Don't miss the Stage West Theatre Festival in Corner Brook this summer

by Keith and Heather Nicol

    Stage West Theatre Festival (SWTF) is celebrating its 5^th year and offers residents and visitors to Corner Brook lots of great entertainment for an evening out. One of their 5 shows runs almost every night from July 4 to August 2 at either the Corner Brook Arts and Culture Centre or the Royal Canadian Legion. All shows start at 8:00 pm and you can pay $17 per show or buy a season pass for just $65 which must be one of the best deals around. So far we have seen 3 of the shows and the Artistic Directors  Mike Payne, Stephen Perchard and Jordan Stringer must be very happy with the great turnouts for these events. First up was “A Fine Tyme”, which is SWTF’s heart felt tribute to Newfoundland and its music. We thought this performance was amazing and the songs seem to suit each singer very well. Some songs were sung with all 9 performers and some allowed each vocalist to perform individually. There is minimal instrumental accompaniment which allows the performers voices really shine through. Don’t miss this one. 

Hear great Newfoundland music at "A Fine Tyme"

      On Saturday, July 6 we saw “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown”. This musical is suited to all ages and there were quite a few families with young children in the audience who especially seemed to like “Snoopy”. Like the comic strip, the play is a series of short vignettes. We thought all the actors suited their parts and our favourites vignettes included the Linus blanket sketch, the book report piece with the oversized pencils and the Beethoven sketch. 

A scene from "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown"

        Next we saw “West Moon” on Monday, July 8. The play was written by one of Newfoundland’s best known writers- Al Pittman and it deals with life in a Newfoundland outport from the standpoint of a group of people of once lived in St. Kevins . The setting is a graveyard and the play magically brings these people to life for one evening (November 2, 1965) as they reminisce about times gone by.  This is a powerful play which is very well presented by SWTF. Stage West is also performing “The Anger in Ernest and Ernestine” and “Marion Bridge” later in July and we are looking forward to those shows.  For more information and for a complete schedule check out: http://www.stagewesttheatrefestival.com/