Shakespeare's Henry plays, all at once!

Well, maybe not all of them, but three of them! Hal and Falstaff, presented at the Gladstone by A Company of Fools, under the direction of Margo MacDonald, edits out most of those tedious roll-calls and battles, and concentrates on the friendship. It was presented as if by a bunch of punk actors, with costumes for the roles made up of capes, scraps, and ridiculous beards. There were only 5 actors, --and a couple of puppets--but they played dozens of characters. It was long but very entertaining! The actors had lots of energy and had those long Shakespearean passages almost completely memorized (it was early in the run).

The season has begun with a trip to Stratford

Actually, the season began in July, when we went to Stratford to see two musicals. Two non-Shakespeare shows. We saw Fiddler on the Roof on a Friday night--followed by a chat with some of the performers. On Saturday night, we saw Tommy. Both were excellent productions. The music, the singing and dancing, the sets.... everything combined to make theatre magic.

Fiddler is a story we had seen on stage and screen. I have always loved the music and the production did not disappoint me. The staging was imaginative, simple and flexible. The actors were energetic and appealing.

I wasn't very keen on seeing Tommy. I have seen the movie a time or two and always found it tedious, pretentious and dated. But this production was many, many times better than the movie. The plot made sense, mostly, and the actors and sets were wonderful. The things you can do with modern technology: screens, lasers, lights.... it really worked.