Ottawa

On our way home to Toronto Brad dropped me off in Ottawa to stay with some family.  We wished we had come to Ottawa for the fringe festival, it would have been so much fun doing Dickens there, but we learned too late that it was possible to do both Montreal and Ottawa’s festivals even though the dates overlap.  Another time I guess. 

We enjoyed getting lost in Ottawa, driving past our majestic Parliament a couple of times.  Such a beautiful sight.  Beats the State’s white-washed Washington any day in my opinion. 

We even stopped in and took a look at the new War Museum.  Fascinating building and quite a nice exhibit.  I wish it was more in depth – but as an overall look at Canada’s war-like past it was informative.  Surprisingly it didn’t have much at all about Riel and his rebellions or the North West Mounted Police and Western politics – is this still too touchy a subject to discuss?

Montreal – Fest One!

First off, I am writing this in Winnipeg and the play has already finished two festivals, so please forgive my tardiness. I will try to keep each posting as short as possible.  – KB

I was thrilled to be in Montreal – a city I have always wanted to live in.  A strange, old, wonderful, beautiful and wild city when compared to others here in Canada.  Having just lived in Berlin for the past year, I was amazed at how similar a vibe Montreal has to Berlin.  Its laid back (except when it comes to driving and traffic – sorry, but its true), has a great European charm to it and the art and nightlife scene are nicely woven together, something that can be rare in North America. 

Hint: for some great Sunday afternoon hangover entertainment head to Mount Royal for the Tam Tams and watch the medievil group battle it out in the dirt with duct-taped swords – hilariously awesome.

The festival was fun (and a bit intimidating – being our first), Brad and I met so many fascinating people at the show and the response to Dickens was great.  It was very hard to get bums in the seats, but the press were more than kind and we were even voted as one of the Top Ten shows at the fringe by the jury!  Quite the surprise for Brad and I at the closing ceremonies to hear our names called – I didn’t even know it was juried until then!

Even for a couple of out-of-towners, we felt welcomed by those who came to see the show.  We had fun being close to the beer tent and seeing some old friends and family.  The only thing we didn’t enjoy was the kurt treatment by some of the staff of the fringe, but that couldn’t shadow the love we had for the volunteers and audience.  Maybe it was because we were from Toronto. 

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