Slings & Arrows - Season 1

While not quite The Wire, Slings and Arrows is a close second, as it follows the actors and administrators of the fictional Burbage Shakespear Theatre Festival somewhere in Canada. Each season sees the company rehearse and mount a Shakespearean play----Hamlet, Macbeth, & King Lear-- after we've watched the interplay of the cast, including the director, Jeffrey, as he wrestles with the ghost of his now dead mentor and his own meltdown mid-performance of Hamlet years ago. Simply great.

This is a show about a group of theatre people - generally putting on Shakespeare plays and you don't have to like or understand Shakespeare to enjoy this.This show (specifically Paul Gross who plays Geoffrey Tennant) allows you to feel the joy, passion, fear, thrills, excitement, anxiety etc. of theatre actors. It's categorized as a comedy, but I think it is probably more like a lighthearted drama.Geoffrey, Ellen & Oliver were best friends and actors together. Geof/Ellen madly in love, Oliver the gay best friend who was constantly left behind as the couple went off to share private moments -- which is understandable, but a little painful if you're Oliver.At some point Oliver & Ellen knocked boots and Geof had a breakdown...which began in the middle of a live performance of Hamlet.Years later Oliver is killed and Geof is hired to fill in and direct a cast which includes Ellen. Tough enough situation to deal with the ex and Hamlet again - and everyone wondering if he's still crazy, but now he also sees and speaks with dead Oliver!Excellent performances by Paul Gross and Rachel McAdams (Kate). If you have the slightest interest in theatre this show WILL pull you in and you will come back for more. Good stuff! Well written.

The first series follows a fictional Canadian Shakespearean Festival (The New Burbage) as it overcomes the sudden death of its artistic director and attempts to reinvigorate itself with a production of "Hamlet" starring an American movie star who may or may not have the chops to pull it off; a former company member who's gone a bit bughouse but is persuaded to return to the scene and the play that was his undoing seven years prior and a gang of misfits whose behind the scenes machinations and shenanigans make what's happening backstage as interesting as what's happening on it.Every now and again something comes along with the perfect cast, direction and writing that remind us how special television can be. The performances are pitch perfect and the flow of the series is easy and engaging. Anyone familiar with "Twin Peaks" will recognize a similar, unconventional (some might say odd) feel that you'll either love or hate.I'll point out that a young, still relatively unknown Rachel McAdams is a standout. Her goofy yet sexy twist on the "ingenue" anchors a major plot point. Unfortunately her movie career took off after the first season aired and she was compelled to chase the Hollywood dream and was therefore written out at the beginning of Season Two. No one can blame her for that but her departure diluted the magic formula that was "Slings and Arrows."

We caught this series of three seasons when it was first aired on PBS. Watched the repeat a year later and then, a year after that rented the DVDs. So this is the fourth time we've watched, purchased from Amazon. It bears repeated watching. Because the characters are authentic enough to carry the story line; and because the story of the magic of the theater bears repeating. And this is played so very well. -- Season one was first broadcast the year after Shakespeare in Love came out, telling the same tale - the triumph of faith and commitment over the mundane realities of life. A year later Stage Beauty, with much the same theme, also provided a very satisfying reminder of the magic of staged drama. -- But what makes this provincial Canadian-based series so lovely it just that without high paid writers, directors and the very best production values the sincerity and humane striving of live theater is portrayed with vivid intensity. Very satisfying. I guess because each of the three seasons simply shows the same thing. Each time with a new story line. But always the same ardor for the joys and considerable pains creating the magic of the theater.

As someone who spent 10 years working as a professional arts administrator for both a large opera company (with an even larger operating budget) and a small "off-off Broadway" theatre (with an even smaller operating budget), I found "Slings and Arrows" a funny and often touching portrayal of the daily chaos that surrounds non-profit arts organizations. What I really love about this series is that it is never mean spirited or attacking and each character has at their core a real passion for the craft. Even the "divas" and "corporate brown nosers" ultimately are portrayed with redeemable characteristics.There were many occasions that I laughed out loud, paused the DVD player and shouted an emphatic "YES!" in agreement with the realistic depiction of this surreal business we call "show."Whether you have worked in the arts, are a patron of the arts, or simply love a great ensemble cast comedy, please do yourself a favor and watch all three seasons of "Slings and Arrows." Give yourself a nice block of time to watch this series, though...it's like the potato chips...no one can watch just one! My husband and I watch all three seasons in the course of one weekend "marathon" style.

Slings and Arrows is exactly the sort of brilliant, comedy drama stuff that used to be made all the time. The basic plot is this:The New Burbage festival is the high point of the Canadian Theatre year. But the artistic director (camp, cruel sell out Oliver Wells) is killed after a party, leaving the festival without anyone to direct Hamlet. Enter Geoffrey Tennant (played by Due South's Paul Gross looking more like Bernard Black from Black Books) an actor who went mad while giving a career best performance as Hamlet. Geoffrey is coaxed into the role of director, even though there is much bad blood between him and Oliver, who takes the opportunity to haunt him (is Paul Gross the best actor to play being haunted by a ghost?). Meanwhile Richard Smith-Jones, the financial director of the festival and strictly a drab little money man, falls into bed (literally) with a corporate she-devil who has greater plans to re-market the festival. Oh, and there's a relationship between an American movie star and a young ingenue in there as well.It's a great show, there's character, there's comedy, there's genuine dramatic conflict. It's the sort of show you watch with a smile on your face the whole way through because it's genuinely intelligent and heartfelt. It's about acting yes, but it's about the way theatre relates to and can help you understand your own life.It's a crime that no TV network in the UK has picked this up and that it's not on Region 2 DVD so that it can reach a larger audience.

Being a huge Paul Gross fan and hearing so much about this series I just had to check it out for myself. And I am so very glad I did. Not only does the series have a brilliant cast but it is so very well written. And it's very true that there is more drama behind the scenes than on the stage. It's extremely funny and touching all at the same time. It's simply wonderful and i can't wait to see the next two seasons.

Looking for a smart funny and original TV show? This is it. A delight to watch and enjoy, I have watched it and rewatched it multiple times.

A lighthearted satirical look at theatre, actors, and Shakespeare's plays, it pokes delicious fun at the pretensions and foibles of the famous Canadian Stratford Festival. The comedy is character-based, fantastical at times, and always interesting. Each season deals with the staging of one of Shakespeare's plays, starting with Hamlet, going on to Macbeth, and finishing with Lear. The director's notes to the actors are insightful, and the actors' delivery of the immortal lines always a delight. Highly recommended.

カナダの連続TVドラマ「Slings & Arrows」の第１シーズン全６話に加え、NGシーンや削除シーンなどのおまけがついたDVD。物語の舞台となるのは、カナダの田舎町ニューバーベッジのシェイクスピア劇団。舞台監督オリバーの突然の死後、彼の教え子で元役者のジェフリーが後任に抜擢され、次の上演作ハムレットの監督をすることになる。だが、ハムレットこそ、ジェフリーが精神を病み役者を辞める原因となった因縁の演目であり、彼はなかなか正面から取り組むことができない。役者たちも問題ばかりで、ハムレットを演じるのは顔以外とりえのない映画スター、オフィーリア役は目立ちたがりの大根女優。さらには死んだはずのオリバーがジェフリーの前に現われて彼を悩ませる。彼はハムレット上演を成功させることができるのか…。主役のジェフリーを演じるのは、「騎馬警官」の主人公フレイザー役のポール・グロス。私はポール・グロス目当てに購入し、中身にはあまり期待せずに軽い気持ちで見始めたのですが、これが本当に面白くて第１話からすっかりストーリーに引き込まれてしまいました。とにかく脚本のテンポが良くて密度が濃い。登場人物もみなリアルでご都合主義っぽさがありません。サブプロットで描かれる新人女優と映画スターの恋、金儲け主義のお偉方の覇権争いの行方も面白く、毎エピソード全く退屈しない。”変人”＆”落ちぶれた元スター”のジェフリーを演じるポール・グロスはまさにはまり役で、主役以外も、それぞれの役を好演してます。物語の枠組み自体は、いたって正統派で古典的なものですが、脚本と人物描写次第でどうにでも面白くできるという見本のような作品です。ただ難点は、DVDに英語字幕が無いところ。発音は全体的に聴き取りやすいものの、シェイクスピア関連の台詞にはやや難儀します。それさえクリアできれば、見て損はありません。おすすめです。