Archives
My review of Globe Theatre’s production of Marion Bridge…
...has already shown up online, even though it won't appear in print until tomorrow. This is the first time I've seen something I've written pop up that far ahead of the ink-on-paper version, though maybe I just haven't noticed until now. The review begins: I confess that I went into the opening night performance of Marion Bridge at Globe Theatre feeling skeptical. The premise, after all, sounds like the set-up to a joke: "A nun, an actress and a soap-opera addict walk into a kitchen ..." Not only that, the fact the three are sisters home together — in Cape Breton, no less — for the first time in years because their mother is dying made me fear I faced a turgid ...My preview of Globe Theatre’s upcoming production of Marion Bridge…
...is in today's Regina Leader Post. It begins: The 18th-century French poet Jacques Delille famously noted that while we can choose our friends, "Fate chooses our relatives." More than one family has fractured because siblings discover they have nothing in common with each other ... which is exactly what has happened to the family in Marion Bridge, Globe Theatre's next mainstage production, running Jan. 20 to Feb. 6. Written by Canadian playwright Daniel MacIvor, Marion Bridge is set in Cape Breton, where the three MacKeigan sisters have come together to care for their dying mother. Aside from their last names, they have nothing in common. Theresa (Laura Condlin) is a nun. Agnes (Liz Gilroy) is a struggling actor. And then there's ...My preview of Globe Theatre’s production of Peter Pan…
...is in today's Regina Leader Post. It begins: For Ruth Smillie, artistic director of Globe Theatre, the key to Globe's upcoming production of J.M. Barrie's classic tale of Peter Pan is that children don't differentiate between reality and make-believe the way adults to. Smillie, who is directing the production, recalls that this past summer she overheard a group of boys walking up and down the street, "very engaged in what they were doing," and overheard them say, "We have to save the president," with "enormous concern and conviction." It's that kind of immersion in the world of make-believe that Smillie hopes Globe's Peter Pan will provide to people of all ages.My review of Globe Theatre’s production of Doubt, A Parable
This is the review I've sent to CBC's Afternoon Edition and is more or less what I'll be saying on the radio this afternoon (probably about 4:10 p.m., though I haven't heard for certain). As they say, check against delivery! *** Globe Theatre is closing out its mainstage season right now with Doubt, A Parable, a Pulitzer Prize-winner recently made into a movie. Edward Willett was there last night for the opening performance and joins me now. First, Ed, tell us, have you seen the movie? No, I haven't, so the story-though I vaguely knew what it was about-was completely fresh to me. I may check out the movie now, though. Well then, let's forget the movie. Tell us about the play. Doubt, A Parable, ...My LeaderPost review of Globe Theatre’s Mesa
My LeaderPost review of Globe Theatre's Mesa, which oddly enough has striking similarities to my CBC review of the same production--go figure!--is online this morning.It begins:Mesa, Globe Theatre's new mainstage production, is the story of a road trip -- a physical journey from Calgary to Arizona, and the metaphorical journey from youth to old age.Which sounds pretty heavy, so let me hasten to add that Mesa, well-directed by Joey Tremblay, is also very funny.It's 1998, and 93-year-old Bud (Sheldon Davis), is being chauffeured by his 34-year-old grandson-in-law, Paul (Curt McKinstry), on his annual winter trip to the Citrus Gardens trailer park in Mesa, Ariz. It's the first time he hasn't ...My review of Globe Theatre’s Mesa
Here's my review of Globe Theatre's latest mainstage production, Mesa. This is the script I've sent to CBC. Check against delivery today at 4:13 p.m. on the Afternoon Edition.Globe Theatre’s lastest mainstage production is Mesa, by Calgary writer Doug Curtis. It’s a play that takes the audience along on a road trip from Calgary to Mesa, Arizona. Edward Willett took the journey at the opening night performance last night and joins me now.Since we’ve still got snow and ice on the ground, Ed, a trip to Mesa sounds pretty appealing. How does the road trip in the play come about?Well, it’s s trip that one of the characters, Bud, played by Sheldon ...My preview of Globe Theatre’s production of Mesa…
...is in today's LeaderPost.It begins:The premise of Mesa, which opens at Globe Theatre on March 18, sounds like the setup to a joke: "So this 30-something guy and his 93-year-old grandfather set out on a road trip together to Mesa, Ariz. ..."And sure enough, Mesa is a comedy -- but not, says director Joey Tremblay, in a "yuk-yuk, door-slamming" kind of way. Instead, he calls it a "feel-good, bittersweet, nostalgic kind of comedy."Read the whole thing.My CBC review of Wingfield’s Inferno
Here's the written version of my review for CBC's Afternoon Edition today of last night's opening performance of Wingfield's Inferno at Globe Theatre.As they say in the political-speech-writing-biz, "check against delivery."***Globe Theatre’s latest mainstage offering, Wingfield’s Inferno, opened last night in Regina, and Edward Willett was there to see it.Q. So, Ed, for those who aren’t familiar with this whole series of Wingfield plays, maybe you can explain the basic premise.It’s pretty straightforward: to quote the plays’ website, the Wingfield plays are “about city stockbroker Walt Wingfield who quits the rat race to buy a hundred acre farm in ...My review of Globe Theatre’s Sexy Laundry
Last night I attended the opening of Globe Theatre (Regina's professional theatre-in-the-round)'s latest mainstage offering, Sexy Laundry, directed by Ruth Smillie, in order to review it for CBC Radio's Afternoon Edition today. Here's the script I sent them. (It's not really a transcript, because I didn't read this word for word, but it's the gist.)Short version: I enjoyed Sexy Laundry very much.***Q. So tell me, Ed, was there laundry, and was it sexy?A. There was laundry...but only in the metaphorical sense, not in the literal sense. And certainly sex plays a central role.Q. Metaphorical laundry centered around sex? Maybe you’d better tell us what the play is ...My review of Globe Theatre’s Anne of Green Gables…
...is now online at the Regina LeaderPost.An excerpt:One of the challenges for many members of the cast is the classic problem of being adults portraying children, and the one facing the greatest challenge is Toni MacRae, who plays Anne.The show would fail if the audience couldn't suspend its disbelief enough to accept her playing someone much younger than herself, but there's no fear of that with MacRae. Her Anne is exactly what she should be: spunky, smart, and over-dramatic, but with a core of vulnerability that makes the character more than a stereotype.Read the whole thing.
Edward Willett is a The Shards of Excalibur, Book 1: Song of the Sword
My new YA fantasy novel, coming in October from Lobster Press
Before the Lady called her, Ariane’s life was a mess. Two years ago, her mother disappeared. She bounced around different foster homes until her aunt finally took her in. The meanest clique at her new high school has decided to make Ariane their prime target. And to top it all off, she is having frightening premonitions, and they are becoming more intense. The moment water touches her skin, she sees visions of a lake, a lady, and a sword. When a staircase opens up in the middle of Wascana Lake and the water begins singing to her, she has no choice but to answer the call….
Marseguro
Winner of the 2009 Prix Aurora Award for Best Long-Form Work in English
Water world Marseguro is home to the Selkies, a water-dwelling race created from human DNA. When an unmodified human seeks revenge on a Selkie by activating a distress beacon taken from the remains of the original colony ship, a strikeforce is sent from Earth to eradicate the genetic abomination. Yet Marseguro will not prove as easy to conquer as the Earth force anticipates…
Terra Insegura
Finalist for the 2010 Prix Aurora Award for Best Novel in English
Marseguro, a water world far from Earth, is home to a colony of humans and the Selkies, a water-dwelling race created from modified human DNA. For seventy years the colony has lived in peace. Then Earth discovers Marseguro, and a strike force is sent to eradicate this “abomination.” But Marseguro has created a genetically tailored plague to use against Earth’s Holy Warriors. With the enemy defeated, the people of Marseguro feel they are safe. But Chris Keating, the traitor who signaled Marseguro’s location to the Holy Warriors, has fled to Earth, unknowingly carrying the deadly plague within him. The people of Marseguro feel they must send a ship to Earth with a life-saving vaccine. Only time will tell what awaits them when they reach their destination.
Lost in Translation
Kathryn was a human empath whose world and life had been destroyed when the alien S’sinn slaughtered her parents before her very eyes. Jarrikk was a young S’sinn, an unproven warrior who’d seen his flight mates slaughtered by the humans who’d sought to colonize his world.
As humans and S’sinn found themselves on the brink of war, these two Translators had to work together to find a common ground and avert catastrophe. But whether their Translators’ oath and training could overcome the enemies leagued against them was very much in doubt…
Archives
Historic Walks of Regina and Moose Jaw
Ten walks to points of historic and architectural interest in the cities of Regina and Moose Jaw (eight walks for Regina, two for Moose Jaw).
Disease-Hunting Scientist
The true stories of six real disease hunters. Epidemiologists travel the world trying to keep us safe from deadly diseases—from high-tech labs in Canada to remote villages in Africa. Learn how these “disease detectives” are coming up with new ways to fight disease, and find out if you have what it takes to become an epidemiologist, too!
The Bounty Mutiny
The Bounty was a British ship visiting Tahiti in 1789 when some of the crew overthrew the captain, William Bligh, and set him adrift in a tiny boat with sailors loyal to him. The mutiny resulted in a number of trials–both of the men who mutinied and of Bligh for losing command of his ship. These fascinating events have been the source for numerous Hollywood movies, most recently The Bounty. The Bounty Mutiny: From the Court Case to the Movie explores the famous case and the movies it inspired.
