Canada's online magazine: Politics, entertainment, technology, media, arts, books: backofthebook.ca

Politics, tech, media, culture and more, from a Canadian point-of-view

  • Politics
  • Media
  • Culture
  • Science and Tech
  • Living
  • Arts and Books
  • Features
  • The Video
You are here: Home / Arts and Books / Will “Slings and Arrows” take aim again?

Will “Slings and Arrows” take aim again?

06/05/2012 by backofthebook.ca Leave a Comment

Image: Scene from "Slings and Arrows"By Zoe Grams

When NBC’s dreadful soap-musical “Smash” is the only representation of theatre artists in mainstream culture, you know there’s a problem (for theatre artists, at any rate). So it’s no wonder there has been an online flutter over the potential relaunch of the Canadian comedy “Slings and Arrows.”

Creator Bob Martin tells the New York Theatre blog that he and his co-creators, Mark McKinney and Susan Coyne, are “thinking, shall we say, laterally. Slings may live again.”

Documenting the backstage tribulations of the New Burbage Festival – a fictional version of the Stratford Festival – the show’s three seasons are a delightfully dark romp through the theatre industry and its characters, from aging actors in crisis, to long suffering arts administrators, to a sinking Executive Director. Its 50 award-nominations (and numerous wins) were well deserved: the series provided insight into the drudge, devotion, and euphoria of theatre.

The final episode aired in 2006, just months after Stephen Harper started to cut arts funding, and prior to the recession that has thumped arts organizations with lower attendance numbers – especially from across the border – and tighter budgets.

Fictional ED, Richard Smith-Jones, certainly anticipated the plight of many when he said (granted, after a blunder of his own):  “What the hell are we going to do? I mean, I know what I’m going to have to do. I’m going to have to go to the Minister of Culture and beg for money like some kind of blind hurdler.”

Athletic feats aside, the prospect of a fourth season raises the question of what the current climate might mean for New Burbage. Would the festival weather a 13 percent drop in ticket sales as well as Stratford has? Would traditional Shakespeare and experimental offerings be downplayed in favour of the mainstream? That started to happen in the show’s final season; Stratford, meanwhile, has been mounting the likes of Peter Pan and You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown to try to secure family audiences.

And what Shakespeare would be the leading production? Many of the biggies have already been done – Romeo and Juliet, King Lear, Macbeth – but Martin hinted at the possibility of Richard III. This, or another history such as Henry V, would provide enough pomp for the comedic overtones plus a real range of storyline possibilities (and, of course, tales of overweaning kings are always topical).

Will the remount actually happen? “Well, it’s more than a dream,” Martin says. “I’ll tell you that much. I’ll stop now, before I’m hoisted by my own petard.”

The Bard was first to point out that delays make dangerous ends. Here’s hoping Martin and Co. find a sympathetic network and we see a fourth season in production soon.

Filed Under: Arts and Books Tagged With: Canada, television, theatre

Subscribe to BoB by e-mail or RSS

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Google+
  • Living
  • Politics
  • Media
  • Culture
  • Arts and Books
  • Features
  • The Video
Fire sale sign

Fort McMurray: Shopping time!

By Brady Tighe We’re now officially in the aftermath phase of the northern Alberta wildfire crisis. The fire is long gone, and everyone with a home to return to is back in its … [Read More...]

Nathan Cullen

Electoral reform: Hashtag fresh thinking

By Alison@Creekside The most interesting and innovative idea to come out of the first meeting of the all-party Special Committee on Electoral Reform, or ERRE, was Nathan Cullen's suggestion, … [Read More...]

Trudeau on quantum computing

The Trudeau gush fest is getting old

By Jim Henshaw There have been several bewildered as well as angry accounts coming out of the USA lately about how little media time has been spent covering the Democratic Presidential Primary … [Read More...]

Rick Meyers in Nanaimo Pride Parade

My friend, Rick, at the Pride Parade

By Frank Moher On this dreadful day, I don't want to write about the shootings in Orlando. I want to write about my friend, Rick. Rick lives just outside of Nanaimo, a city of about 80,000, … [Read More...]

Stephen Colbert on Late Night set

Triumph of the drama nerds

By Frank Moher Two drama nerds have recently moved into high profile positions. Before I name them (or perhaps you’ve already guessed who they are; or perhaps you’d like to scroll down and look at … [Read More...]

From “Our Rape Blog”: Shooting the Moon

Originally published on Our Rape Blog, the author's account of the aftermath of a violent sexual assault. By Mary Fraughton Have you ever played Hearts? It’s a card game. For our purposes, … [Read More...]

First Nations defending Lelu Island

The video: Lelu Island: “They will come.”

From Creekside: The B.C. provincial government is trying to green light the construction of a massive LNG terminal on Lelu Island in the Skeena Estuary -- Pacific Northwest LNG, backed by Malaysian … [Read More...]

Google

Follow Us!

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

RSS CBC News



Recent Posts

  • Fort McMurray: Shopping time!
  • From “Our Rape Blog”: Shooting the Moon
  • Electoral reform: Hashtag fresh thinking
  • The fish hotel
  • Hatred on an Alberta golf course
  • The video: Lelu Island: “They will come.”
  • My friend, Rick, at the Pride Parade
  • Our selective sympathy
  • The Water Bomber, The Frogman and The Great Canadian Novelist
  • Komagata Maru: The story behind the apology

Tags

9/11 Afghanistan Alberta bad behaviour books British Columbia business Canada Canadian military Canadian politics CBC celebrity computers Conservatives crime environment family film G20 Globe and Mail internet Jason Kenney journalism Justin Trudeau law Liberals Maclean's music National Post NDP newspapers oil sands online media Ontario Quebec RCMP religion sports Stephen Harper television theatre Toronto U.S. Vancouver women

Archives

The Video: Lelu Island: “They will come.”

Pages

  • About
  • Privacy

Copyright © 2023 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in