Group dramatics The newly formed National Arts Centre resident company begins to bond with a monumental play The year 2009 brought with it a resurrection of an old idea for our city – a good one too, whose original tumble into death was a tragedy: the idea of repertory theatre. A large amount of Canadian…
A sense of purpose Denise Chong’s Egg on Mao recalls a powerful act of defiance Egg on Mao is the memoir of Lu Decheng, a story so intricately twisted and rich that it almost defies the idea of plot and seems to unfold as the vagaries of life do. A spirited bus mechanic in rural…
An Almighty argument Internationally acclaimed spiritual scholar at Writers Fest discusses the modern world and G-O-D Armstrong: “Any idea we have of god is only an approximate knowledge.” Karen Armstrong is one of the world’s most popular and notable commentators on religious affairs. A sentence like this probably wouldn’t strike many of you, but what…
A post-apocalyptic ringmaster Margaret Atwood’s latest book tour finds her narrating the end of the world When I meet Jan Irwin for our interview, she’s sitting in a small coffee shop in the Glebe on one of the last warm mornings of a fading summer. On the table in front of her is a standard-sized…
A little spring before the sleep Autumn theatre is rich in colour So the days and nights cool down imperceptibly hour by hour as the great driving engine of summer slows down into fall. It’s a good season for Canadians. We understand this season. It’s one of work, one of activity, one of preparation for…
Dry paper Nothing beats a book in autumn Missing Persons by Rob McLennan (Mercury Press) Autumn is a season that more than any other seems devoted to reading. The crispness of leaves reminds you of the firm dryness of paper, the smell of a book lingers sometimes in your memory like that of firewood. Fortunately,…