People you may know. They keep popping up on my Facebook feed. Some of them I do know. Some of them I’m aware of but don’t know. And some others…? They’re friends with one person I know?? Why would you assume they are my friends, Facebook? But it’s the ones that you…
One of the best things about going to the Fringe is bumping into friends and acquaintances. There’s always time for a quick catch up before the show starts. Or an in-depth debrief over drinks after the show. You can share what to go see. What to avoid… And commiserate on everything in between. There’s even…
So many shows. So little time. It’s hard to pace oneself during the Fringe Festival. Hamilton’s Fringe Festival is 11 days. It runs through two weekends and the days between. Deb and I were away for the first weekend, so that made the decision for what shows to see more difficult. There are shows you…
The Hamilton Fringe starts in two weeks or so. And the onslaught will begin. Folks blasting social media to try to get you to their show. People coming up to you while you’re waiting in line for shows. Eager folks handing out flyers or cards in the streets. I know. I’ve been there. And I’ll…
“It’s the good advice, that you just didn’t take And who would’ve thought it figures?” Alanis Morrissette A year ago, my brother suggested that I make a Kindle version of my book Laund-o-mat at the End of the World. (The typo in the title is deliberate.) It’s a collection of three of my one-act…
The other day, I got an email from Amazon. They were going to be paying me my royalties for my book Laund-O-Mat at the End of The World and Other Fringe Favourites. It was published in 2014 and I was going to receive a whopping $17.95! Whoo hoo! To be honest, I didn’t think I…
I’m a playwright, so why am I putting on a clown piece for the 2018 Hamilton Fringe Festival? Good question. I didn’t have a play ready when it was time to submit to the Fringe Lottery. To be fair, I didn’t have a clown piece ready, either. But I was just wrapping up another Clown…
Often the process of reaching a goal is straightforward and progress is definitely incremental. Sometimes, it’s a little less obvious and for every two steps forward, you take one step backward. And sometimes, you get to a point for every step forward, you take TWO steps backward. Or at least it feels that way… My…
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” George Santayana I originally meant to write this post a couple of weeks ago, but a Christmas cold grabbed hold of me and refused to let go. Although the cold is still lingering, I figured I better get this post done before January ended.…
The currency of a Fringe Festival is word of mouth. And reviews of shows are what get carried by word of mouth. Tom Mackan is a familiar presence in the Hamilton area theatre scene being a well known director, actor, reviewer and general encourager of Theatre. He won the Theatre Ontario Maggie Basset Award in…
peter gruner 