Author: Iris Winston

A writer, editor, reporter and theatre reviewer for more than 40 years, Iris Winston has won national and provincial awards for her fiction, non-fiction and reviews. A retired federal public servant, she has seven books in print and writes regularly for local, regional, national and international newspapers and magazines, including Variety and the Ottawa Citizen. Iris lives in Almonte.
Jenny’s House of Joy: A western rather than a comedy? rather a comedy with serious undertones

Jenny’s House of Joy: A western rather than a comedy? rather a comedy with serious undertones

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Playwright Norm Foster describes his Jenny’s House of Joy as a western rather than a comedy. To be sure, this sit-com with a difference still has plenty of comic, sometimes raw, one-liners — as expected in a Foster script. But this tale of five women in a bordello in the 1870s Wild West has a serious undertone as it focuses on the humanity of the occupants rather than on the goods they sell nightly.

Jenny’s House of Joy is apparently not always a joyous place for the staff. Even so, Foster presents the life of the ladies of the night through rose-coloured glasses most of the time. The message is that it is impossible to leave the life, but who would want to anyway, when this is where your true friends are?

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Strawberries in January: imagined screenplays provides the impetus for this cute little sit-com

Strawberries in January: imagined screenplays provides the impetus for this cute little sit-com

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Whether you think of Strawberries in January — if you think of it at all after viewing this slight piece of theatre — as fantasy, sit-com or glorification of falsehood, it is unlikely to have a lasting impact.

Four people looking for love eventually pair up in an entirely predictable fashion, after a little entanglement with might-have-beens and imagined screenplays.

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Orpheus Brings in Enjoyable Performances in This Totally Credible Version of the Well Known Show Annie.

Orpheus Brings in Enjoyable Performances in This Totally Credible Version of the Well Known Show Annie.

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The story of Annie the orphan who is adopted by billionaire Daddy Warbucks is as familiar as it is sentimental.

Originally a popular comic strip, the fairytale was meant to inject hope into a bad time. Set in 1933 New York City against the backdrop of the aftermath of the Depression and the advent of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, it promises that dreams can come true. The poorest of children may be adopted by the richest of men, who will even be willing to take in a stray dog.

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Melodramatic nonsense rather than stylish comedy says Iris Boston of this piece at Kanata Theatre.

Melodramatic nonsense rather than stylish comedy says Iris Boston of this piece at Kanata Theatre.

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story by a famous writer sounds like a good idea. But when the story itself is not one of that author’s best (that may be the reason that it is so obscure) the adapter is likely to face credibility issues with the script.

The short story in question is Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime. In it, Oscar Wilde mocks frauds and confidence tricksters in the “fate” industry (palm readers, telepathists, spiritualists) and takes a tongue-in-cheek look at a gentleman’s approach to doing his duty. Wilde follows the pattern perfected in his classic comedy of manners, The Importance of Being Earnest, written four years later in 1895, making much of the insignificant and minimizing the value of important matters. The approach is just does not as effective in Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime.

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Someone for Everyone: fringe-style show not strong enough for the 80 minutes it lasts.

Someone for Everyone: fringe-style show not strong enough for the 80 minutes it lasts.

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The quality of the direction and performances make the sad/amusing tale of Steven, apparently doomed to be everyone’s friend and nobody’s dream lover, as effective as possible.

The sharp corners that one of the characters turns are a reflection of the sharpness of the direction and the energy of the presentation. The visuals add a layer of interest to the content.

But. while Someone for Everyone begins well, the material in this fringe-style show is not strong enough for the 80-plus minutes that it lasts. Neither are such crudities as the graphic Portnoy’s Complaint segment warranted.

Reviewed by Iris Winston.  Ottawa, September 20, 2010

Someone for Everyone

by GATD Caplan

Friends Not Lovers Productions in association with NightHowl Productions (September 15 to 25)

Director: Patrick Gauthier

Lighting design: Jon Alexander

Video material: Kris Joseph

Costume design: Jody Haucke

Production crew: Gwen Davie

Cast:

StevenGeoff McBride

Beth et al:Sarah Finn

Irma et al:Catriona Leger

Narrator and alter ego:Jordan Hancey

Reviewed by Iris Winston

The List – An Immediate Cure for Insomnia at the GCTC

The List – An Immediate Cure for Insomnia at the GCTC

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Seeing The List, try not to be annoyed at being forced to enter the auditorium in an odd and    embarrassing way. Watch single character taking her shoes on and off, miming wall washing, climbing on and off the window seat and speaking in a monotone. Stay awake despite being utterly bored by the one-note production and the weakness of the script.

The year 2008 must have been an arid year for French drama for The List to win a Governor General’s Award. Admittedly, portraying boredom on stage is a risky business. It can all too easily become boring to watch. Certainly, this portrayal of a bored and self-absorbed woman recounting her banal existence qualifies on that account. But surely it does not have to be so completely uninteresting and sleep inducing from beginning to end?

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Taming of the Shrew: in present day costumes, the Kanata production becomes a tale of wife abuse rather than a romantic comedy

Taming of the Shrew: in present day costumes, the Kanata production becomes a tale of wife abuse rather than a romantic comedy

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It is just possible to swallow the theme of a husband having dominion over his submissive wife when William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew is presented as a period piece. Even then, it frequently raises the hackles of contemporary audiences. When it is delivered in near-present-day costume, the director leading with his chin and the outdated concept is much more difficult to accept. Through this lens, Shrew becomes more of a tale of wife abuse than a romantic comedy.

In the Kanata Theatre production, director Jim Holmes uses such costumes as an ABBA jumpsuit to lighten the mood and emphasize the comedy aspect. This works to a degree, but is hard to justify dramatically. Even more of an effect for its own sake is a Mexican dance and multi-coloured skirts as part of a wedding celebration. (All that just to throw sombreros over an Italian fountain?)

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The Orpheus production of the Producers steers its way expertly through the potential minefields of offending audience members of all stripes, while successfully maximizing humour

The Orpheus production of the Producers steers its way expertly through the potential minefields of offending audience members of all stripes, while successfully maximizing humour

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Distributing offence equally outrageously among assorted groups leaves no one offended and everyone amused.

At least, this appears to be Mel Brooks’ philosophy in The Producers, the multi-award winning 2001 stage musical adapted from his 1968 movie.

The Orpheus Musical Theatre Society production, with director Richard Elichuk at the helm, steers its way expertly through the potential minefields of offending audience members of all stripes. (This production is far more successful in maximizing humour and minimizing potential offence than the 2004 Toronto production, which closed early, leaving a bad taste in the mouths of many of those unfortunate enough to be in the audience.)

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