Author: Richard Young

A retired History and Politics high school teacher (1978-2008). Former Publisher/Managing Editor of The Beat Magazine (2009-2014). Freelance Writer. Proud Grandfather.

Kim Kaitell reviews The Kitchen Witches at the Port Stanley Festival Theatre

by Richard Young

Going into The Kitchen Witches, at Port Stanley Festival Theatre, I deliberately avoided reading anything about it beforehand. With a title like that, I imagined something whimsical and maybe even a bit mystical – think a stage version of the movie Practical Magic, with bubbling cauldrons and a few well-placed spells. So, when I walked into the theatre and witnessed a bright, compact fully equipped kitchen that looked more like a TV studio than a witch’s lair, I was a little surprised. My initial expectations were quickly dashed – this was a cooking show, not a coven. So much for assumptions!

The audience is immediately placed in the middle of a live taping of a local cable-access cooking program hosted by Dolly Biddle, a fiery, apron-clad chef played with gusto by Christina Gordon. Dolly’s son Stephen (David Rowan) is ostensibly the producer, but his real job seems to be keeping his mother from going completely off-script. This is meant to be Dolly’s farewell episode, but it takes a sharp turn when her long-time nemesis, fellow cooking host Isobel Lomax (Monique Lund), crashes the set. The two women share a long and tangled history, and their rapid-fire insults and perfectly aimed barbs just happen to be captured on live TV and become an overnight sensation. With prompting from the station, a new series is born, staring the arch-rivals and aptly named The Kitchen Witches.

Director Liz Gilroy keeps the action moving at a brisk pace, and the staging makes clever use of the “show within a show” format. Set designer Emma Burnett nails the look of a modest TV studio – complete with a cluttered kitchen, the bright slightly harsh light you’d expect from daytime television and and “Applause” sigh which encourages audience participation. The live camera work handled by Bobbi (E. Webb), adds to the authenticity. One of my favorite scenes in the show was bringing a volunteer onstage to taste-test the rivals’ creations. This added to the evenings playful, immersive quality.

Despite these strong production elements, the show didn’t fully land for me. Much of the humour felt predictable, relying heavily on physical comedy and recycled jabs. The performances, while energetic, sometimes tipped into overacting, making certain exchanges feel forced rather than spontaneous. There were a couple of plot twists that hinted at more complex storytelling but these moments were left underdeveloped, which felt like missed opportunities to deepen the characters and give the comedy more bite.

However, it’s easy to see why The Kitchen Witches, winner of the 2005 Samuel French Best Canadian Play Award, has been a staple for community and regional theatres – it’s light, self-contained, and offers easy opportunities for audience interaction. Which is rare treat in the theatre world. For some, its zany energy and over-the-top characters are part of the fun. But for me, the lack of surprises in the script meant that the humour never quite built to a satisfying peak.

That said, if you enjoy lighthearted farce, kitchen-set chaos, and being pulled directly into action, you may well find The Kitchen Witches a pleasant night out. It’s not the magical romp I was expecting from the title, but it serves up enough sass, splash, and slapstick to keep many theatre-goers entertained – just don’t expect it to bring any new ingredients to the table.

The Kitchen Witches continues at Port Stanley Festival Theatre until August 23rd.  Tickets are available by calling (519) 782-4353 or visit:  www.pfst.ca

Photo: Monique Lund and Christina Gordon play Isobel Lomax and Dolly Biddle in The Kitchen Witches, at the Port Stanley Festival Theatre. 

The Kitchen Witches
Written by Caroline Smith
Directed by Liz Gilroy
Set Design by Emma Burnett
Costume Design by Alex Amini
Stage Managed by Jory McLean
Performed by Christina Gordon, David Rowan, Monique Lund, E. Webb
August 6 to 23, 2025
Port Stanley Festival Theatre, Port Stanley
Reviewed by Kim Kaitell

Note: This Review first appeared on the website Entertain This Thought, and it is reprinted with the permission of the reviewer. For more Reviews, visit https://www.entertainthisthought.com/

London Fringe Performer Highlight: Alan Fehr.

by Richard Young

🎭 Performer Highlight: Alan Fehr

📍Catch them at the Metropolitan United Church – London Fringe 2025

Alan Fehr is a queer theatre artist, writer, and performer based in Canada. Their solo show, The Naked Mennonite, combines storytelling, historical insight, and burlesque to explore the intersections of sexuality, faith, and identity. With a background in both performance and theology, their work invites audiences to laugh, squirm, and confront uncomfortable truths with compassion and curiosity.

📢 More to come soon about show details — stay tuned.

Save Our Stage – Palace Theatre

by Richard Young

Save Our Stage: A Variety FUNdraiser 🎙

📅 Saturday, September 6

🕢 Showtime: 7:30 PM (Doors open at 6:30 PM)

📍 Palace Theatre Arts Commons

🎟 Tickets: $35 (all fees included)

Join us for an unforgettable night of music, magic, laughter, and community spirit at Save Our Stage: A Variety FUNdraiser! This one-night-only celebration brings together some of London’s most talented performers — singers, musicians, actors, magicians, and more — all coming together to help raise vital funds for the Palace Theatre Arts Commons.

Proceeds from this high-energy evening will support crucial repairs, ongoing programming, and the beloved productions that keep our historic theatre alive and thriving. In addition to the live entertainment, enjoy a silent auction, door prizes, and surprise moments throughout the night.

Come early to mix and mingle with fellow theatre lovers, bid on great prizes, and soak in the vibrant atmosphere of community and creativity.

🎭 Help us Save Our Stage – and have a ton of fun doing it!

🎫 Tickets are going fast – get yours now!

palacetheatre.ca

Shrek The Musical Reviewed by Vicki Stokes

by Richard Young

Headbands featuring green ogre ears and sparkly tiaras are dotted throughout the audience while excited children wiggle in their booster seats. The stage is a giant storybook, welcoming you inside. Shrek The Musical, which features an unlikely hero and familiar bedtime story characters, is now playing on the Main stage at Huron Country Playhouse.

Not a trace of doubt in my mind, I’m a believer that, if at all possible, you should take your kids or grandkids to see Shrek and the gang. When I took my seat in the theatre, I didn’t care too much about Shrek and the movies and hype, but I have changed my mind. This modern musical is not only a refreshing twist on traditional fairy tales, but a lavish production with incredible costumes and original music.

The show begins with the Ogre parents sending the young Shrek out to live in the swamp by himself. Likewise, the King and Queen lock their young daughter, Princess Fiona, in a tower protected by a fierce dragon.

Many years later, diminutive villain Lord Farquaad has evicted all the storybook characters and sent them to Shrek’s swamp. Shrek wants them off his land, so he agrees to find Farquaad a bride in return for relocating all the characters. Along with his sidekick Donkey, he faces danger head-on to retrieve the princess. After rescuing Fiona, Shrek falls in love with her, but a misunderstanding leads to Fiona heading to the altar with Farquaad.

Drew Plummer is impressive as Shrek, as is Jeremy Carver-James as Donkey and Jayme Armstrong as Fiona. Their voices are perfect for the characters. Shrek’s complexion is just right, not overly green or overdone.

The original Tony Award-winning costume design by Tim Hatley is used, featuring lots of textures and textiles of interest. The dragon consists of many different parts, all interesting in their own right. From a purple head and wings to skeleton and scales, she is humanized as the powerful singer Clea McCaffrey. There is plenty of attention to detail, such as the proportional size of Shrek’s and Farquaad’s hands.

Jeremy Legat is excellent as the short-statured Lord Farquaad. On his knees for most of the role, Legat’s voice more than makes up for his height. The ensemble is phenomenal in the multiple roles as storybook heroes, knights and other assorted characters (including two younger Fionas). And yes, Pinocchio’s nose grows when he tells lies. It’s not the most aesthetically pleasing nose, but it works.

One detail I noticed on opening night was the absence of the fire under the rickety bridge, as shown in the photos on social media. The presence of a glow that looks like fire is necessary to make the bridge appear more dangerous, since the bridge seems quite small and non-lethal on stage. Hopefully, it will make its appearance in subsequent shows. One other comment I would like to make in general is that the show is two and a half hours, not including intermission. I witnessed some cranky and sleepy children in the middle of Act II. Fortunately, everyone was able to perk up again for the finale.

Shrek is an ogre: there is belching, farts and the subsequent jokes. There’s also a lot of heart, positive messages, catchy original music, outstanding voices, creative costumes, colourful lighting effects, and some sneaky stage magic. There’s so much to love here, for adults as well as for the kids. Embrace your inner ogre and see Shrek if you can! If not at Huron Country Playhouse now, then at Hamilton Family Theatre in Cambridge from December 3rd to December 28th.

Shrek The Musical continues until August 31st at Huron Country Playhouse, Mainstage. Tickets are available by calling the Box Office at 519-238-6000, or Toll-Free at 1-855-372-9866, or by checking www.huroncountryplayhouse.com for availability.

Photo: Jeremy Carver-James, Drew Plummer, Jayme Armstrong. Photo by Hilary Gauld.

Photo: Jeremy Carver-James, Drew Plummer, Jayme Armstrong. Photo by Hilary Gauld.

Shrek The Musical
Based on the Dreamworks Animation Motion Picture and the book by William Steig
Book and Lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire
Music by Jeanine Tesori
Directed and choreographed by David Connolly
Music Director: Steve Thomas
Performed by: Drew Plummer, Jayme Armstrong, Jeremy Carver-James, Jeremy Legat, et al.
Produced by Drayton Entertainment
Mainstage, Huron Country Playhouse, Grand Bend
August 6 to August 31, 2025
Hamilton Family Theatre, Cambridge
December 3 – December 28, 2025
Reviewed by Vicki Stokes

Note: This Review first appeared on the website Entertain This Thought, and it is reprinted with the permission of the reviewer. For more Reviews, visit https://www.entertainthisthought.com/

The 2025 Forest City Film Festival

by Richard Young

🎬 Three Events. Three Days. One Legendary Weekend 💫
The Forest City Film Festival proudly presents the return of the Lifetime Achievement in Entertainment Award, honouring the international stars of Southwestern Ontario!

This year, we’re celebrating Emmy-winning screenwriter and producer David Shore — the brilliant mind behind House M.D. and The Good Doctor.

From Emmy wins to a Canadian Screen Lifetime Achievement Award, David’s fearless creativity and storytelling have made him one of the most influential voices in modern television.

Join us for a weekend of fan-favourite screenings, unforgettable conversations, and a party to remember! 🌟

🎟️ Schedule of Events
Part of our unforgettable 10-day festival — full program announced September 18!

THU • OCT 30 • 5:30 PM
Lifetime Achievement Award Gala Reception
📍 Goodwill Industries

SAT • NOV 1 • 7:15 PM
🎥 Special Screening: The Good Doctor
📍 Wolf Performance Hall

SUN • NOV 2 • 2:30 PM
🎥 Special Screening: House M.D.
📍 Wolf Performance Hall

🎟️ Explore now at our website, link in bio — don’t miss your chance to be part of this unforgettable celebration!

Bayfield Fair Concert, August 16th

by Richard Young

The Bayfield Agricultural Society and the Bayfield Town Hall are pleased to present Listen to the Music, a Doobie Brothers tribute band, and Diamond Mind, a Blue Rodeo tribute band, on Saturday, August 16th.

The Doobie Brothers are one of the most iconic Classic Rock bands of all time, having sold millions of albums and topped the charts with great hit songs such as “China Grove,” “Long Train Runnin’,” “What a Fool Believes,” “Black Water,” and, of course, “Listen to the Music.” The highly-skilled musicians in Listen to the Music meticulously reproduce each and every great hit song live to give audiences a true experience of seeing and hearing the Doobie Brothers band perform live!

And if you’re a fan of Blue Rodeo, you won’t want to miss Diamond Mine!  They don’t just perform the songs – they embody the spirit of Blue Rodeo, creating a truly immersive experience for their audience. From “Try” to “Bad Timing” to “Lost Together,” Diamond Mine transports listeners to a different time and place, evoking memories and emotions with every note. Close your eyes and you’ll hear Jim & Greg singing those unmistakable harmonies.

This is a ‘bring your own chair’ event.  Gates open at 6:30 p.m. The concert starts at 7:30 p.m. Must be of legal drinking age to attend. 

Tickets $40 at http://www.thebayfieldtownhall.com or $45 at the Door.

The Winter’s Tale reviewed by Mary Alderson.

by Richard Young

(This Review originally appeared on the website Entertain This Thought, and it is reposted with the permission of the reviewer.)

The Winter’s Tale, on stage at the Tom Patterson Theatre at the Stratford Festival, is a fascinating study of paranoia and mental illness which leads to a horrible situation. Then suddenly as the play draws to a pleasant close, all is well – cured, loved, and forgiven. While it is expertly directed and brilliantly performed, it is the abrupt shift in the end that leaves me cold.

Leontes, King of Sicily (Graham Abbey) is hosting his long-time friend Polixenes, the King of Bohemia (André Sills) and asks him to extend his visit. Polixenes declines. But when Queen Hermione (Sara Topham) invites him to stay longer, he agrees.

Immediately Leontes becomes suspicious of the two of them. He accuses his wife of being unfaithful, for no apparent reason. His jealousy and paranoia take control him. Hermione is pregnant, and Leontes decides the baby is not his; it must the child of his friend Polixenes. The King orders his Ambassador, Camillo (Tom Rooney) to get rid of Polixenes, but instead Camillo lets him flee. Then the King puts his wife in prison, where she gives birth to a baby girl. Their son, the darling little prince Mamillius, (played by Philip Myers and George Robinet in alternate performances) dies while his mother is in prison, and she in turn dies of sorrow. Leontes orders the baby be taken away and abandoned.

After intermission, the story fast-forwards 16 years, and Time (Lucy Peacock) appears in the form of an angel with white feathered wings. A lowly shepherd’s adopted daughter, Perdita (Marissa Orjalo) and Florizel (Austin Eckert), son of King Polixenes want to marry. There are concerns that she is not a suitable bride, but Florizel persists. In the meantime, with everyone he loves dead or gone, Leontes realizes the error of his ways. Eventually they figure out that Perdita is the daughter of Hermione and Leontes, making her suitable for Florizel and the wedding is celebrated. A statue of Hermione comes to life, then she forgives Leontes and they renew their relationship.

Director Antoni Cimolino has gathered Stratford’s corps d’elite in the cast, and a large cast at that – enough to fill the long, thrust stage at the Tom Patterson Theatre. Graham Abbey is excellent as the unwell Leontes. His paranoia and mental illness came in subtle waves; he didn’t have to exaggerate it. Sara Topham gives us a lovely Hermione, puzzled by her husband’s accusations. André Sills starts as a very dignified King Polixenes, but then provides some humour as a disguised spy, as does his sidekick in disguise, Tom Rooney as Camillo. Lucy Peacock is an ethereal angel as Time. Tom McCamus creates some fun as a slightly befuddled Old Shepherd, along with Christo Graham as his overly exuberant son. Geraint Wyn Davies has a great clown-like role as the hilarious swindler Autolycus.

The Winter’s Tale is an interesting story; one you don’t study in school or see performed often. This production is designed to take the audience into the depths of the King’s paranoia, but after intermission, lighten the mood. However, if Shakespeare was here, I’d tell him it was just too unbelievable. How can Leontes be forgiven? He jailed his wife and left her to die there, let their adorable young son die, and banished their baby girl to be abandoned in another country. If he is, indeed, suffering from mental illness and he acknowledges that, seeks help, and finds medication, then we can forgive him. We will just have to believe that Shakespeare was ahead of his time, finding a means to improve mental health.

The Winter’s Tale continues in repertory until September 27 at Tom Patterson Theatre, Stratford. Tickets are available at the Stratford Festival by calling 1-800-567-1600 or online at www.stratfordfestival.ca

Photo: André Sills as Polixenes (front-left), Sara Topham as Hermione (front-right) and Graham Abbey as Leontes (far right) with members of the company in The Winter’s Tale, Stratford Festival 2025. Photo by David Hou.

The Winter’s Tale
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Antoni Cimolino
Original Music by Wayne Kelso
Performed by Graham Abbey, Yanna McIntosh, Sara Topham, Austin Eckert, Tom McCamus, Marissa Orjalo, Tom Rooney, André Sills, Geraint Wyn Davies, et al
Tom Patterson Theatre, Stratford
Stratford Festival
May 7 to October 27, 2025
Reviewed by Mary Alderson

For more theatre reviews and news, visit https://www.entertainthisthought.com/

by Richard Young

Sharpen your audition skills with Jeff Holbrough!

Join us for a FREE Musical Audition Seminar led by musical director and educator Jeff Holbrough.

Jeff brings a wealth of experience from London Musical Theatre, Woodstock Little Theatre, Ingersoll Theatre, Auburn Theatre — and of course, the Palace! A sought-after adjudicator across Ontario, he’s also performed professionally with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony and various choirs as a soloist. Jeff approaches every session with care for the voice, genuine encouragement and just the right amount of humour to keep you relaxed and learning.

📅 Thursday, September 4
🕖 7–8:30 pm
📍 Maryse Leitch Hall, Palace Theatre Arts Commons

As part of our New Stage Adult Theatre Education series, this seminar is perfect for anyone looking to refine their musical audition technique in a supportive, professional environment.

✅ Learn valuable tips for auditions from an industry pro
✅ Ask questions and focus on showcasing your talent
✅ Limited spots available!

📧 Register now: info@ptaclondon.ca

🎭 Don’t miss this opportunity to boost your confidence and take your audition skills to the next level!