From My Shelves – Slings and Arrows

From My Shelves is a series of occasional posts that look at items from my personal collection to which I have a special attachment.


Slings and Arrows (2003, 2005-06)  Take a Canadian Shakespeare company, filled with egos, romantic histories, artistic snobbery, mental breakdowns, rising young stars, fading older one, and a ghost.  I mean you pretty much HAVE to have a ghost, right?  Give them a good shake and then sit back and watch the show.

What “WKRP in Cincinnati” is to radio, “Slings and Arrows” is to theater companies.  It’s an over the top, rather dark look at a creative community.  Having worked with both actors and DJs, I can tell you that they have a lot in common.  Enormous egos balanced on a razor’s edge at all times.  It’s another world where what the audience is allowed to see bears very little resemblance to how it was produced.  There is madness behind the scenes.  A delightful, wicked kind of mad energy that either drives you screaming into the streets, or leaves you weeping when the time comes to exit.  Sometimes both.

The story here follows the New Burbage Theater Festival.  It’s facing all the usual big issues (finances are tight because people don’t come out for the classics as much anymore), and the usual small issues (personality clashes, egos) plus something really fun.  Like the Artistic Director, Oliver Welles, dropping dead.  In a panic, they call his protege back to take his place.  The problem is that Geoffrey Tennant left, in the middle of a performance, with a complete mental breakdown.  Plus he abandoned the company’s leading lady without a word.  And when he does come back, he sees Oliver’s ghost.  Now he has to figure out a way to save the Festival, make his way through the minefields of history with these people and actually get shows on stage, on time.  Without losing his mind.  Unless he already has.

If you’ve spent any time around a theater I believe you will recognize many of the characters.  If you love the theater and always wondered what went on backstage, you will love this show as well.  It’s all very funny and very Canadian.  The series runs for three six episode seasons, and you will want more.

I had never heard of this series until it was recommended to us by the owner of a bed and breakfast near Niagara Falls.  Mrs. Phlipside and I were taking a little time to ourselves and stayed in this cool place along the Niagara Gorge.  Over breakfast, our host found out we both have theater backgrounds (it’s where we met, in fact) and told us we had to watch the series.  It was a great visit and an even better recommendation!