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‘Slings and Arrows’ S1: Something is awesome in the province of Ontario
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'Prince' of a character
The first season of the extraordinary three season Canadian dramedy “Slings and Arrows,” which is included in the complete series DVD set that was released earlier this year, may be the best of the terrific shows that my article on British and Canadian programs mentioned.
“Slings” is set at the fictional New Burbage, Ontario, Shakespeare festival and has the attributes of celebrating highly quirky characters and the same elements of the classic plays that the festival produces. The numerous honors that this show has won include the Canadian Comedy Award and several Gemini Awards, which are the Canadian version of the Emmys.
Paul Gross, of the 1990s dramedy “Due South,” stars as Geoffrey Tennant. As the interim artistic director of the theater, he must battle Richard Smith-Jones, the conniving money-driven business manager played by former skit show “Kids in the Hall” star Mark McKinney. Tennant must also deal with constant badgering by the ghost of his recently deceased predecessor. I will offer the spoiler that a pig truck ran over this somewhat loathsome deceased character while he was passed out in the middle of the road.
Overall Shakespearean themes during the first season include temporary madness, political battles, the conflict between art and commerce, betrayals, and odd past and current love triangles. This season also has a wonderful Lady Macbeth character in the form of an American executive named Holly Day who gleefully almost causes a death of a rival.
Realistic theater themes include big-name stars with moderate talent who do Shakespeare merely to boost their image as actors so that fans will be even more mad about them or will think of them as more than lawyers in love, reliable hangers-on who stay with a theater company for years, aging divas, and young stars whose ego far exceeds their abilities. A frustrated stage manager who must deal with the egos of the performers and directors is thrown in for good measure.
The first season revolves around a production of “Hamlet” that includes the elements described above and adds a duel with swords.
This show deserves praise as well for being one of the few modern ones that has successfully combined comedy and drama, has an overall excellent cast, and has a relatively unique concept. I enjoyed this show when it was on the Sundance Channel and loved the DVDs. It is another show that flows much better when you can watch several episodes at once.
Please do share your thoughts regarding this exceptional program as additions to this entry or as e-mail to tvdvdguy@gmail.com, eh.
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