Canada, Theatre and The Lamb

July 10, 2008

LuLu

LuLu, our cat, survived our trip to Canada. We have a nice young man from the neighborhood look in on her daily, so she does not feel abandoned. However, she managed to conger up a small hairball while I was watching.

Taking Care of Yourself

Although, we spent the week in Canada with no regular exercise program, we managed to get in some walking. Niagara-on- he- Lake is a walk-able city and so is Toronto.

Exploring

We went to four plays at the George Bernard Shaw Festival. The festival is a repertory theatre company performing plays about the beginning of the modern world by Bernard Shaw and his contemporaries (1856-1950) in historic Niagara-on-the-Lake Ontario, Canada.

We saw Wonderful Town. Alan, my husband doesn’t usually like musicals but he enjoyed this one.

A musical adventure about being young and pursuing a dream, based on the play My Sister Eileen and the stories by Ruth McKenney with a dazzling score by Leonard Bernstein. Sisters Eileen and Ruth arrive in New York City in 1935, fresh off the bus from Columbus, Ohio, to find fame, fortune and love. Lucky for them, they’ve landed in Greenwich Village, where artists, bohemians and a cast of colourful characters greet them. Excerpted from shawfest.com

We also saw The Stepmother by Githa Sowerby. This was a wonderful early feminist play.

A refreshing twist on the ‘wicked stepmother’ story – the young stepmother, Lois Relph, cares deeply for her new daughters. It’s her husband who’s the problem – he can’t seem to hold on to money and everyone in town knows it. Except his wife. She’s a hard-working dressmaker who must support her family and when their daughter wants to get married, more than one secret must be revealed.

Excerpted from shawfest.com

After the Dance

by Terrance Rattigan was a wonderful post WWI play about the English upper crust.

It’s 1938 and the generation of Bright Young Things are still carrying on like it’s the Roaring Twenties. They’re that "lost generation", the ones that missed World War I and are trying desperately to deny the looming threat of the next war.

Excerpted from shawfest.com

Finally we saw The President by Ferrwnc Molnar. A wonderful change of pace, after watching some serious plays.

In this fast-paced comedy, the clock starts ticking for a powerful bank president when the young heiress under his care announces her secret marriage to a Communist taxi driver!!

Excerpted from shawfest.com .

We also spent a few days in Toronto with our new friend, Olga. Toronto is a very metropolitan city with world class museums, restaurants and shopping. They have a summerlious program where over 100 restaurants offer special menus for a reasonable price.

Giving Back

I am organizing a church book club for The Lamb by Christopher Moore. It is an irreverent book about the early years of Jesus’ life by his boyhood friend – Biff.