John Shand Posts

May 19, 2025 / Theatre Reviews

Wharf 1 Theatre, May 9 8/10 The greatest roles allow for endless revelations. The corollary is that no Winnie in Happy Days will ever be perfect, any more than any Hamlet will be. The role’s scope is too vast. Despite playwright Samuel Beckett’s best efforts to corral actors into playing…

May 14, 2025 / Theatre Reviews

Ensemble Theatre, May 7 7.5/10 You know when you walk in on an existing conversation, and automatically try to connect threads of what’s being said? These two one-act plays by Harold Pinter are similar to that. No playwright was more influenced by Samuel Beckett, yet where Beckett gave us glimpses…

May 11, 2025 / Features

When the celebrated actor Pamela Rabe was first approached to play Winnie, the central character in Samuel Beckett’s play Happy Days, she had to think about it. Winnie, you see, is not for the faint-hearted. Buried up to her waist in the first act and up to her neck in…