"It's not that heavy at all!"
"It's much lighter without the ego."
The New Burbage Theatre Festival is well-known for it's Shakespeare performances. Geoffrey Tennant (Gross) was a rising star, until he had a nervous breakdown on stage during a performance of Hamlet. Seven years later he is called back to New Burbage when his mentor, Oliver Welles (Ouimette) dies unexpectedly. Oliver was the artistic director of the festival, and Geoffrey is asked to fill the position until an official replacement can be found.
Geoffrey is haunted by Oliver, which further complicates his relationship with the diva leading lady Ellen Fanshaw (Burns), who is Geoffrey's ex. He also has to contend with the money-conscious general manager Richard Smith-Jones (McKinney), long-suffering secretary Anna (Coyne), prickly stage manager Maria (Fitch), Nigerian director turned security guard Nahum (Gray), his nemesis director Darren Nichols (McKellar), and the egos of the cast. Can Geoffrey maintain his sanity and keep the vision for his show?
I discovered this show by accident through Netflix. I started watching the first season and completely fell in love and ended up buying the entire series. The series is from Canada and is set in the fictional town of New Burbage. The creators, Susan Coyne, Bob Martin, and Mark McKinney, also act in the show. Coyne is a Shakespeare performer and member of the Startford Festival, she plays Anna the secretary. Martin is a Tony award-winning writer (for the musical The Drowsy Chaperone which he co-starred in), and appears in the first season as Terry. McKinney was a member of the sketch group The Kids in the Hall, and plays Richard.
The cast is comprised of Canadian actors, many of whom were also involved in the Stratford festival. The series is a satire of Shakespeare companies, while still treating the subject and characters with a lot of love. Paul Gross is perfect as Geoffrey Tennant, the brilliant but possibly insane director. Stephen Ouimette is endearing and quirky as the ghost of Oliver Welles. And Martha Burns (who is married to Gross in real life) skates the line between grating and broken as Ellen. Every character, including the minor members of the group, is rounded and gets to have fun. In addition, they wrote great songs for the show. Each season has a different opening theme song that relates to the show and the closing credits play over the song "Call the Understudy." The songs are performed by Graham Harley's Cyril and Michael Polley's Frank, who are in every production and get the best lines (often spoken under their breath).
Each season focuses on a different Shakespeare play and brings in a few new characters for each:
Season 1 is Hamlet. Geoffrey has to direct the show that drove him crazy years before. The lead actor is American movie star Jack Crew (Luke Kirby). Apprentice Kate (Rachel McAdams) is poised to break out as Ophelia. And Ellen is Gertrude. And Richard is seduced by their biggest sponsor. The opening credits song is "Cheer Up Hamlet".
Season 2 is Macbeth. Geoffrey is asked to follow Oliver's vision for Macbeth, complete with boxes of notes about the characters, set design, and costumes. Veteran actor Henry Breedlove (Geraint Wyn Davies) is Macbeth and refuses to listen to any of Geoffrey's direction and Ellen is his Lady MacBeth. Darren directs Romeo and Juliet with Patrick (David Alpey) and Sarah (Joanne Kelly) in the leads. Richard tries to rebrand the theater with the help of the off-beat Sanjay (Colm Feore). The opening credits song is "Mackers".
Season 3 is King Lear. The theater is in the black and Geoffrey is allowed to direct King Lear. He casts aging actor Charles Kingman (William Hutt) as Lear, who clashes with everyone in the cast. Ellen is Regan, her best friend Barbara (Janet Bailey) is Goneril, and rising actress Sophie (Sarah Polley) is Cordelia. Richard and Darren team up to direct a new musical, and Anna is left in charge of everything else. The opening credits song is "A Walk in the Rain".
I love each season for different reasons... and with a running time of 45 minutes, every episode has good and memorable moments. I especially love the relationship between Geoffrey and Darren, and the fight in season 1 had me on the floor. Definitely worth checking out.
Slings and Arrows (2003-2006)
Created by: Susan Coyne, Bob Martin, Mark McKinney
Starring: Paul Gross as Geoffrey Tennant
Martha Burns as Ellen Fanshaw
Stephen Ouimette as Oliver Welles
Susan Coyne as Anna
Don McKellar as Darren Nichols
Mark McKinney as Richard Smith-Jones
Oliver Dennis as Jerry
Graham Harley as Cyril
Michael Polley as Frank
Catherine Fitch as Maria
Rothaford Gray as Nahum
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