True North
PEI Symphony Orchestra
On March 1st, when the PEI Symphony Orchestra presented “True North” under the direction of guest conductor Mélanie Léonard, the weather gods we...
Tag: review
Ladies Night
Fascinating Maritime Ladies
Fascinating female trios abound in pop culture, from classical icons like the mythological Fates and MacBeth’s witches to modern examples like Charl...
Review: Doubt
Second chances
The best and worst part of live theatre is how fleeting it all is. Every single performance is a one-time-only, one-of-a-kind entity all its own; and ...
Review: At the Dog Leg Turn of the Road
Out of the past
My late, great grandfather Charles MacDonald – family man, checkers champ, covert dog fancier – was a World War II combat veteran. I don’t remem...
Review: Punch Up
Underground Comedy
PEI’s fringe theatre imports often consist primarily of whatever lands in the Island Fringe Festival each summer; but new local company Desert Islan...
Review: The Shame of the Meek
The Shame of the Meek is a deceptively simple show, yet also oddly complex. It’s simple structurally and conceptually – it’s a show about unwed ...
Review: PEI Symphony Orchestra
Tumultuous tunes
On October 20th, the PEI Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of conductor Mark Shapiro, presented “The Gathering Storm,” a concert featuring J...
Review: Singalong Jubilee
A Musical Tribute to the Canadian Phenomenon
For more than 10 years in the 1960s and early 1970s Canadians crowded around their television sets faithfully every week to watch Singalong Jubilee. T...
Review: Salt-Water Moon
Moonstruck
One sees certain plays repeatedly in the reviewing racket, especially classics, and the best of these hold up well. It’s partly a matter of pure, en...
Review: Ebb & Flow
Tides of Settlement on Prince Edward Island
Ebb and Flow: Tides of Settlement on Prince Edward Island is a multi-faceted multimedia multicultural presentation put together by Laurie Murphy and A...
Review: Mamma Mia!
When members of your audience hum the music to your show on their way into the theatre that’s a pretty good indication you may have a hit on your ha...
Review: Island Fringe Festival 2019
Fringe Oddities
Despite his oft-muted mug, your somber scribbler likes a fun time. The Island Fringe Festival’s literally random selection of plays tends to be hit-...
Review: Island Fringe Festival 2019
Fringe Femmes
The Island Fringe Festival’s selection of shows via random drawing tends to produce an eclectic mix, but this year’s slate yielded an interesting ...
Review: Island Fringe Festival 2019
Magic vs. Science
Fringe 2019 features productions that are deep, dark, moving, profound, thought-provoking, stunningly original and/or just plain bizarre. My second-fa...
Review: Real Estate
Playing House
Your reckless reviewer often likes going into a show cold – knowing as little as possible about the play and the players beforehand, so as to make t...
Review: Atlantic Blue
The shortest journey home is always through the heart. For it is there that we store everything of real value in our lives. And it is there we go to f...
Review: Murder Inn
Good Inn Tensions?
Georgetown, sweet Georgetown – the town so gorgeous they named it George-ish (almost certainly not their official motto, though we haven’t looked ...
Review: Spinning Yarns
Tales and Tunes from a homesick Newfoundlander by Stephen Guy-McGrath
Spinning Yarns is a ripping good time. But don’t just take my word for it, see for yourself. Seriously. Stephen Guy-McGrath’s one-man show abou...
Review: Meanwhile in Ward 16
Brilliant Mistakes
“I was a fine idea at the time,” Elvis Costello once sang. “Now I’m a brilliant mistake.” That lyric’s been on your susceptible scribbler...
Review: Crimes of the Heart
According to the principle of Chekhov’s gun, any firearm that appears in the first act of a play must be shot by the third, the point being to exclu...
Review: Boeing Boeing
Ready for take-off
In comedy, they say timing is everything, and the fleet-footed comedic farce Boeing Boeing at the Watermark Theatre revolves around a very specific ti...
Review: Highland Storm
College of Piping July 8 – August 15 Performed by House Band: Peter Gallant, Christine Gallant, Max Gallant, and Gilbert Arsenault. Pipe Band: ...
Review: Heaven to Me
Songs & Stories of Prince Edward Island
If you’re looking for one more reason to love summer in Prince Edward Island, I have one for you. The P.E.I. Brewing Company is playing host to thre...
Review: Searching for Abegweit
The Island Songs and Stories of Lennie Gallant
Harbourfront Theatre July 9, 10, 23 & 24; August 13, 14, 27 & 28 Performed by Lennie Gallant (lead vocals, guitar, harmonica, bodhran), Jer...
Review: The Island Summer Review
Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused. Who originally said that I cannot tell you, but I can tell you ...
Review: Kronborg—The Hamlet Rock Musical
Powerful Work
Remounting a production at the Charlottetown Festival after an absence of 45 years, particularly one that had been as popular during its initial two-y...
Review: Where You Are
Victoria Playhouse June 25-July 28 Performed by Francine Deschepper (Glenda), Debra Lynne McCabe (Suzanne), Helen Killorn (Beth), and Benton Hartl...
Review: Culture Shock
3x2 = Funny
Lorne Elliott usually works alone. He’s not antisocial – the witty, wild-haired comedian/actor/writer/musician has dabbled in many collaborations ...
Review: Anne of Green Gables – The Musical™
Sweet 19
For your anglophile analyst, the Charlottetown Festival’s endless run of Anne of Green Gables – The Musical™ feels a bit like the British sci-fi...
Review: Into the Den
Personal Trainor
Accomplished PEI stage and screen veteran Dennis Trainor is a longtime ensemble contributor who is seldom billed as a solo star. A far fuller picture ...
Review: 12 Angry Women
Fiercer by the Dozen
Reginald Rose’s 12 Angry Men started life as a 1954 TV special. It’s been reworked in a host of stage and screen incarnations since then, but TV...
Review: PEI Symphony Orchestra
Climb every mountain
The PEI Symphony Orchestra brought its 51st season to conclusion spectacularly on April 14, presenting “The World of Mahler 3” under the direction...
Review: 7 Stories
Magnificent Seven
Your old-timey observer’s been at this reviewing racket long enough that I inevitably cover certain plays more than once – and Morris Panych’s s...
Review: PEI Symphony Orchestra
Perhaps I should preface this review, perhaps I should preface every review, with a disclaimer: I am no music expert. I’m not what PEISO violinist M...
Anne of Green Gables: The Book
I didn’t know until I read Lucy Maud Montgomery’s biography last year that Anne of Green Gables was her first published book. I also didn’t know...
Review: An Improvised Christmas Carol
Yule Be Amazed
Charles Dickens’ classic 1843 novella A Christmas Carol has been reprinted, adapted, imitated and lampooned endlessly, so coming up with a new spin ...