December 18, 2008

Graham Greene in Slings and Arrows

In episode 3 of Season 2 of the Canadian TV series Slings and Arrows, Graham Greene appears in a faux documentary for a few seconds. He's there to tout the genius of fictional theater impresario Oliver Welles.

Since Greene is a Canadian actor who has worked in Canadian theater, this is a nice touch. Slings and Arrows is another show that has met my made-up standard for inclusiveness. Namely, if you have 100 characters with speaking parts, make one of them a Native.

For more on Greene in the Canadian theater, see Graham Greene as Shylock and Merchant of Venice Trailer.

The real point

Actually, this posting is just an excuse for me to rave about Slings and Arrows. Here's a brief review from Amazon.com:In the fictional town of New Burbage, legendary theatrical madman Geoffrey Tennant returns to the New Burbage Theatre Festival, the site of his greatest triumph and most humiliating failure, to assume the artistic directorship after the sudden death of his mentor, Oliver Welles. When Geoffrey arrives he finds that Oliver is still there, in spirit anyway, and with his guidance (and often in spite of it) Geoffrey attempts to reconcile with his past while wrestling the festival back from the marketing department. Despite a bitter leading lady, a clueless leading man, and a scheming general manager, he manages to stage a remarkable production of Hamlet--the play that drove him mad.And a brief review:absolutely the best TV show to come along in years, 29 October 2006 10/10
Author: cotswoldcutie from United States

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 IQs over 10. I've been a huge fan of Stephen Ouimette 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.
Comment:  I completely agree with this. The first season may be better than anything else on TV in the last few years.

For more on the subject, see TV Shows Featuring Indians.

1 comment:

Alex Bledsoe said...

Completely agree with you about Slings and Arrows.