1-October 27.

STAGE KISS—In this modern romantic comedy by Pulitzer Prize finalist Sarah Ruhl, two bitter exes are cast in the same play as passionate lovers.  Will they strangle or seduce each other?  April 11-September 1.

OF MARRIAGE AND MEN:  A Comedy Double Bill—Two great humorous short plays about marriage in a single show about the hitches of being hitched.  May 13-September 2.

O’FLAHERTY V.C.—Packed with family feuding and witty repartee, this G. B. Shaw one-act skewers every illusion about why we go to war.

OH WHAT A LOVELY WAR—A provocative WWI musical intended to make audiences laugh, cry and clench their fists.  July 14-October 13.

THE ORCHARD (After Chekhov)—It’s Chekhov’s THE CHERRY ORCHARD transformed into the tale of two immigrant families fighting to hold onto their orchard in British Columbia.  June 7-September 1.

THE BARONESS AND THE PIG—An idealistic 19th century baroness has found her next maid—a girl who can barely speak, let along keep house.  This Canadian play cuts to the core of what it means to be “civilized.”  MATURE CONTENT.  JUNE 10-October 6.

HENRY V—A troop of Canadian soldiers is hunkered down in a dugout during WWI with some copies of Shakespeare’s HENRY V for company.  Juy 22-October 28.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL—Ebenezer Scrooge is a miserable old miser, but . . .!  November 14-Decemer 23.

For theater information, a brochure or tickets, call 800-511-7429 or go on-line to http://www.shawfest.com. Ask about packages that include lodging, meals and tickets. Also be aware that the festival offers day-of-the-show rush tickets and senior matinee prices.



Go to the Shaw Festival! Find out what lovely hosts Canadians are, and see some great theater! 

Don’t forget your passport as it’s the only form of identification that will be accepted for re-entry into the U.S.

“Wilde Tales,” a fun inclusive experience at The Shaw


A yearly highlight of the Shaw Festival season are their lunch-time hour productions which are staged in the intimate Court House Theatre.

This year’s offering is “Wilde Tales,” a fun program and inclusive experience.  It’s composed of three Oscar Wilde short children’s stories adapted by Kate Henning and takes place in the magnificent garden of Oscar Wilde’s imagination.

The offerings include “The Happy Prince,” “The Nightingale and the Rose,” and “The Selfish Giant” all based on the concept that love is “a powerful, life-altering force which is not confined to the mating of a man and a woman, not, for that matter even between humans.”  The fact that Wilde was a homosexual adds to the understanding of his expansive view of love.

In “The Happy Prince,” a sparrow comes across a golden statue of a prince.  The statue weeps for the poor citizens of the town.  The sparrow desires to travel the world with his flock, but he is so taken with the honesty and passion of the prince that he stays and aids the prince by doing kind things for the town folk.  Unfortunately, as the season changes from summer to winter, the sparrow dies from the cold, leaving the prince alone, with a broken heart.

The "Nightingale and the Rose" finds a nightingale who comes across a young student who is in love.  In order to win his lady fair, the youth must find the reddest rose in the kingdom.  In order to get the needed deep blood-red color, the nightingale impales her own heart on a thorn.  She gives her life so that the student can find true love.

"The Selfish Giant," centers on a mean giant who forbids children to play in his beautiful garden.  Because of his selfishness, winter lasts forever and the garden never blooms again.  Finally, the giant recants and allows the children back into the garden, and it flowers again.  One small boy especially wins over the giant.  After the boy leaves, the giant does not see him again until his life ends.

An announcement for the play states, “Calling all children!  We want you not only to see “Wilde Tales” but to make it happen.  Sign up in advance for the pre-show one-hour workshop with the actors to help create the magic on stage.  For ages 6 to 12.”

Yes, children circle the thrust stage of the theatre and give the actors props, some get to take roles, all become the flowers in the garden.  They also get to have their pictures taken with the cast.

The children on stage, and using members of the audience to make sound effects, sing, and do various other tasks, is part of The Shaw’s new policy for creating inclusive theatre which is a device used in this year’s offerings.

The cast includes:  Marion Day, Emily Lukasik, PJ Prudat, Sanjay Talwar, Jonathan Tan and Kelly Wong playing multi-roles.

Capsule judgment:  Christine Brubaker’s direction is creative, the casts are excellent, and the over-all effect is fun, educational and stimulating.  This is a wonderful example of children’s theatre for those of all ages.

For theater information, a brochure or tickets, call 800-511-7429 or go on-line to http://www.shawfest.com. Ask about packages that include lodging, meals and tickets. Also be aware that the festival offers day-of-the-show rush tickets and senior matinee prices.