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Just wrapped up a lovely time in NOTL for the Shaw Festival. I saw everything but one show.

Some thoughts:

Amadeus: amazing
Funny Girl: splendid
Sleuth: absolutely amazing. I am so excited for it to come to Harbourfront Centre in Toronto soon!

Heartbreak House: something about it didn’t work for me. I don’t know but I couldn’t wait for it to end.

Jeeves and Wooster: absolutely amazing! Absolutely awesome and maybe the best show. I am convinced this is the mystery show coming to Toronto

Ohio State Murders: beautiful, haunting, Sophie Walker was divine

One for the Pot: hilarious! Such a good one

A New Work In Progress: this is where most of my thoughts will be partially because it’s the one I just saw but also because it was the most disappointing one.

Branden Jacobs-Jenkin is an excellent playwright and his voice is so so important to theatre. As an aspiring playwright myself, I admire his work. However this new work (a reinterpretation of Cinderella with a largely Black cast, the Prince is White of course), was underwhelming and disappointing.

I will confess I have never been big on Cinderella or any of the other classic fairytales. Having said that; I went in cautiously optimistic because Branden is such a gifted playwright.

This work missed everything that makes Branden the gifted playwright and voice it is. The work didn’t have anything of meaning or substance to say. It was trying to be a farce but with its cast, trying to make a point: what the point was… I do not know:

I don’t want to accuse anyone of anything especially because I understand writing anything is such a monumental task and difficult and I get the point of seeing a work in progress. But what was the point of this? Why was this written now? Why was this work given a slot in Shaw’s season?

I get theatres need to make money to exist. But this was the worst way to go about it. Couldn’t this opportunity be given to a Canadian playwright? Especially at such a precarious time for artists and creatives in Canada? I get Jenkin sells tickets but is that really all it has to be about? Aren’t the other shows selling well enough?

Shaw festival had a great opportunity to spotlight a Canadian voice and give someone a platform to workshop their work that said something of meaning and importance but they chose to give it to an established playwright who essentially…… phoned it in.

This work is nowhere close to the masterpieces he has written and given to the world so far. And I didn’t see any potential in it to become better.

I know moving forward with Shaw, I will be careful with gimmicks like this. I got lucky that I got a cheaper ticket for this compared to what the regular seats were going for.

6/8 amazing shows is a good one though.

Shaw can and should do better.

One more film

People’s Choice

Shaw Festival 2026

Rose is going to Vancouver

LTS Interstellar August 18 ONE TICKET

LTB: Interstellar Aug 18

Deodorant

SEEKING ADVICE: Shower Attachment

WTB July 8 The Big Picture

WTB The Big Picture July 9

LTS Tenet July 19 and Prestige July 26