The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 18.0138  Tuesday, 13 February 2007

From: 		Al Magary <
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Date: 		Monday, 12 Feb 2007 17:33:28 -0800
Subject: 	A Rave for "Slings and Arrows," Canadian TV Series about a 
Shakespeare Troupe

The TV columnist in my local paper, the San Francisco Chronicle, fancies 
himself "cranky pants," but here he is raving about a Canadian TV 
series, "Slings and Arrows," whose storyline involves a Shakespeare company:

"Most American television fans have never heard of 'Slings and Arrows,' 
a Canadian series shown here on the Sundance Channel, which is an 
exceptionally well crafted, beautifully nuanced and wonderfully smart 
series that deftly weaves drama with comedy in ways few series do.  It 
will enter its third and final season Sunday...

"'Slings and Arrows' has a specialness that's hard to ignore, and to 
selfishly keep the show to oneself and a small group of like-minded 
devotees would just be wrong.

"The series revolves around the (mostly) backstage machinations of a 
Shakespeare company working out of the fictional New Burbage Theater 
Festival in Canada (which is no doubt loosely based on the famed 
Stratford Festival in Ontario).

"This subset of people -- actors dedicated to Shakespeare well told in a 
world that could mostly care less -- is a rich milieu that the creators 
of "Slings and Arrows" mine with a perfection that 'Studio 60 on the 
Sunset Strip' can't touch..."

More of this review at 
http://sfgate.com/cgi-in/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/02/12/DDGRFO25CN1.DTL

The DVDs for seasons 1 and 2 are available in the US-Canada and UK 
formats.  The Sundance Channel site has a couple video clips: 
http://www.sundancechannel.com/series/?ixSeries=50  To find out if your 
cable or satellite provider offers Sundance Channel, call: 800-SUN-FILM 
(800-786-3456).

The show's official site is at 
http://www.themovienetwork.ca/slingsandarrows/ and IMDB has production 
details:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387779/

Cheers,
Al Magary

[Editor's Note: I have both seasons on DVD, since I don't watch 
television, and I am a fan of the series; it represents what intelligent 
television should be. -HMC]

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