Rewind
“A gripping mind teaser from start to finish… through a whirlwind of time. I was able to reflect and sit back as I faced some of my greatest fears — war, life, and life after death… a must see for today’s ever changing world!”
– Cheona Nielson (The Craig)
“…There is a dreamlike unreality of shifting times, ages, and relationships — the result of the Faustian bargain of the female character to grow young rather than age (all the way back to birth and possibly beyond).
“Some plays give easy answers… The difficult is intellectually satisfying. This play… doesn’t answer any questions but generates many.”
“Were we dead before we were born? Should we avoid the future if we can? If we close our minds to the ugly and evil, does it disappear…?
– Anne Ridsdale Mott (The Craig)
“A determinedly arty and experimental play by Victoria’s Heldor Schafer, Rewind purports to examine the concepts of time and memory.
“A strong atmosphere is conveyed at the outset with avant-garde music courtesy of a six-piece orchestra and a scratchy recording of the Isley Brothers’ Shout played faster and faster. Three mysterious characters — Haas, Tati and Croe — appear. Time, it turns out, is a fluid commodity experienced differently by each.
“The piece’s moody dreaminess, the vaguely eastern European atmosphere and portentous dialogue suggests the influence of such dramatists as Strindberg.”…
– Adrian Chamberlain (Victoria Times Colonist)
Othello 5
“Fewer characters and a shortened script doesn’t pose a problem for the Victoria Shakespeare Festival’s version of Othello.
“Director/playwright Heldor Schafer has managed to put together an alternative adaptation of the tragedy without sacrificing the essence of the story.
“Instead of having the 15-plus characters as in the original version, Schafer selected five local actors to play the principal roles of Othello, Desdemona, Iago, Emilia and Cassio…
“The same actors double as the chorus… [which] proves to be a great way to keep the audience informed about exactly what is going on , such as the state of Iago’s conscience as he lets his jealousy get the better of him and talks himself into luring Othello down a path of self destruction.”
– Mark Browne (News Group)