Slings and Arrows

"Slings and Arrows" is a Canadian comedy in the vein of those great six or eight episode miniseries that British TV does so well. Take all the good bits of a thirteen or twenty-two episode season and condense them into six or eight hours, perfect for a couple of DVDs.

Maverick theatre director Geoffrey Tennant learns that his alienated mentor has died, and he returns to his stomping grounds, the moribund New Burbage Shakespeare Festival. There he reluctantly takes over directing the latest in a line of bloated, limp productions of Shakespeare plays that nobody watches.

The corporate sponsors want to turn the festival into a venue for musicals, his Hamlet's previous experience is action movies, his Ophelia thinks being insane is the same as being stoned, his Gertrude is his ex-lover who hates him, and he has no money for sets or costumes. As if that wasn't enough, there's a chameleon prowling around the theatre and Geoffrey's mentor his haunting him.

The plot is loosely based on Hamlet, of course: a man returns home and finds it overrun with corruption, hypocrisy and indifference, setting off an existential crisis. This time the crisis is about the point of doing live theatre, when both the actors and the audience are going through the motions. As Geoffrey's rival observes, "More people listen to the radio than go to the theatre, and nobody listens to the radio." The biggest problem is that Jeffrey's production isn't the revelation it's supposed to be. The non-sets, the lack of special effects and anachronistic costumes, doing it the way the Bard did it at the Globe, isn't terribly original. When the action star does Hamlet's soliloquy, it's just a handsome guy saying the words.

At any rate, the backstage rivalries, romances and reconciliations are what we're really here to see. Even the secondary players get to shine in fine parts: a corporate bitch bent on turning the festival into ShakespeareLand, an egomaniacal theatre director with a fake injury, a passive-aggressive theatre journalist, a pizza delivery guy/motorcycle racer who courts Jeffrey's ex, a wise backstage manager, a Greek chorus of two old theatre queens, a pair of owlish undertakers, and more.

It's both funny and compelling, and I look forward to the rumored second season.

You can tell that this TV show came out of a country other the the US because it's so well acted, very funny and just plain brilliant. It's unashamedly aimed at adults with IQ's over 10. I've been a huge fan of Stephen Ouimettes for years so I expected nothing but the best from him, but what a pleasant surprise to find this show chock a block with actors who actually can act. I watched the first two seasons straight through the night purring like a cat with a saucer of cream. It's great fun seeing how the theatre works behind the scenes - at last a show with a unique theme, original ideas and clever writing. I hope this one lasts and lasts.

This series is not only great fun to watch, but is also extremely poignant and insightful. The antics offered by the characters keep things moving quickly and maintain the entertainment, but every now and again, they slip a subversive bit of social commentary into the mix as well.

When Irwin's corporate shark quips at one point that she's always had an idea to do a musical about John Lennon's life, saying that it would have everything the modern production needs to succeed (sex, drama and familiar music) it's hard for the "Mama Mia!" marquee to not flash in the mind's eye. When Burns' young stud pronounces that he loves "serious theatre" while holding an inflatable doll in the shape of the man from Munch's "The Scream", the fundamental paradox in presenting the arts in our times hits you in the face: in order to produce, you need to sell, but it's hard to sell without selling out.

The contrast between approaches to Shakespeare used by Gross' reluctant, haunted (literally!) Artistic Director and McKellar's over the top Art-Nouveaux Director (a send up of Robert LePage, I'm sure) is fantastic, and illustrates that Shakespeare can be both artistic AND accessible. The snippets shown of the final mounted production of Hamlet are brilliant, and Gross' speeches about the meaning of the various passages in the play should be cribbed by all high school students studying it.

One hopes that Showcase, Bravo or HBO will pick this up, and even better, that a DVD release is forthcoming. Or better yet - a second series?

Intelligent, witty, insightful writing that each and every actor clearly loves having the chance to deliver. Fully-rounded, complex characters, examined with insight and empathy. A deep love and rich understanding of life in the theater, with all its excitement and pitfalls. Perfectly paced, with a pleasing balance between comedy and drama. It's so rare to see a work that treats its subject, characters, actors, and audience with so much respect. Very few shows have made me care so much about how everything would turn out, or left me so satisfied at the final fade-out. This is one I look forward to seeing again and again.

I quite enjoyed watching 'Slings and Arrows' on TMN this past season, and must say - it was a delight to finally see something strikingly original and drop down funny on the telly. It was well received, by the audiences who knew of its existence, but lacked any sort of advertisement and flare that HBO shows get. It's been too long since something like this has been tried, and it sure as hell stacks up to the HBO shows any day. Paul Gross has finally shown he as as good an actor as he is a looker. The characters are thoughtfully developed and the plot line is kept alive by the fast-moving pace of this Stratford-like festival. A perfect score all the way.