New play explores topics like growing up, dealing with change
Paper Dolls is a one-act play that explores growing up, and the emotions that come with shifting relationships. It's going to hit the stage at Kitchener's Registry Theatre this weekend. The all-female cast features 10 young actors from Waterloo region. Playwright, director and producer Gita Shuster-Ashley and actress Akina MacDonald told CBC K-W's Aastha Shetty more about the production.
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CBC
15 minutes ago
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Laurie Brinklow, Ian Petrie and Kirstin Lund named to Order of P.E.I.
Laurie Brinklow, Ian Petrie and Kirstin Lund are the three Islanders being named to the Order of Prince Edward Island for 2025. They were selected from a total of 31 people who were nominated this year. "First awarded in 1996 as the Prince Edward Island Medal of Merit, the Order of Prince Edward Island recognizes Islanders who have shown individual excellence or outstanding leadership in their community or in their chosen profession," Government House said in a news release Friday, issued under the name of the Chancellor of the Order, P.E.I. Lieutenant-Governor Dr. Wassim Salamoun, and B.J. Willis, chair of the Order of Prince Edward Island Advisory Council. "It is the highest honour that can be accorded to a citizen of the province, and individuals are nominated by their fellow citizens." Dr. Ed, Dutch and Dau-Schmidt named to the Order of P.E.I. A ceremony to honour the new members of the order will be held this fall at Government House in Charlottetown. "A major figure in the literary life of Prince Edward Island for more than 40 years, Dr. Laurie Brinklow continues to share her enthusiasm and interest in all aspects of the Island through her writings and her role at the Institute of Island Studies at UPEI," the news release said. Brinklow arrived on the Island in 1983, and went on to play key roles at Ragweed Press and The Acorn Press, the latter of which she founded. She also helped establish the P.E.I. Literary Awards and the P.E.I. Writers' Guild. To this day she is on the publishing committee for Island Studies Press, producing both poetry and non-fiction titles. A 30-year association with UPEI's Institute of Island Studies has made her an international voice on the issues facing small islands as well as ways to nourish their culture, environment and economy. "For her continued commitment to promoting the Island's authored excellence, and elevating the lives of those who write it, Dr. Laurie Brinklow is a most deserving recipient of the Order of Prince Edward Island," the news release said. Kirstin Lund began her career as a lawyer, but was soon drawn to the art and science of conflict resolution, starting her own business in 1996 to offer training and mediation. The Stratford, P.E.I., resident has been at the forefront of boosting the role of women in the political life of the province, founding the non-partisan P.E.I. Coalition for Women in Government in 2004 and spending time as chair of the P.E.I. Advisory Council on the Status of Women. Lund has also found innovative ways to promote gender inclusion in sports, the news release said, "creating and co-ordinating golf leagues and squash tournaments for women and founding Red Rock 'n Roller Derby, P.E.I.'s first roller derby league. Her Girly Girl Golf Classic has raised funds for critical community organizations such as the P.E.I. Rape and Sexual Assault Crisis Centre, and The Adventure Group." She and several friends also conduct an annual Stocking Angels campaign, collecting and distributing useful gifts for women in need. "For her actions in safeguarding and empowering women, and her unflagging energy for driving change that enhances community well-being, Kirstin Lund is a most worthy recipient of the Order of Prince Edward Island," the news release said. "A respected journalist for more than three decades, Ian Petrie 's ability to provide balanced and educational reporting on the agricultural and environmental issues of the Island has been influential on processes and policies at all levels," the news release said. Petrie arrived on the Island to take a CBC News reporting position in 1980, quickly becoming an authoritative voice on many of the environmental and political issues facing the province. After retiring from CBC News in 2009, he returned to teaching — he had earlier worked as a sessional lecturer in environment studies at Ottawa's Carleton University — and began instructing broadcast journalism students at Holland College in Charlottetown. In the wake of his second retirement, he continues to write about agriculture for publications including The Island Farmer.
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Bard on the Beach to present Much Ado About Nothing with small but mighty edit
People line up to enter Bard on the Beach in Vancouver. (The Canadian Press / Chuck Stoody) To the casual theatregoer, this year's Bard on the Beach production of Much Ado About Nothing will seem delightfully typical of the company's crowd-pleasing spectacles, but to the seasoned Shakespeare fan something might seem afoot. To modify or not to modify? That was the question posed before director Johnna Wright decided to update her version of the 16th century comedy with additional text by playwright Erin Shields. Shields had tweaked the text for Ontario's The Stratford Festival in 2023, including a prologue for one of the lead characters and a new scene for the production's fifth act. Wright assures all the major elements are the same: The production is set in the Italian city of Messina, and the storyline focuses on the two romances between Claudio and Hero and Benedick and Beatrice. The modification addresses a particular element of the storyline without changing the ending, she says. It is an addition to the script, not a rewrite, that Wright describes as 'giving voice' to a character that is silenced in the original play. 'I was very excited when I read Erin's script because it does such a beautiful job of being true to the play and to the characters that Shakespeare created, but also linking it to a modern audience and how we respond to the kind of things that are happening,' she says. Shakespeare's original grapples with the theme of gender as it reflects the expectations of women in Elizabethan-era England. It has elements that Wright says appear in many Shakespeare plays, elements that can be 'difficult to get to grips with' as a modern-day viewer. Often they made gender assumptions or acknowledged societal norms that might seem unacceptable now, she says, but were typical of the times then. 'When you do these plays, you're always thinking, 'How am I going to make that part work?' says Wright. 'Because this is a comedy, and it is supposed to be a happy ending, but there are some things that are kind of disturbing that an Elizabethan audience would have accepted as a happy ending, but we don't see it that way.' Wright expects the additional scene, which sees the young and naive Hero respond to the violence endured throughout the play, to surprise Shakespeare devotees but to ultimately incite a warm reception. 'I will be very interested to find out how people respond to that particular aspect of the show,' she says. 'I think that most people will appreciate it because it just says what most people, I think, would be thinking when they watch these events. Which is 'this is wrong, this is terrible.' We get a chance to address that, so you don't have to feel that you've watched something disturbing and nothing was acknowledged.' Bard veteran Jennifer Lines, who has been working with the company since 1996 and will be playing Beatrice in the upcoming production, says the adjustment made by Wright marks a shift in theatre that will hopefully cause a ripple effect leading to the tweaking of other productions where needed. 'I've been doing this for a long time now and I see the need for accessibility and engaging a modern sensibility, and having those broader interpretations,' says the actress. 'Making it relevant and inclusive, it is important, but it is a dance.' Lines assures the tweaks do not take anything away from the brilliance of the original, a brilliance which, as someone who has performed in the play multiple times as Margaret, Ursula and Beatrice, she says she can attest to. 'It is a play that keeps coming back to me. It's comedic, it's dramatic, it's romantic, it's got everything,' she adds. 'The characters are well fleshed out. There's intelligent banter. It's one of Shakespeare's loveliest plays in my mind, and it's such a thrill to be a part of.'
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Christine Sinclair visits Edmonton-area school to discuss importance of recycling
Canadian soccer star Christine Sinclair visited a Sherwood Park elementary school on Thursday to talk to students about recycling and sign autographs.
