I first saw Pam years ago when we both had booths at the Nova Scotia Designer Crafts Council shows. Pam was a force behind that organization, as well as local business organizations and community groups like Second Story Women’s Centre, all while co-running Birdsall-Worthington Pottery Ltd. and raising a family.
Among her other legislative duties, Pam is chairing the committee to set up Arts Nova Scotia.
Pam would like her website to bring government and people closer together. Nova Scotia being a small and friendly place, its can happen.
Last week, we saw a wonderful production of Robin Hood by Shakespeare by the Sea. The company performs outdoors in Point Pleasant Park, unless it’s raining, in which case they have an indoor space available.
This year, the plays are staged at the Cambridge Battery, a set of ruined fortifications in the middle of the park. You couldn’t invent such a backdrop. At intermission, kids of all ages explored the set, if only to see the view of the Atlantic Ocean beyond.
We were treated to great hilarity, exciting swordfights, intriguing a capella harmonies, endearing characters (yes you, Sven), modern cultural references, a classic storyline with a contemporary twist, and a professional ensemble cast. I highly recommend Robin Hood for anyone age 4 and up.
Even if you are unaccompanied by a child, you will enjoy the play!
The company is also performing two Shakespeare plays this summer: A Comedy of Errors and Measure for Measure. We hope to see at least one of them in the next two weeks. Their season ends September 4. See their site for showtimes.
If you’ve seen any of their productions this year, feel free to leave a comment.
My friend grew up in Ontario, but has lived in Nova Scotia for 10 years.
“I miss summer!” she said. “Where’s the heat?”
I thought about it, then laughed.
“I grew up in Nova Scotia,” I said, “and to me, summer is when you don’t have to put a coat on to go outside. When you aren’t fighting the temperature. When you don’t have to hide indoors. When you can embrace nature and it embraces you.”
It was her turn to laugh. “For you, summer is just when it isn’t winter!”
Hey, there had to be a bright side to all that rain!
The Powers That Be have opened the gates above the Gaspereau River, raising the water levels in the river. Tubing is on again, which is rather unusual for August.
Carpe diem. We seized the day.
The water was higher than usual, and faster, which made for a more adventuresome experience. I’m glad I didn’t try taking my camera on our second run downriver.
Dad was returning to Halifax after a post-retirement tour across Canada, and they were traveling from Toronto to Halifax, so there was lots of time to talk.
They wanted to start a theatre company in Nova Scotia — a “farm theatre”. He thought it was an interesting combination. Impressed, he suggested that either the Mosquodoboit Valley or the Annapolis Valley would be a good location.
The couple, Chris O’Neill and Ken Schwartz, chose the latter. In 1992, with little more than “two planks and a passion”, a grand vision, and large doses of talent and savvy, they set up a theatre company.
For 15 years Two Planks and a Passion was on the road. They produced and toured relevant and memorable plays by the likes of Daniel McIvor and Drew Hayden Taylor. Just as often, Ken and Chris penned their own plays, bringing to the stage Nova Scotian stories with broad relevance, such as The Butterbox Babies and Westray: The Long Way Home.
Meanwhile, Chris and Ken were raising a family that included twins. The demands of touring were making the dream of a farm theatre more and more appealing.
Finally the dream took root on an old farm at Ross Creek, on the North Mountain near Canning.
With Chris as Executive Director, The Ross Creek Centre for the Arts provides enriching experiences for working artists while training the next generation of artists. There are camps and other programs for kids and adults. At the other end of the spectrum, the Centre provides opportunities for professional artists to retreat from the world and create, or to engage in unique ways with the community.
Two Planks and a Passion is now the Centre’s resident theatre company. Each summer, under Ken Schwartz’s inspired direction, they create magical outdoor theatre “off the grid”, using the expansive landscape, original plays based on the classics with modern relevance, and some of the finest talent around.
Nova Scotia Power is bringing the power lines that march through the woods out to the road.
The lines will be easier to repair if they go down in a storm. And some waterfront properties will no longer have lines spoiling their view.
So we’re getting new power poles.
Nova Scotia Power workers and new power poles
Poles made from a variety of wood species are used. Some come from quite a distance. Near the water they put cedar from the west coast. Further inland they use creosote-treated pine from down the Eastern Seaboard where pine grows taller, straighter and faster. They also use Douglas Fir. Apparently the Nova Scotian pine that was once prized for masts of sailing ships by the Royal Navy is no longer good enough.
Something else to add to our carbon footprint.
“Why can’t they just bury the power lines?” you might ask. The answer, as for many questions about rural Nova Scotia, lies in the low population density. It just costs too much for the number of people who live here. So lines criss-crossing the road are just a fact of life in rural areas. We might as well embrace them, even photographically, like the fog!
The same factors that make Nova Scotia a wonderful place to live also determine its limitations. C’est la vie.
Strolling along the waterfront last Friday, we heard a cool jazz piano, accompanied by bass and drums, coming from the Festival Tent being set up on Lower Water St. at Salter St. extension. The place was crawling with volunteers adjusting banners and chairs, getting things ready for the show to start at 8 pm. They offered us a program, but, alas, we were on our way to see the Tattoo.
Setting up the Festival Tent for the Halifax Jazz Festival
The Halifax Jazz Festival continues until Saturday, July 16th in various venues around town.
“What is it?” he kept asking before we went. “It’s … a show,” I said, inadequately.
It’s hard to describe the Tattoo; if you haven’t seen it, I’ll refer you to its own website, which says it is “the world’s largest indoor show…. featuring over 2,000 world-class Canadian and international military and civilian performers … a fast-paced, two-and-a-half hour family show featuring music, dance, acrobatics, drama and comedy in a number of innovative acts.”
Bands to the rafters and the choir during the finale
Originally modeled on the Edinburgh Tattoo in Scotland, the Nova Scotia Tattoo was first staged in 1979 and featured primarily military acts.
Over the years, many civilian acts have been added, including guest performers from all over the world.
In common with the military marching bands and demonstrations of physical prowess, virtually all the acts involved precision teamwork.
Estonian roller skaters pose for photos after the show
We saw a fabulous precision roller skating team from Estonia, the French Guarde Républicaine motorcycle ballet, a German gym wheel team, and of course, Scottish Highland Dancers from Nova Scotia and from Australia. The latter group mixed the traditional strict forms of Highland Dance with tribal rhythms and modern innovations, which I found intriguing, having grown up partly in Antigonish where many kids took Highland Dance lessons.
The highest level of millisecond exactness was displayed by an all-female New Zealand drill team.
Talentholdet's innovative rope skipping
The loosest group was the Danish gymnastic troupe Talentholdet whose playful exuberance contrasted refreshingly with the strict discipline of the other acts while performing jaw-dropping feats of tumbling.
Even the tightest military bands had their comic routines to keep us entertained.
Musically, it was impressive that the many brass bands, the bagpipe bands, the choir and the soloists, spread across the width of the Metro Centre, could play in ensemble (almost all the time) – another testament to discipline and talent. Quite the sound!
Notably most of the civilian performers were female – dance troupes in particular, and while there were many women in the military bands, you had to look closely to distinguish them in their uniforms.
The show has a strong vein of patriotism and support for the troops, in their current mission of training the Afghan army now that Canada’s combat role has ended. Included in the honours are police, firefighters, emergency medical services and other first responders who “serve and protect”.
Altogether, the Tattoo is a huge community effort supported by many volunteers. The audience contained people from every province in Canada and many from the USA.
It’s a show that just about everyone should experience at least once.
In 1991, my father met a young couple on a train.
