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 the Regina Little Theatre One-Act Plays Cabaret…
...is in today's LeaderPost. It begins: Before Angel Genereux became the producer of Regina Little Theatre's programs of one-act plays in 2007, they were seen strictly as a venue for new talent on and backstage, and traditionally drew small audiences. Genereux thought they could draw new audience members, too. She boosted publicity. The result: last spring's one-acts drew record crowds and made money for the first time ever. "It's a chance to see what RLT is all about," she says. "And it's cheap: 10 bucks!" Fast-forward to this fall. Genereux is no longer the producer of the one-acts (she's moving up to producing the main-stage shows), but she's still involved. She's directing one of the three short comedies featured in RLT's Comedy Cabaret ...My preview of the Regina Fringe Festival…
...and in particular of Julia Mackey's play Jake's Gift, is in today's LeaderPost. An excerpt: Mackey says one of the main reasons she created the show was to let veterans know that a lot of people really do appreciate the sacrifices they made. Another was to educate children, and Jake's Gift, Mackey says, elicits the same "amazing" response from 10-year-olds as it does their elders. "Those young kids really get it, and it makes them interested in history. They come up to me afterwards and want to know more about the war and Remembrance Day. That's such an incredible reward."My preview of Regina Little Theatre’s Local Talent…
...was in today's LeaderPost. It begins: Women today are expected to be beautiful and thin, wonderful mothers and wives, and dedicated to their careers -- all at the same time. Those unrealistic expectations drive the plot of Local Talent, Regina Little Theatre's final production of the season, June 10-13 at the Regina Performing Arts Centre. But while the underlying issue is serious, the play is anything but. Instead, says director Mark Claxton, "it's really funny." Read the whole thing, but note there's a phrase missing in the fourth paragraph, which should read: Local Talent, by Montreal playwright Colleen Curran, is Claxton’s first full-length directing venture for RLT, which gave him with ...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 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 ...Preview of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is online
My preview of Globe Theatre's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream is online now at the LeaderPost. An excerpt:For audiences, it's not physical vocabulary but Shakespeare's 400-year-old verbal vocabulary that may intimidate. But Geoffrey Whynot, who plays Theseus and Oberon, points out that "in real life we don't necessarily hear every word someone speaks. I think if the actors are clear on what they're saying, what the relationships and the journeys are, even if the audience hears a word that's archaic, they will understand it contextually, and they will still hear the emotional life of the line."There's a lot of "emotional life" in A Midsummer Night's Dream. "The point of it is love," ...
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.
