Grinder's Grumblings

In our barnyard there sits a pile of junk: old mangers and other feeders from past stabling configurations, wooden gates from a different era, slowly rotting away, and lots of other detritus from various and sundry projects, all designed to make the farm run smoother (most of which were quickly proven failures). The pile of junk wouldn't look out of place in any barnyard, and I've seen barnyards with piles of junk much larger than ours, but still, it shouldn't be there. It's a hazard to the livestock, a haven for rodents, and an endless source of sharp metal objects just waiting to puncture a mind-bogglingly expensive tractor tire. And worst of all, that pile has been there for years, and has grown over time. I didn't start the process of accumulating the junk, but I have certainly made that junk pile my own. Over the past few weeks I've finally managed to start dealing with some of the junk. A few boards here, a bit of wire there, even a piece of rope - no idea...

  Electra Cast - before and after the show It's been a couple of weeks now since we brought the curtain down on the 2026 Grinder Summer season with our production of The Electra of Euripides. What an adventure! A big thank-you to this small-but-mighty cast, rehearsing in the shadows of a much larger show, who pulled together quickly to create something spectacular in a very short period of time. I can now definitively check "Greek Tragedy" of my directorial bucket list. Now that I've had a bit of time to recover (and to write blog posts) I'm starting to look ahead to the next two projects here at Grinder, a pair of shows in the Grand River Arts Festival's 10-minute Play Contest in Brantford this September. This is our third year participating, but the first where we've had two plays - one of Jules', and one of mine. Rehearsals will be getting underway for those soon, so watch this space for some rehearsal shots from both shows.  And while I don't t...

  What a ride! This past weekend we transformed the Ennotville Historical Library into Handlebar Dan's House of a Old Wives, a Sarsaparilla Saloon and the setting for one of the largest shows we've ever staged in this intimate little venue. This "Gay 90's" melodrama drew capacity crowds at both performances, enthralling audience members young and old (and I really mean that - some of the biggest reactions I saw were from the "too cool for old school" teenagers).  I'd like to thank everyone who took part in this play, with a special thanks to my assistant director Mya, who stepped into the role of Sally Simple at the 11th hour, and of course to Jules, the world's greatest stage manager and world's greatest wife, who stepped into the role of Gertrude Gretchen Gwillimbury at the 11th and a half hour, performing through injury.  This is the sort of play that I hope is done somewhere again. It already has had a staged reading in Georgia, in additi...

The Cast of Electra Calista Alison - Chorus: Normally starring in backstage crew roles, Calista is beyond thrilled to be making her stage debut in Electra! She is so grateful to Eric, and Grinder Productions for this opportunity, mentorship and trust. Big thanks to the cast for their kindness and support! Gareth Roberts - Orestes:  Gareth is a recent graduate of UTM’s Theatre and Drama Studies joint program with Sheridan College, now enjoying taking opportunities to branch out across acting, writing and plenty of new artistic challenges. He hopes you’ll enjoy tonight’s performance, and asks that theatre audiences always continue to push themselves in their engagement with art; being curious, making connections, and of course letting it change them! Credits include  Twelfth Night as Sir Toby ; The Devised Project: The New Dress and Miss Milan/Ensemble; The Alchemist as Lovewit; The Play that Goes Wrong as Trevor. Cassandra Hunt - Farmer, Old Man, Messenger, Clytaemnestra, Ca...

  Introducing the Cast of Dirty Deeds at Handlebar Dan's House of Old Wives: Looking innocent, but really not, is John Dibben, playing the dastardly villain, Munro "Moneybags"  Maclean. The Villain. Again. Type cast or great acting? Only his family knows for sure. Villains: Mr. Potter, Scrooge, Shylock, Big Daddy, Malvolio, Hermann van Daan… Just to name a few. Nice Guy’s: Selsdon Mowbray. That’s it. Not so Nice Guys: Capt. Frank Burns (Mash), Paul (Hayfever), Paul (Murder at the Howard Johnson’s), Father (Having Hope at Home). He's sure there’s more but he's out of space. Wondering who farted (but pretty sure it was John) is Michelle Salmon, playing the feisty French Maid Fifi. Michelle has been involved in theatre in one way or another, in the surrounding community for over 35 years. Her passion is acting, specifically taking on comedic character roles. She is thrilled to share the character of Fifi with you. A few favourite lines from the show (only one of whic...

  For the past few months my go-to bedtime reading was the Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics. As part of my decades-long quest to slay the demons from my misspent youth, ploughing through this weighty tome has been on my to-do list for quite some time, and I’m pleased to say that I’m finally through with it, and have moved on to books that are much lighter (Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, at the moment). However it was an moderately-good cure for insomnia, and even good exercise - the book was so heavy that my wrist muscles seem stronger just from holding it all every night for months on end.  But as much as I did not enjoy the book, I did learn a lot from it. And one of the things that I am learnt is just how important the literature of ancient Greece (be it poetry, prose, or drama) is to the entire canon of Western literature. Basically, everything we write today is built off of the writing of the Greeks, or more accurately the misinterpretation of the writing ...