Theater obsessives that we are, we had to go to this filmed version of the amazing production at Bridge Theatre in London. C has become so interested (obsessed?) in going to a show at Bridge Theatre, after seeing an NT Live production of Julius Caesar in this modern new theatre with an immersive experience for the audience and new technology/elevators in the floor, that we were THIS close to flying to London this past summer to see this show. In contrast, the ~2 hour drive to Florence was basically next door!
It lived up to our expectations and then some! If you have the chance, see it!!!
Sunday, October 27, 2019
Play #21 -- Mamma Mia!, Albany Civic Theatre, October 12
The best time to see Mamma Mia! was immediately following the Oregon Mennonite Festival for World Relief (or the MCC Relief Sale, for those familiar with that name), where C and I have helped to run the used books booth for over 15 years now. This wasn't ideal, since we also help clean up after the sale, and would make for a long day.
Still, it meant we were already in Albany, so it saved a trip. After the traditional Burgerville wrap-up meal, we hit one of the downtown tap rooms for a quick flight. (They don't brew their own, so not an additional pub.)
Mamma Mia! was zany fun, full of Abba music and Greek isle frivolity. The talented local Duddlesten family filled out five of the lead roles, including the new live-in boyfriend. With a "cast of thousands," as C likes to say, there were alsoa number of other theater friends in minor roles. Good times, but now that I've finally seen Mamma Mia!, I think I'm good for awhile.
Still, it meant we were already in Albany, so it saved a trip. After the traditional Burgerville wrap-up meal, we hit one of the downtown tap rooms for a quick flight. (They don't brew their own, so not an additional pub.)
Mamma Mia! was zany fun, full of Abba music and Greek isle frivolity. The talented local Duddlesten family filled out five of the lead roles, including the new live-in boyfriend. With a "cast of thousands," as C likes to say, there were alsoa number of other theater friends in minor roles. Good times, but now that I've finally seen Mamma Mia!, I think I'm good for awhile.
Pub #21 -- Sky High Brewing, Corvallis, October 6
After the first heavy rains of autumn came through, the first weekend of October was beautifully crisp and clear. To celebrate, we walked downtown and along the riverfront on a sunny Sunday afternoon, eventually finding our way to Sky High's rooftop with a view. It's always a pleasant spot with great views, but even better when it's not in the 90s.
We had actually both been to Sky High individually since the 50 in 50 began, but this was the first time we went together. So it's the official time that we're counting. 😄
C got a tasty peach sangria, and I got, dang, I forget again, either a peach cider or a sour of some kind... (will edit later, hopefully).
We had actually both been to Sky High individually since the 50 in 50 began, but this was the first time we went together. So it's the official time that we're counting. 😄
C got a tasty peach sangria, and I got, dang, I forget again, either a peach cider or a sour of some kind... (will edit later, hopefully).
Saturday, October 26, 2019
Play #20 -- Dancing at Lughnasa, Majestic Theatre, October 5
A classic Irish play about village life, Dancing at Lughnasa won a few Tony awards in the 80s. We went to see Love & Information friends acting in it -- Chris and Kay. Fun lilting Irish accents.
Play #19 -- Birds of a Kind, Stratford Festival, October 2
Have you ever seen a play in (at least) four languages? No, me neither. Birds of a Kind was a brilliant, challenging play covering the big themes of identity, family, love, and cross-cultural connections. Featuring a German Jewish young man and an Arabic American young woman who met at NYU and fell in love, their relationship went over about as well you might imagine with his Jewish parents. Large swaths of the play were in Hebrew, German, or Arabic, with English subtitles projected on the back wall. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict featured prominently.
It was delightful to have my cousin Sarah and her partner Rod join us at this play, after they drove all the way from Leamington. They even stayed for late-night chatting and snacking, before turning around and heading home.
It was delightful to have my cousin Sarah and her partner Rod join us at this play, after they drove all the way from Leamington. They even stayed for late-night chatting and snacking, before turning around and heading home.
Pub #20 -- Braai House, Stratford, October 2
Okay, so this "pub" was a bit unorthodox, but we think it fits. Unfortunately, since we were both feeling a bit ambivalent about whether it qualified, we failed to get a photo.
Y'see, the story is that Braai House is a few-months-old South African-themed restaurant, with a wood-fired oven (the "Braai") in the fully-open kitchen. (We sat at the bar facing it, seeing the cooks at work the whole night, which probably led to us adding a "six-pack for the cooks" to our bill. Seriously, it was an option on the menu. They seemed quite happy about it.)
Aside from the intriguing South African menu, we went here in large part because of the sandwich board out front advertising craft ales, including a Chai beer. Turns out, a young man (who we later met at the end of our meal, quietly sipping his wares at the bar) has started brewing in the basement, and providing beers to both Braai House and the first floor restaurant.
Is it a brewpub? It's definitely a restaurant with in-house craft beers. Is that any less worthy than a tap room that serves popcorn and pretzels as the main food options? Right, we didn't think so either. So it goes on the list, even if the chai flavor was a little too mild for my tastes.
And, like I said, no photo. So you'll have to imagine it.
Y'see, the story is that Braai House is a few-months-old South African-themed restaurant, with a wood-fired oven (the "Braai") in the fully-open kitchen. (We sat at the bar facing it, seeing the cooks at work the whole night, which probably led to us adding a "six-pack for the cooks" to our bill. Seriously, it was an option on the menu. They seemed quite happy about it.)
Aside from the intriguing South African menu, we went here in large part because of the sandwich board out front advertising craft ales, including a Chai beer. Turns out, a young man (who we later met at the end of our meal, quietly sipping his wares at the bar) has started brewing in the basement, and providing beers to both Braai House and the first floor restaurant.
Is it a brewpub? It's definitely a restaurant with in-house craft beers. Is that any less worthy than a tap room that serves popcorn and pretzels as the main food options? Right, we didn't think so either. So it goes on the list, even if the chai flavor was a little too mild for my tastes.
And, like I said, no photo. So you'll have to imagine it.
Play #18 -- Mother's Daughter, Stratford Festival, October 2
The morning of our last day of plays was spent, surprise!, in a theatre. 😄 We went on a backstage tour of Festival Theatre, which was both a lot of fun and an intriguing contrast with Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Whereas OSF has actors act as tour guides, regaling tour-goers with stories about the shows as well as facts and figures, Stratford has volunteers leading the tours, with a grade school teacher-like strictness about "staying together, everyone!" and a sense of intruding on the actors'/crew members' world ("we have to be out of here by 10:30 a.m. sharp"). The volunteers were well-prepared and had good cheat sheets to help them provide interesting facts and figures, however, and because the Festival Theatre is a one-stop shop for costumes as well as dressing rooms, stage, etc., we could see more colorful items than on the OSF tour.
After a long slog through a heavy downpour to get amazing homemade butter tarts (and a solid diner breakfast) at Madelyn's, we made it back to Studio Theatre in time for Mother's Daughter, a play written by a Canadian woman playwright, who just happens to be the assistant artistic director at Shaw Festival. The play is about Queen Mary (no, not that one, the other one, "Bloody" Mary), the first English queen to reign without a king-spouse alongside. It was very historical (Elizabeth, soon to be Queen Elizabeth, was in it a lot, since she was a half-sister to Mary), while also feeling very contemporary and being written with modern language and sensibilities. This was the third in a loose "trilogy" (more a series, really) of powerful women of that era, delving in to what their lives and dilemmas and challenges must have been like.
After a long slog through a heavy downpour to get amazing homemade butter tarts (and a solid diner breakfast) at Madelyn's, we made it back to Studio Theatre in time for Mother's Daughter, a play written by a Canadian woman playwright, who just happens to be the assistant artistic director at Shaw Festival. The play is about Queen Mary (no, not that one, the other one, "Bloody" Mary), the first English queen to reign without a king-spouse alongside. It was very historical (Elizabeth, soon to be Queen Elizabeth, was in it a lot, since she was a half-sister to Mary), while also feeling very contemporary and being written with modern language and sensibilities. This was the third in a loose "trilogy" (more a series, really) of powerful women of that era, delving in to what their lives and dilemmas and challenges must have been like.
Play #17 -- Merry Wives of Windsor, Stratford Festival, October 1
Festival Theatre is an amazing tent-like theatre, designed to look like the original big tent that was in this spot. Built initially to enclose its impressive "thrust" stage in the 1950s, the temporary tent theatre eventually graduated to brick and mortar (and wood).
Tonight we saw the only Shakespeare play of the nine shows we saw in Ontario, which is a bit impressive given that Stratford is known as a Shakespeare-themed festival. Merry Wives was set in a 1950s-ish version of small town Ontario (say, Stratford?). Yet again, an understudy was needed for the actor who was missing at the Private Lives matinee earlier in the day. (He was supposed to play Falstaff, a rather large part (in more ways than one!).) And yet again, the absence was covered smoothly and professionally. (We learned the next day that the missing actor was recovering from laryngitis, so not a long-scheduled absence or anything, which made it all the more impressive.)
C liked the production quite a bit, although we both found the story a bit silly and a bit regressive from a gender role perspective, which seemed all the more stark after Shaw's more equal view of the sexes. Still, there's nothing wrong with a bit of Shakespeare fun, eh?
Tonight we saw the only Shakespeare play of the nine shows we saw in Ontario, which is a bit impressive given that Stratford is known as a Shakespeare-themed festival. Merry Wives was set in a 1950s-ish version of small town Ontario (say, Stratford?). Yet again, an understudy was needed for the actor who was missing at the Private Lives matinee earlier in the day. (He was supposed to play Falstaff, a rather large part (in more ways than one!).) And yet again, the absence was covered smoothly and professionally. (We learned the next day that the missing actor was recovering from laryngitis, so not a long-scheduled absence or anything, which made it all the more impressive.)
C liked the production quite a bit, although we both found the story a bit silly and a bit regressive from a gender role perspective, which seemed all the more stark after Shaw's more equal view of the sexes. Still, there's nothing wrong with a bit of Shakespeare fun, eh?
Pub #19 -- Black Swan Brewing, Stratford, October 1
After the matinee of Private Lives, it started to rain, and we needed a drink. So we headed down the street to another brewery/tap room without much food to speak of, Black Swan. I had a decent braggot (Land of Milk and Honey -- generally a honey ale, no hops) and C had a pumpkin ale, I believe. (Correction Nov. 7 2020: C had a peach wheat (Paul Bellini).) After a quick pint, we went to dinner before taking the long-ish walk from downtown over to Festival Theatre, the flagship theatre of Stratford.
Play #16 -- Private Lives, Stratford Festival, October 1
Our first play at the Stratford Festival was Noel Coward's somewhat silly comedy about two ex(?)-lovers who both embody the gendered "joke": Men/Women, you can't live with 'em, you can't live without 'em. Both have married someone new, and have -- shockingly -- shown up at the same hotel on the French Riviera (or some such place) for their respective honeymoons. And not merely the same hotel, but neighboring rooms (with shared balconies)! Rekindling of old passions ensues, along with much silliness.
While a perceptive reader might have a faint notion that I am not particularly fond of this play, I must say that it was done superbly. In contrast with the understudy at the Shaw Festival who had to carry a script with him, the lead male role in this show was played -- impeccably -- by an understudy. If they wouldn't have told us he was an understudy, I would have had no idea.
Frankly, the only reason we were at this show was because it was the best option to see a play in the Avon Theatre, and we couldn't come all this way and miss one of the three theatres!
https://www.stratfordfestival.ca/
While a perceptive reader might have a faint notion that I am not particularly fond of this play, I must say that it was done superbly. In contrast with the understudy at the Shaw Festival who had to carry a script with him, the lead male role in this show was played -- impeccably -- by an understudy. If they wouldn't have told us he was an understudy, I would have had no idea.
Frankly, the only reason we were at this show was because it was the best option to see a play in the Avon Theatre, and we couldn't come all this way and miss one of the three theatres!
https://www.stratfordfestival.ca/
Monday, October 21, 2019
Pub #18 -- Herald Haus Brewery, Stratford, October 1
Herald Haus is in the old newspaper building on the triangular "square" in downtown Stratford. It has a nice selection of beers in a dark wood interior. After the poutine place in town was unexpectedly closed with a "gone fishing" sign on the door (seriously!), we decided to nab a quick lunch and notch another brewpub on our belts before rushing over to the matinee of "Private Lives" at the Avon Theatre.
Pub #17 -- Henderson's Brewing Company, Toronto, September 30
As I said earlier, most microbreweries in Canada seem to reside with tap rooms more than restaurants or pubs. The second brewery of the day found us at Henderson's Brewing Company, with a large brewing space right next to the tap room (or vice-versa). (Interesting (or perhaps not) side note: we walked past a Nestle candy bar factory (including some Canadian candy bars that aren't so common in the U.S., such as Aero).)
Apparently, alcohol does have some positive effects on relaxation (don't worry, be happy) and deleterious effects on memory retention (who knew?), since at this second pub of the afternoon, I seem to have failed to catalog which beers we got in our sampler. Looking at their website, I see some we may have gotten (Henderson's Best amber, Society of Beer Drinking Ladies Brew 0002 (a vanilla orchid brown ale), Monsoon (a tropical sour), Fetchez La Vache (Belgian Saison), and Rube Goldbeer, a Belgian Tripel). But I'm not sure these specific beers were actually pouring three weeks ago. Ah well. A mystery...
Pub #16 -- Bellwoods Brewery, Toronto, September 30
Monday is a day where theaters are often "dark," meaning they aren't doing any shows. Given we were going to have two solid days of plays ahead, we "cleansed our palate" on Monday in Toronto, just doing a city/pub crawl, visiting the U. of Toronto neighborhood, Kensington Market, Pow Wow Cafe (a great frybread taco place owned and run by First Nations folks), a couple brewpubs, and a bar with bluegrass to top off the night.
The first brewery we visited was another of Ben's favorites, Bellwoods Brewery, with the popular Jelly King sour ale. I liked the fruitier version with raspberry, plum, and cherry, but the original was good and citrusy as well.
Enjoy some photos of new/old architecture -- on adjoining buildings -- in Toronto, as well.
The first brewery we visited was another of Ben's favorites, Bellwoods Brewery, with the popular Jelly King sour ale. I liked the fruitier version with raspberry, plum, and cherry, but the original was good and citrusy as well.
Enjoy some photos of new/old architecture -- on adjoining buildings -- in Toronto, as well.
Pub #15 -- LayLow, Toronto, September 29
The nano-est of nanobreweries, this Trinidadian restaurant holds (at least informally) the honor of being the smallest brewery in Toronto. When we asked them if this was true, they said, Oh yeah, we still make our beer in 30 L pots in the kitchen. !! But they had a normal variety of a half-dozen beers, and they were quite good. The food was also excellent.
The Berliner Weisse didn't seem like it would be that exciting (after Come From Away (see last post), I didn't need a lot of excitement), but as you'll see from the video below, adding mango-tamarind juice to it and then stirring generates some bubbly enthusiasm. I misunderstood the server's warning about stirring it, and instead stirred it vigorously the first time. This led to much frantic slurping in a failed attempt to keep the now-frothing ale from overflowing (not on video).
The good folks in the photos who aren't me or C are my uncle, aunt, and cousin. Thanks to Cousin Ben for the tip on LayLow. It's one of his favorites, and it's easy to see why.
Sunday, October 20, 2019
Play #15 -- Come From Away, Elgin Theatre, Toronto, September 29
After the lengthy and "serious" theater experience of Man and Superman, Come From Away, the musical about the 7000 people stranded in Newfoundland after 9/11 diverted all planes coming into North America, was a bit of a whirlwind, over before I could take a breath.
Full of high-energy Celtic music, fun accents, touching stories, and a glimpse of the kindness that humans can offer one another, this show is one worth catching, if you happen to be visiting Broadway or it happens to be visiting a town near you. It was a treat to be able to see it in Canada, where audiences feel a certain amount of pride, understandably, given it was "their people" who offered the unanticipated hospitality.
It was even more of a treat to see the show with most of the Canadian Wert clan (my uncle and aunt and cousin). (More on them in upcoming posts.)
Full of high-energy Celtic music, fun accents, touching stories, and a glimpse of the kindness that humans can offer one another, this show is one worth catching, if you happen to be visiting Broadway or it happens to be visiting a town near you. It was a treat to be able to see it in Canada, where audiences feel a certain amount of pride, understandably, given it was "their people" who offered the unanticipated hospitality.
It was even more of a treat to see the show with most of the Canadian Wert clan (my uncle and aunt and cousin). (More on them in upcoming posts.)
Play #14 -- Man and Superman, Shaw Festival, September 28
From Facebook on the day of the play...
Before:
Uh-oh, better buckle up. Man and Superman, GB Shaw, 6 1/2 hours, incl. two intermissions, and one lunch break. Wish us luck... #shareyourshaw
First intermission:
Act 1 -- I really love Shaw. His writing is so taut. And prescient. And funny!
Second intermission:
Act III -- Don Juan in Hell. Overtones of No Exit (at least, how I felt).
After:
Aaaand... it is finished. We survived. More than I can say for Tanner.
------------
Later:
Is the title an homage to Nietzsche? A prediction of the coming of DC Comics' most popular superhero? A foreshadowing of what an audience member must become to make it through this six and a half hour marathon of a show?
I don't know the answer, but given its billing as a long (LLLLLOOOOOOONNNNNNGGGG) four-act play, broken up by two traditional intermissions and one 70-minute lunch break, it was a bit of a test of endurance -- for the actors certainly as much as the audience! Talk about how amazing it is to memorize the lines needed in a normal play. Imagine having to memorize multiple monologues (some over ten minutes, surely) in an essentially double-length play! Given its test of endurance for both actor and audience, perhaps it's not surprising that they only had 17 performances of Man and Superman all season. (FYI, this was in the Festival Theatre.)
Even so, I found it to be much more manageable than I expected. Paced as it was, each act felt like a normal-length act (because they were), and only the third act, Don Juan in Hell, performed after the lunch break, was a bit challenging to make it through awake. But that could have been due to its somewhat surreal setting (a Hell that was actually more "fun" than Heaven) and its very (overly?) verbose monologues. Even the characters acknowledged how long-winded they were, pointing out how, "if I could get a word in edgewise," they would probably go on and on themselves. "You do go on a bit."
And in the more "normal" bits of the play, it was vintage Shaw, witty dialogue, jousting repartee, challenging ideas. A definitely satisfying addition to the play life list. (Just please don't make me watch Don Juan in Hell again. Please.)
Before:
Uh-oh, better buckle up. Man and Superman, GB Shaw, 6 1/2 hours, incl. two intermissions, and one lunch break. Wish us luck... #shareyourshaw
First intermission:
Act 1 -- I really love Shaw. His writing is so taut. And prescient. And funny!
Second intermission:
Act III -- Don Juan in Hell. Overtones of No Exit (at least, how I felt).
After:
Aaaand... it is finished. We survived. More than I can say for Tanner.
------------
Later:
Is the title an homage to Nietzsche? A prediction of the coming of DC Comics' most popular superhero? A foreshadowing of what an audience member must become to make it through this six and a half hour marathon of a show?
I don't know the answer, but given its billing as a long (LLLLLOOOOOOONNNNNNGGGG) four-act play, broken up by two traditional intermissions and one 70-minute lunch break, it was a bit of a test of endurance -- for the actors certainly as much as the audience! Talk about how amazing it is to memorize the lines needed in a normal play. Imagine having to memorize multiple monologues (some over ten minutes, surely) in an essentially double-length play! Given its test of endurance for both actor and audience, perhaps it's not surprising that they only had 17 performances of Man and Superman all season. (FYI, this was in the Festival Theatre.)
Even so, I found it to be much more manageable than I expected. Paced as it was, each act felt like a normal-length act (because they were), and only the third act, Don Juan in Hell, performed after the lunch break, was a bit challenging to make it through awake. But that could have been due to its somewhat surreal setting (a Hell that was actually more "fun" than Heaven) and its very (overly?) verbose monologues. Even the characters acknowledged how long-winded they were, pointing out how, "if I could get a word in edgewise," they would probably go on and on themselves. "You do go on a bit."
And in the more "normal" bits of the play, it was vintage Shaw, witty dialogue, jousting repartee, challenging ideas. A definitely satisfying addition to the play life list. (Just please don't make me watch Don Juan in Hell again. Please.)
Play #13 -- Getting Married, Shaw Festival, September 27
At last, a play by George Bernard Shaw!
Our second play of the day in the Royal George Theatre (albeit with a nice long break following the lunchtime play) was an unfamiliar (at least to us) work by GB, but its themes of relationships, its penchant for the characters to talk out their issues at great length, and its way-ahead-of-its-time view of gender equality (although accepting of traditional early 20th century gender roles) marked it as a Shaw play through and through.
Written as a two and a half hour "one act", they did give us an intermission at a logical place in the middle. I've not seen that many Shaw plays, but I've grown to enjoy very much his wit and his exploration of ideas. And given that he was writing in the late-19th/early-20th centuries, I find it surprising how funny and relevant he still is today.
Our second play of the day in the Royal George Theatre (albeit with a nice long break following the lunchtime play) was an unfamiliar (at least to us) work by GB, but its themes of relationships, its penchant for the characters to talk out their issues at great length, and its way-ahead-of-its-time view of gender equality (although accepting of traditional early 20th century gender roles) marked it as a Shaw play through and through.
Written as a two and a half hour "one act", they did give us an intermission at a logical place in the middle. I've not seen that many Shaw plays, but I've grown to enjoy very much his wit and his exploration of ideas. And given that he was writing in the late-19th/early-20th centuries, I find it surprising how funny and relevant he still is today.
Pub #14 -- The Exchange Brewery, Niagara-on-the-Lake, September 27
I'm not clear on their laws, but many Canadian microbreweries (or at least ones in Ontario) don't seem to have an associated in-house restaurant. They might serve a little food -- popcorn, charcuterie board, a few sandwiches -- but nothing like we're used to in the brewpubs we frequent.
The Exchange Brewery fit this profile, so after visiting a more traditional "pub" for peach and chicken pie (think steak and kidney pie, but with more pleasantly edible ingredients), we stopped in at the Exchange for a pre-play sampler of tasty sour ales. They have a nice second-floor patio overlooking NOTL's downtown parks.
Sampler: Dunkelweizen, Gose, Belgian Pumpkin, Thai Basil Saison, Grand Cru 2017, Gluten Free (buckwheat) Saison
https://exchangebrewery.com/
The Exchange Brewery fit this profile, so after visiting a more traditional "pub" for peach and chicken pie (think steak and kidney pie, but with more pleasantly edible ingredients), we stopped in at the Exchange for a pre-play sampler of tasty sour ales. They have a nice second-floor patio overlooking NOTL's downtown parks.
Sampler: Dunkelweizen, Gose, Belgian Pumpkin, Thai Basil Saison, Grand Cru 2017, Gluten Free (buckwheat) Saison
https://exchangebrewery.com/
Play #12 -- The Russian Play, Shaw Festival, September 27
This little lunchtime one-act was a surprising gem. "A small-town flower girl falls for a gravedigger in Stalinist Russia. What can go wrong? Well, it’s a Russian play, so: everything."
Written by a young Canadian playwright, this production's direction was top-notch, full of lovely little touches related to the lighting, music, movement, etc.
As we later discussed our lists of favorite plays seen during our Canadian adventure, this one kept rising to the top two.
And as an added bonus, we got to participate in a post-show discussion that included the "flower girl" and her alter-ego, the violinist.
Written by a young Canadian playwright, this production's direction was top-notch, full of lovely little touches related to the lighting, music, movement, etc.
As we later discussed our lists of favorite plays seen during our Canadian adventure, this one kept rising to the top two.
And as an added bonus, we got to participate in a post-show discussion that included the "flower girl" and her alter-ego, the violinist.
Thursday, October 3, 2019
Play #11 -- Victory, Shaw Festival, September 26
From the Shaw Festival "Victory" info page:
"Warning: Victory is deliberately offensive. The playwright brilliantly explores the use of language as a weapon. It is not for the squeamish and contains very strong language."
This contemporary play by Howard Barker, a very self-confident mid-20th century white male English poet/playwright, is about the Restoration, the time following King Charles II's return to the throne after Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans' revolution and institution of the republic. It's like crude (or cruder) Shakespeare. The man we met in line for the Shaw Festival bus goes to the Shaw every year, but when we told him we were going to see Victory, he grew quiet. C asked, did you see it. Yes, he said. Did you like it? No, he said. Well then! It had its moments, but the epitome of its attitude was the fact that there was no curtain call and C wondered if the playwright hoped that people wouldn't even applaud at the end. Many probably didn't really want to.
One oddity was that an understudy had to perform. This wasn't an oddity, per se, but the fact that he needed to carry a book or iPad with him was. A bit strange.
The Shaw Festival is very much like OSF: in a pretty small town, three theatres, ten-ish plays, many theatre-goers. Our first time. Very happy to experience it.
"Warning: Victory is deliberately offensive. The playwright brilliantly explores the use of language as a weapon. It is not for the squeamish and contains very strong language."
This contemporary play by Howard Barker, a very self-confident mid-20th century white male English poet/playwright, is about the Restoration, the time following King Charles II's return to the throne after Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans' revolution and institution of the republic. It's like crude (or cruder) Shakespeare. The man we met in line for the Shaw Festival bus goes to the Shaw every year, but when we told him we were going to see Victory, he grew quiet. C asked, did you see it. Yes, he said. Did you like it? No, he said. Well then! It had its moments, but the epitome of its attitude was the fact that there was no curtain call and C wondered if the playwright hoped that people wouldn't even applaud at the end. Many probably didn't really want to.
One oddity was that an understudy had to perform. This wasn't an oddity, per se, but the fact that he needed to carry a book or iPad with him was. A bit strange.
The Shaw Festival is very much like OSF: in a pretty small town, three theatres, ten-ish plays, many theatre-goers. Our first time. Very happy to experience it.
Pub #13 -- Oast House Brewers, Niagara-on-the-Lake, September 26
We were able to borrow bikes from our B&B and ride out to Oast House, a tap house (in a big red barn) with tastings in the front and a patio with pints and BBQ out back. Excellent barbecue, including smoked peanuts and cauliflower fritters. Yum! I had Grisette and C had the first pumpkin spice ale of the fall. It's surrounded by vineyards, wineries, orchards, and more vineyards!
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