AMADEUS – REVIEW OF 2026 SHAW FESTIVAL PRODUCTION

Reviewed by James Karas 

Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus premiered in London in 1979 and the play has travelled around the world with no intention of slowing down. It is a marvelous story about the fictional rivalry between Mozart and Antonio Salieri, one a genius and the other a second-rate composer whose place in the sun was shattered.

The Shaw Festival has given the play a major production directed by its Artistic Director Tim Carroll in the Festival Theatre.

According to Shaffer, Antonio Salieri rose to the position of Court Composer in Emperor Joseph II’s Vienna during the second half of the 18^th century. But he wanted more: to become a great and famous composer. A devout Catholic, he prayed and made a pact with God. If God made him a great composer, he would devote his life to Him and uphold Christian virtues, including abstaining from extramarital affairs.

Mozart arrived on the scene and Salieri composed a march to welcome the already famous child prodigy and composer. Mozart displayed his genius by playing the march and finding it lacking in variety. He quickly transformed it into what will eventually become the famous aria “Non piu andrai” from The Marriage of Figaro.

Salieri developed a hatred for the gauche and vulgar Mozart and the hatred grew into a desire to destroy his competitor. He maligned him to the emperor and prevented Mozart from getting work. He manipulated things so Mozart’s operas were not produced more than a few times or not at all. In the end he watched as Mozart died and announced that he had assassinated him.

Cosette Derome, Tom Rooney, Michael Therriault, David Andrew 

Reid and Kristi Frank in Amadeus. Photo by David Cooper.

Tom Rooney gives a stellar performance as Salieri. We see Salieri at the beginning of the play as an old man 32 years after Mozart’s death in 1791. Among the noises and whispers in Vienna, we hear Salieri asking for Mozart’s forgiveness long after his assassination.  But when Salieri was a young man, he plotted to destroy him. The play rises to the ultimate irony when Salieri’s greatest achievement in evil was to convince Mozart that he was his protector, even his father and Mozart looked on him as his friend and as his father.

Mozart was composing this Requiem Mass and in the apogee of his evil plans, Salieri witnessed the end of Mozart’s life but in the moment of triumph, Salieri realized that in destroying Mozart, he destroyed himself.

The devious, mendacious and duplicitous Salieri garners little sympathy until the very end of the play. He has realized that he is no genius and is just like all of us, mediocre. He is a mediocre composer who is the patron saint of mediocrity. We are all Salieris.

Michael Therriault plays Mozart as a childish, giggling, foulmouthed, dirty-minded man who, in the end, was easily conquered and destroyed by Salieri. His arrogance and lack of social graces made it impossible for him to get work and he ended up destitute. But, as Salieri remarks, there is no need to mourn for him because he is immortal. A fine performance by Therriault.

Graeme Somerville gives us a comic and decent Emperor Joseph who has a short attention span and repeats “there it is” and we don’t know what he means.   

Mozart’s wife Costanze shares some of his crudeness but she is a faithful supporter. She goes as far as to offer her body to Salieri if he can get a job for her husband. Well done by Kristi Frank.

Julia Course and Sochi Fried portray Venticello 1 and 2. Well dressed, they appear throughout the play whispering, editorializing and passing information about what is happening and filling the gaps. It’s a tough job that they do it superbly.

The following are the aristocrats who have power but not necessarily brains in Court politics: Bonno the Court Composer (David Andrew Reid), Baron von Strack, the Royal Chamberlain (Andrew Broderick), Director of the Opera,  Orsini-Rosenberg (Allan Louis), Baron van Swieten (Savion Roach), Prefect of the Imperial Library.

The set by Judith Bowden and the lighting by Kevin Lamotte are disappointing. The stage floor is tilted to the left and there is a platform for people to stand on at the back. There is a rectangular screen above the actors that was dark and displayed bronze colours but I have no idea what it was supposed to represent. Hanging below it was a part of a music staff, the top part covered by the screen. The costumes were gorgeous but the main lighting effect was darkness.  

I have no idea why the stage was not lit more frequently. The play takes place in various locations from the palace to Mozart’s messy apartment and Salieri’s posh quarters. There is a way of representing them without breaking the budget. They chose to do none of that and left us with an unacceptable set and lighting.

Carroll deserves credit for his presentation of the play and making us think in detail about Shaffer’s stunning imagination.
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Amadeus by Peter Shaffer continues in repertory until October 4, 2026, at the Festival Theatre, 10 Queen’s Parade, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. www.shawfest.com/

James Karas is the Culture Editor  of The Greek Press, Toronto

SATURDAY, SUNDAY, MONDAY – REVIEW OF 2026 STRATFORD FESTIVAL PRODUCTION

Reviewed by James Karas 

Saturday, Sunday, Monday is a lovely play by Eduardo De Filippo that has been adapted by Antoni Cimolino and Donato Santeramo for this year’s Stratford Festival program. It is about an extended Napolitan family preparing for a dinner on Saturday, eating and arguing on Saturday and coming to terms with some outrageous conduct on Monday.

The new English version was commissioned by the Festival and it is directed by Cimolino, the outgoing Artistic Director and it is his last directorial job nicely complemented by his task as co-adapter. He has assembled an all-star cast and Thalia, the Muse of comedy, smiled on him and the production. Dionysus may have helped but the god of the theatre was a violent sort and I prefer the gentle Thalia.

It is Saturday in Naples in 1959 and Rosa, (Rose Napoli) the matriarch of the Priore family is preparing dinner for about a dozen people on Sunday. She runs the kitchen like boot camp and when the maid Virgina (Jenna-Lee Hyde) suggests that she has peeled enough onions for the ragu, the retort comes in. Are you going to teach me how to make ragu. Virgina has a slightly unhinged brother, Michele (Liam Tobin) who has some violent tendencies and she asks for a day off to look after him. Rosa’s answer is NO!

There is palpable tension between Rosa and her husband Peppino (Graham Abbey) and it will explode on Sunday. Let’s get a sense of the family. Rosa and Peppino have three children. Roberto (Jakob Ehman) who is married to Maria Carolina (Celia Aloma), Rocco (Emilio Viera) and Giulianella (Katarina Fiallos) who is engaged to Federico (Maher Sinno).

Antonio Piscopo (Rod Beattie) is Rosa’s father and the oldest dinner guest. Peppino has a brother Raffaele (Geraint Wyn Davies) and a sister Amelia “Meme” (Seana McKenna) who in turn has a son Attlio (Josue Laboucane). 

The cast of Saturday, Sunday, Monday. Photo: David Hou

We are close to getting a complete inventory. The neighbor Luigi (Gordon S. Miller) becomes a key participant in the dinner because Peppino suspects him of having an affair with Rosa, his wife Elena (Michelle Giroux) is with him and we have short visits by the Catiello the tailor (David Collins) and Cefercola the doctor (Michael Wamara).

That is a lot of people but they add to the drama and comedy of the play and deserve to be mentioned and appreciated.

The humour, gentle, rough, aggressive, on Sunday it breaks off completely when Peppino accuses the accountant Luigi of having an affair with Rosa. There is an outburst of emotional and an outpouring of hidden pain that are simply extraordinary. There is competition among them, there are family differences and arguments but there is also love and family pride.

The play touches on social issues such as the place of women in Italian society. The self-assured and self-educated Amelia of Seana McKenna castigates her brother Peppino for his sloppy language. He writes heart without an “e” she tells him and she advises Giulianella to apply for a job as an announcer  at a television station. Frederico objects and she calls him an idiot.

Napoli and Abbey deliver superb performances as Rosa and Peppino, the warring couple. There may be many reasons for their fighting but it may be a mid-marriage crisis that boils over. De Filippo finds atonement and reconciliation for them. 

Rod Beattie shuffles across the stage with a walker that I am not sure is part of the script. His performance is steady but Walt of Wingfield Farm is capable of much more. Seana McKenna is at her usual best and the cast is superb.

The humour is like a pot of water on the stove. It gets warm and then it starts slowly to bubble until it comes to a full boil or to a comedic crescendo in the play. It boils over in the second act in an extraordinary dramatic scene. The third act is saved for accountability, atonement, reconciliation and a satisfactory exit.

Douglas Paraschuk’s sets of the kitchen, the dining room and the Priore house of a successful family in 1950’s Naples look excellent as does Michael Walton’s lighting.

Notably this is Antoni Cimolino’s first collaboration as an adapter of a play and his last job as a director on the eve of his departure as the Artistic Director of The Stratford Festival. I salute him warmly for his achievements, including 39 years at the Stratford Festival and his accomplishments around the world.

Hail and Farewell.
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Saturday, Sunday, Monday by Eduardo De Filippo, adapted by Antoni Cimolino and Donato Santeramo continues in repertory at the Stratford Festival until October 24, 2026, at the Avon Theatre, 99 Downie St. Stratford, Ont. www.stratfordfestival.ca/

James Karas is the Culrure Editor of The Greek Press

THE KING JAMES BIBLE PLAY – REVIEW OF 2026 STRATFORD FESTIVAL PRODUCTION

Reviewed by James Karas

In 1605 King James of England and Scotland appointed 47 scholars to translate both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. They did, and in 1611 their translations were published and eventually became known as the King James Version or the King James Bible. It was the most influential translation and  its language was so powerful that Andrew Lang, Walter Leaf, and Ernest Myers used it for their prose translation of the  Iliad in the late 19^th century.

Writing a play about the translation from Hebrew and Greek of ancient texts by four translators at first blush appears quixotic but Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman manages to produce an interesting play at  least in the first half. She has chosen John Bois (Gray Powell), John Perrin (Michael Spencer-Davis), George Abbot (Rylan Wilkie) and Sir Henry Savile (Cyrus Lane) as translators together with the latter’s son Willie (Steven Hao) as their scribe. Set in the 17^th century, that is the first half of the play. 

The seconds half has five women putting on a play today, involving the characters in the first half of the play.

A play about searching for the right English word to correspond to the original Hebrew or Greek, even if it involves four people, presents serious dramatic limitations. Cobreil-Coleman adds personal issues in individual lives and among the characters to create drama. Arguing over the translation of a Greek word will not a play make.

Sir Henry has issues with his son because he is not his son. His wife was pregnant when he married her. Archbishop Abbot is a stentorian orator who delivers sermons as if he were addressing a rally in a stadium. No need for a microphone even if it existed then. Bois has problems with his wife and Sir Henry counsels him to teach her how to read. Sir Henry tells us about his intimate relations with his wife. To wit, he does not like mixing his perspiration with hers! It is pathetic and funny when one imagines his intimate contact with her.

From left: Vivien Endicott-Douglas as Han, Liz Der as Roni,
Angel Lo as Anna, Sara Topham as Cath and Deborah Hay
 as Martie, The King James Bible Play. Stratford Festival 2026. 
Photo: David Hou.

Bishop Abbot has never been to the theatre (it is sinful) but he and Willie decide to enact a scene between Elizabeth and the Virgin Mary.

What about translating the Bible? Oh, yes. What about the word witch? There are references to witchcraft in the Old and New Testaments and none of them have anything positive to say about them. Kill them seems to be the message but some of the translators consider witchcraft bovine feces (my interpretation). The King is a fervent believer in witchcraft and he was responsible for the torture of hundreds of women who refused to admit that they were witches. He also likes watching women being burned at the stake and he was responsible for the execution of thousands of women. That is my addendum and it is not in the play.

The first half of the play was done well and I enjoyed it. I found inherent interest in the translation of the Bible and the personal differences among the translators to appreciate the play and the performance.

From left: Cyrus Lane as Sir Henry Savile, Gray Powell as John Bois,

Steven Hao as Willie, Rylan Wilkie as George Abbot and 

Michael Spencer-Davis as John Perrin, The King James Bible Play. 

Stratford Festival 2026. Photo: David Hou.

The second half was not as successful. The five women in the cast, Roni (Liz Der), Han (Vivien Endicott-Douglas), Martie (Deborah Hay), Anna (Angel Lo) and Cath (Sara Topham) displayed abundant and impressive acting talent. They are putting on a play about the men of the previous act. Do they represent the men or their wives? They are under extreme pressure to proceed with the production and that creates some emotional outbursts.

Deborah Hay, the founder and tough director of the theatre company, gives a superb performance. Han is her daughter (Sir Henry and Willie parallel). There are violent arguments and the women as the men of the 17^th century or their wives are clearly more emotional than the men. Topham gives an amazing emotional scene as Cath.

Sir Henry and George Abbot make appearances in the second part of the play and I am not sure why.

Nina Lee Aquino did a fine job directing the first half but was not as successful with the second half.

In the end I was left with a memorable line that goes something like this: Puritans love God with all their soul and hate people with all their heart.
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The King James Bible Play by Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman opened on August 21 and will run in repertory until September 26, 2026, at the Studio Theatre, Stratford, Ontario. www.stratfordfestival.ca

James Karas is the Culture Editor of The Greek Press, Toronto

THE TAO OF THE WORLD – REVIEW OF 2026 STRATFORD FESTIVAL PRODUCTION

Reviewed by James Karas

Jovanni Sy’s play The Tao of the World is described in the Stratford Festival’s 2026 Guide as a “Restoration comedy for modern times.” It is supposed to be inspired by William Congreve’s The Way of the World. I am not sure about all that but it is irrelevant.

The play is set among the wealthy people of Singapore. The theatre-in-the-round Tom Patterson does not allow for opulent sets but we are dealing with the upper crust. Five of the leading characters are Chinese and many are British-educated. A note in the script informs us that parts of the play are performed in Mandarin, Tamil, Malay, Indonesian, Singaporean, Hokkien and Tagalog.

That’s seven languages.

The performance opens with a lively, indeed exuberant Arabella (played with zeal by  Agnes Tong)  who grabs the attention of the audience and tells us that the play is the story of how she married the love of her life, Edward Lim (Angus Yam). She is self-assured, vocally commanding and a woman who gets what she wants. Edward is a premier cricketer, a fashion star, a singer and a movie star. As Arabelle describes Edward, he struts across the stage taking poses as a cricketer, singer etc. and generating laughs from a receptive audience.

Arabella is in love with Edward and she is open to a session of shagging but there are two impediments to the event: Edward is practicing celibacy and he is in love with Arabella’s cousin Millicent (Heidi Sy Damayo). He met her on social media and has never seen her in person but he will. The very young and innocent Millicent shows up ready to get to “know” Edward and in fact she has made a reservation at a swank hotel to make sure that her acquaintance has biblical proportions. When Edward refuses to go there, she decides to go to the hotel by herself and find sexual fulfillment alone.

We have just started with the plot complications. The imperious Lady Helena (Manami Hara) must approve Millicent’s marriage to Edward, whom she hates. Dr. Wilson Wong (Michael Man), a Chinese Canadian is a much better choice if you ignore or are unaware of his sexual proclivity. Lady Helena may be more amenable if she has coitus with a monk. Who can find one? Devan (Karthik Kadam) and Jackson (Derek Kwan) have a special problem: they are homosexuals in a country where it is illegal. And what about the Englishman Trevor Flynn (Tim Campbell) who is married to Arabella?

Members of the company, The Tao of the World. 
Stratford Festival 2026. Photo: David Hou.

Arabella frequently speaks directly to the audience and one of best lines is about Eleanor (Sara- Jeanne Hosie), an English lady described as Lady Helena’s lapdog. Arabella tells us that she has had a lot of work done and her latest procedure was surgically attaching her lips to her Ladyship’s arse. 

There are many revelations to be disclosed. Why does Lady Helena hate Edward? What human failings does that gorgon have? How virginal is Millicent? Money, sex and social status are the prime concerns in this society.

Set Designer Lorenzo Savoini has limited choices in his set design. Moveable pieces of furniture are about all he can give us in the Toma Patterson Theatre. Ming Wong provides elegant costumes for the upper upper crust and less ostentatious ones for hoi polloi. The lighting design by Sophie Tang is used judiciously for different scenes including the indication of speaking directly to the audience.   

Director and author Sy sets a comic, at times farcical, at times satiric pace with quick speech and plenty of gestures that may have been a part of Restoration comedy.  

I have given a positive summary of what I saw on opening night. Unfortunately, there are some negatives. The setting of Singapore with British-educated Chinese is terra incognita, I presume, to most of the audience.  Speaking for myself, I am not sure of the context of the play. If I knew that, the geographical place would be no issue. The accents were unrecognizable and, in many instances, sounded just bad. Speaking in half a dozen languages did not help. At times parts of the dialogue were incomprehensible. Sy is a Canadian and the Stratford Festival deserves kudos for producing his plays. In this case some attention to some details may have resulted in a resounding complaints-less production.
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The Tao of the World by Jovanni Sy opened on August 20, and will run in repertory until September 26, 2026, at the Tom Patterson Theatre, Stratford, Ont. https://www.stratfordfestival.ca/

James Karas is the Culture Editor of The Greek Press, Toronto

MAMMA MIA! – REVIEW OF 2026 PRODUCTION AT THE PRINCESS OF WALES THEATRE

Reviewed by James Karas

Have you seen Mamma Mia!? Have you heard of it?

Well, it’s a musical that has been around since 1999 B.C. and has been seen by 9.2 billion people in 2000 countries around our galaxy. Now bow your head in shame and find out where the Princess of Wales Theatre is located in Toronto. 

Benny Anderson and Bjorn Ulvaeus are credited for the music and lyrics and Stig Anderson is credited for some songs (in smaller fonts). Catherine Johnson is credited for the book in decent size fonts, all in the Princess of Wales Theatre program. The program lists 22 songs all by ABBA.

The musical has a bloody good story. It takes place on a Greek island where reality is optional. There are no Greeks on this island but there are a lot of long-term visitors. Take Donna Sheridan (Jesica Crouch) who owns a taverna and has been there for a long time. The central plot line is the wedding of Donna’s daughter Sophie (Juliette M. Ojeda) and Sky (Grant Reynolds).

Sophie wants her father to walk her down the aisle. Complications, please. Sophie does not know who her father is but she finds her mother’s diary of twenty years ago and some crucial information. Her mother had very eclectic taste in men and had intimate relations with three of them and any one of them qualifies to be Sophie’s father.  

Donna shagged Sam (Victor Wallace), an American architect, Bill (Leland Burnett), an Australian writer and Harry (Rob Marnell), a British banker. We are talking class. She does not know whose sperm fertilized Sophie and has taken the island’s Fifth Commandment: silence. Sophie invites the three men to her wedding without telling her mother.

The Company of MAMMA MIA! 25th Anniversary Tour Photo Credit: Joan Marcus

Donna has some colourful and funny friends like the rich and divorce-prone Tanya (Jalynn Steele) and the single Rosie (Carly Sakolove) who formed Donna and the Dynamos in the days of yore. And Pepper (Dominic Young), a taverna worker who makes a pass at Tanya. Good luck, buddy. Rosie is interested in Bill and he becomes interested in her and their thermometers hit “hot”. Sam goes one better with Donna. “I do, I do.

One can easily imagine the conflicts, the humour, the drama that arise with presence of the three men. Who will walk her down the aisle? Sky is angry because Sophie did not tell him what she did. Are the men still in love with Donna and how will everything work out. I will not disclose the whole plot but reassure you that everything will work out splendidly with or without any Greeks on the island. Wait a minute. What is Father Alexandrios doing on the island? That is not even a Greek name.

The musical uses some twenty Abba songs that embrace the fast-paced plot or is it the other way around. Familiarity with and love of the songs breeds appreciation and excitement. The audience embraced the songs, the plot and the atmosphere of a great live performance that gained a great deal by being so familiar to so many.

The set by Mark Thompson consists of a couple of white-washed structures that are easily revolved. It is an indication of a Greek island with the blue sky in the background. Howard Harrison designed the lighting and Andrew Bruce and Bobby Aitken are the all-important sound designers. Anthony Van Laast is the excellent choreographer and Martin Koch the crucial musical supervisor.

Phyllida Lloyd directed the original production in London and no one has questioned its excellence. It was her production that launched Mamma Mia’s North American fortunes at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto. Let them eat their hearts out.

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Mamma Mia! by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus (music and lyrics), and Catherine Johnson (book)  continues until August 30, 2026,  at the Princess of Wales Theatre, 300 King St. West, Toronto, Ontario. www.mirvish.com

James Karas is the Culture Editor of The Greek Press, Toronto

THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS – REVIEW OF 2026 SHAW FESTIVAL PRODUCTION

Reviewed by James Karas

The Wind in the Willows is the Shaw Festival’s production aimed at entertaining young audiences.  The story has a redoubtable pedigree starting as a novel by Kenneth Grahame published in 1908 and adapted by A.A. Milne in 1929 as a play called Toad of Toad Hall. The book and the play were resoundingly successful and Fiona Sauder has adapted the play for the Shaw Festival’s current season. She has used the original title of The Wind in the Willows rather than Toad of Toad Hall.

The audience seemed to take the production and performances in stride without expressing pronounced enthusiasm. The play is clearly intended for younger audiences and the evening that I saw it, the audience was made up largely of senior citizens with a good number of youngsters.

It is a story about animals set in a forest in Berkshire, England. The central character is Toad (Lawrence Libor), a boisterous and very energetic character who gets in trouble by stealing a car and driving it recklessly. He is arrested, tried and sent to prison for twenty years.

There are twelve actors seven of whom play animals and the rest represent humans. My problem was that I did not recognize some of the animals at all and had small acquaintance with some others. The notable animals aside from Toad are Badger (Shawn Wright). Mole (Gabriella Sundar Singh), Rat (Sharry Flett) and Weasel (Matt Alfano). Ferret (Jacqueline Thair) and Stoat (Sara Farb) are supporting creatures. That is a motley group of creatures that are played in colourful ways by the actors.   

Lawrence Libor as Toad with members of The Wind in the Willows ensemble. 
Photo by Michael Cooper.

Wright’s Badger is serious and wise, Singh’s Mole has a squeaky voice, Flett’s Rat is the quiet type and Alfano’s Weasel is loud and aggressive especially when he appears as a rabbit and his pedigree is questioned.

On the human side, Qasim Khan plays the comical Judge in robes and a wig and presides at the trial of Toad. Jaden Kim plays the young girls Marigold who runs into the forest and Phoebe. Graeme Kitagawa plays the Usher, Allison McCaughey plays the nurse and Washerwoman, Taurian Teelucksingh plays Alfred. The entire cast plays in the Ensemble as the plays requires such as a choir and other parts.

Sauder directed the play and she generated some energy especially in the scenes with Libor who had more energy than most of the others put together. He played for laughs and got a few.  

The ensemble runs across the stage holding branches of willow to set the scene as called for by the title. I did not see much of wind. The stage was covered by what seemed like large  white leaves and there were blankets on the ground for hiding. There are a few props on the stage for sitting.

What I wondered while watching the production was the reason for Artistic Director Carroll choosing it. No one questions its popularity in England for more than a hundred years. How does that make it speak to young and old alike in Canada? I don’t know what a Stoat is, and I have a vague idea of what a weasel, a mole, a ferret and a badger are. Do all of these animals exist in Canada? My ignorance aside, could everyone in the audience relate to them? 

No one expected crisp English accents from the dozen actors and no one got them. Toad stole a “motor car” which is no doubt what it was so called in 1908 and 1929 but now it is called a car. There may well be people who were brought up on  Grahame’s and Milne’s work and recognize animals that can be found in Berkshire and not in Canada but I doubt there are many.

Are there no Canadian fairy tales that Sauder could have adapted? A question to be asked. I may be expressing my ignorance only, and there may be many who disagree with me emphatically. I will accept your disagreement if you wish to express it.
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The Wind in the Willows  based on the play Toad of Toad Hall by A.A. Milne adapted by Fiona Sauder will run in repertory until September 27, 2026, at the Jackie Maxwell Studio Theatre as part of the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario.  www.shawfest.com.

James Karas is the Culture Editor of The Greek Press, Toronto

HEARTBREAK HOUSE – REVIEW OF 2026 SHAW FESTIVAL PRODUCTION

Reviewed by James Karas

George Bernard Shaw has a theatre festival named after him in Niagara-on-the-Lake that has been around since 1962 but its name may be misleading. This year only one of his plays, Heartbreak House, is being produced and in the small Jackie Maxwell Studio Theatre at that. In other words, the Shaw Festival has almost nothing to do with Bernard Shaw.

Directed by Artistic Director Tin Carroll with a superb cast, Heartbreak House gets a decent production once you get past some of his gimmicks. The production is done on the empty playing area of the Studio Theatre and the only props are half a dozen ordinary chairs.

Shaw gives detailed directions about the set in the play and wrote an entire essay on the world of Heartbreak House in his Preface, in other words England before World War I. We are left without a map and Carroll has added lines for the Maid (Kristi Frank) and the Butler (Michael Therriault) who introduce some scenes and characters. They were amusing, but not a part of Shaw’s play.

Did Carroll assess that Heartbreak House would not fill the Festival Theatre? Get another play or wait for the Royal George Theatre to be built.  Do not cheapen Shaw even if it brings a few laughs.

Heartbreak House  has a convoluted plot that presents in modern terms at least, the life of a seriously dysfunctional family and an image of Britain’s upper class before World War I. Shaw’s verbosity is unavoidable but his humour and incisive observations are always there. Tom Rooney plays the eccentric, curmudgeonly naval officer Captain Shotover.  He walks on and off the stage for no reason, he cannot remember his daughter and he has difficulty dealing with people but he is capable of astute observations. Is he  suffering from dementia? The superb Rooney shuffles across the stage in the first act but he finds his bearing and officer’s uniform in the latter part of the play when he appears to be about to marry the young, astute and intelligent Ellie Dunn. 

Sochi Fried, Martin Happer, Tom Rooney, Neil Barclay, Julia Course, 
Graeme Somerville and Jason Cadieux in Heartbreak House. 
Photo by David Cooper.

Allison Edwards-Crewe plays the young, intelligent, clear-headed Ellie Dunn in a fine performance. She has no private fortune and must choose a husband. She is engaged to the arch-capitalist Boss Mangan (Graeme Somerville), she falls in love with Hector (Martin Happer) and how about Captain Shotover?

The Captain’s daughters are a pleasure to the eye thanks to Costume Designer Ximena Pinilla. White gowns in the first half and black hues in the second convey aristocracy with more than shades of decadence. Julia Course as Hesione and Sochi Fried as Ariadne are superb as creatures to the manor born for whom the outside world does not exist.

Neil Barclay plays Ellie Dunn’s father, the pathetic Mazzini who was Mangan’s former partner and was duped by him. Sanjay Talwar plays the brilliant Burglar who breaks into the aristocratic house and convinces the people not to call the police and in fact make a collection for him. Funny and wonderful performance by Talwar.    

Martin Happer as the useless would-be Lawrence of Arabia, Fiona Byrne as the smart and likeable Nurse Guinness and Jason Cadieux as Randall round off the cast of fine performers that make the production more than decent despite Carroll’s gimmicks and unacceptable approach to the play.   

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HEARTBREAK HOUSE  by Bernard Shaw will run in repertory until October 3, 2026, at the Jackie Maxwell Studio Theatre as part of the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario.  www.shawfest.com.

James Karas is the Cultre Editor of The Greek Press, Toronto