2003 · 2002 · 2001 · 2000

"Criminal Minds"
Robin Swicord
Directed & designed by John Dalingwater
Starring Brent Buchanan, Oonagh Duncan & Peter Church
"Well, maybe you're with the wrong man Billy Marie.
Because I am going to be rich! Rich like you never dreamed
some jerked-up red clay redneck could ever be outside
of Coca-Cola! Because I believe it is every American's right
to attempt to lead a life that is better than his neighbors'!"

June 26 to July 13, 2003

Just nine days before Eddie Ray's parole he breaks out of prison with
his fellow convict "Renfro" in tow and escapes with the unwitting
assistance of his long-suffering wife, Billy Marie. These three misfits
hide-out in an abandoned mini-putt while Eddie Ray tries to figure out
what talent Renfro has that they can use to become millionaires.
Eddie is convinced that, despite Renfro's appearance and the fact
that he has the memory of a goldfish, he is in fact a criminal genius.
Through a series of hilarious episodes Renfro's memory is finally,
fatally restored.

“If you want to be agreeably entertained and amused … look no further
than Fort Erie where Gypsy Theatre presents a comedy of miscalculated
errors … Right from his entrance, Brent Buchanan gives us an Eddie
who is belligerent, wound up and just a little on edge. In contrast, Peter
Church, towering over him, presents a teddy-bear vulnerability that not
only irritates Eddie but eventually arouses the protective in Billie Marie
for whom Oonagh Duncan immediately enlists our sympathy … John
Dalingwater directs with a sense of fun and pace while bringing out
the characters’ inner depths and using the stage with intelligence
and flair. A piece of popular theatre that combines psychological
exploration with humour, Criminal Minds produces a tingle of
excitement and some very funny moments.”
Joanna Manning, The Tribune

"Dear Liar"
by Jerome Kilty
Directed by John Dalingwater
Starring Bernadette Feeney & Christopher Kelk
"Tear it up and re-write it. People will only say that old age and
your super-human vanity have robbed you of your common sense."
"You dare give yourself airs with me?" "Yes, Mr. Shaw, I dare!
If you went to heaven you would think it funny to shake hands
with God and pull the chair out from under him at the same time!"

May 22 to June 15, 2003.

Kilty has done a magnificent job of crafting a tale that explores the emotional
connection between two prominent icons of the 20th century English stage.

"Dear Liar is a continuously fascinating, insightful, wonderfully informative
carnival of words "Christopher Kelk, very much looking the part, is a mostly
energized Shaw, pensive on occasion, wise, love-struck, easily hurt, quick
to rebound. Kelk is superb and makes this intriguing show indispensable for
Shavians. Bernadette Feeney plays Mrs. Pat with spunk and wit, fragility
showing through, ultimately worn down by the world; in Feeney's hands,
Campbell does not come off second best. John Dalingwater's direction is
crisp and smart; the volume of words here never seems to bog down.
The set's dark, dueling writing desks and multicolored background contrast nicely."
* * * 1/2 (out of * * * *) Ted Hadley, The Buffalo News

2002 · 2003 · 2001 · 2000

"A Night In The Theatre"
by Lawrence Casler
Directed by John Dalingwater
Starring Bernadette Feeney & Paul Lewis & Lada
Darewych & Aaron Lavoie
"... they talk funny. Why don't they modernize their talking
so people can understand? It's like a foreign language they're
talking. Isn't it like a foreign language they're talking, Margaret?"
"I don't know. I haven't been listening. I'm waiting for
something to happen."

June 27th to August 9th, 2002

In "A Night In The Theatre" two couples go to see a production
of "Hamlet" and through their disruptions, arguments and slap-stick
altercations a comedy of outlandish proportions ensues.We cannot
hate these poor, unenlightened souls as they are the Lucille Ball's,
the Jackie Gleason's, and the Art Carney's that inhabit the world of
comedy and make-believe.

"The script is hilariously funny. John Dalingwater directs with obvious
delight and a sense of fun. Plunge into the deep end of refreshing laughter
and enjoy the sensation. This is a good one."
Joanna Manning, The Tribune

"Endgame"
by Samuel Beckett
Directed by John Dalingwater
Starring John Dalingwater, Simon Wright, Richard
Vaillancourt & Bunita Turnbull
"The whole thing is comical, I'll grant you that. What about having
a good guffaw the two of us together?"
"I couldn't guffaw again today."

August 15th to September 8th, 2002

This is a classic piece of absurdist theatre and one of the foundations
upon which the genre was built. It can be described as a masterpiece,
a philosophical quagmire, a maze of apocalyptic proportions, a clown
show gone horribly wrong, but beyond a doubt it is a magnificent
theatrical experience.

"Dalingwater's Hamm, though trigger-tempered, is also cavalier and
very affected. (He) excels in this dire tour de force, as does Simon Wright,
as the stressed Clov. Richard Vaillancourt has a nice turn as Nagg, his
scenes with Hamm full of fire. "Endgame" is a laudable production and
even though it takes much sorting out, perversely intriguing."
* * * ½ (out of * * * *) Ted Hadley, The Buffalo News

"Midnight Madness"
by Dave Carley
Directed by John Dalingwater
Starring Bernadette Feeney & Paul Lewis
"I know you."
"Those are the three scariest words in the English language."

July 25th to September 1st, 2002

Wesley and Anna haven't seen each other since they both quit high school
years ago. Their reasons for quitting were as different as they were, or
so it might seem, until they discover plenty they never knew about each
other in the bed department of Bloom's furniture store.

"If you would like something entertaining and a bit different, I strongly
suggest you give [Gypsy Theatre] a try. [Midnight Madness] is a tale
of deja vue. It is a story of remembering. [it] is not a play filled with belly
laughs, just frequent chuckles. A good time was had by all."
Seniors Review

"Misery"
by Stephen King, adapted for the stage by Simon Moore
Directed by John Dalingwater
Starring Bernadette Feeney & Simon Wright
"... they all know Annie Wilkes is crazy. They think I got away
with it, and they're right. Think about that Paul, while I'm in
town getting your cockadoodie paper. And if your turkey's
black as tar you'll still eat every last piece, even if I have to
shove it down your throat!!!"

September 12th to October 5th, 2002

A terrible car accident has left famous novelist Paul Sheldon a virtual
prisoner to schizophrenic Annie, his self-professed 'number-one-fan'.
As Annie nurses Paul back to health she discovers that his new novel
does not feature the popular heroine Misery Chastain, so she destroys his
manuscript and forces him to write another. Thus begins Paul's descent
into a living hell of pain, humiliation and degradation; he must write a new
chapter every day just to stay alive!

"This play works. Feeney takes the lead, fine-tuning a twisted Florence
Nightingale into a believable and yes, for one moment even sympathetic
character. Switching from caretaker to terrorist with alarming ease,
Feeney taunts her patient in one breath and adores him with the next.
This is a compellingly cruel thriller."
* * * (out of * * * *) Jane Kwiatkowski, The Buffalo News

2001 · 2003 · 2002 · 2000

"Educating Rita"
by Willy Russell
Directed by John Dalingwater
Starring Bernadette Feeney & Graham Roebuck
"Assonance means 'getting the rhyme wrong'..."

May 16 to July 1, 2001

"Educating Rita" is Willy Russell's modern and very finely crafted
version of Shaw's "Pygmalian" in which an uneducated, lower class
working girl is transformed into a polished and sophisticated woman
of elegance (or education) by a man who sees himself as somewhat
superior and a cut above the rest of society.

"Feeney's Rita is a powerful presence, all movement and chatter.
(She) can get the laughs as easily as she can rise to pathos. Roebuck's
Frank is appropriately muted at the start, though his character grows
nicely in the course of the evening (he) too can time a joke well,
but is an adept straight man."
* * * (out of * * * *) Tony Lewis, The Buffalo News

"No Exit (Huis Clos)"
by Jean-Paul Sartre
Directed by John Dalingwater
Starring J. Mark Hand & Kevin Burnett & Suzette
Araujo & Lada Darewych
"Open the door! ... I'll put up with any torture you impose.
Anything, anything would be better than this agony of mind!"
(The door flies open. Silence.)
"Now I wonder why that door opened?"

June 20 to September 16, 2001

It is the human condition that the more horrible or gruesome an event
the more intriguing it becomes.

"Dalingwate's direction here is sharp, clean and exhilarating although it has
its moments of wonderful humor, it is a play about the agony of
self-revelation."
* * * (out of * * * *) Richard Huntington, The Buffalo News

"Scrooge!"
Music, Book & Lyrics by Leslie Bricusse
Directed by John Dalingwater
Starring John Dalingwater as "Scrooge", J. Mark Hand as
"Bob Cratchit" & "Jacob Marley" and Paul Lewis as "The Ghost
of Christmas Present" With Bernadette Feeney as "Mrs. Cratchit",
Mike Insalaco as "Mr. Fezziwig", Kim Carroll as "The Ghost of
Christmas Past" and Brent Nicholls as
"The Ghost of Christmas Future"
Musical Direction by Keith Tait, Choreography by Keith Tait
and John Dalingwater

December 2001

A sensational musical based on the holiday classic "A Christmas Carol"
by Charles Dickens. This is a feast of wonderful songs and glorious
characters springing from the pages of Dickens' memorable tale of
greed, horror and redemption.

"The Dumb Waiter"
by Harold Pinter
Directed by John Dalingwater
Starring J. Mark Hand & Kevin Burnett
"I have never in my life heard anyone say put on the kettle."
"I bet my mother used to say it."

June 20 to September 16, 2001

"The Dumb Waiter" can arguably be called Pinter's most comic piece.
In this play he blends all the attributes associated with his distinctive
style into a synthesis of poetic brilliance.

"The gabby, perpetually puzzled Gus (J. Mark Hand) engages a
reluctant Ben (Kevin Burnett) in some of Pinter's most comically brilliant
small talk exchanges that recall Abbott and Costello's famous
"Who's on first?"
* * * (out of * * * *) Richard Huntington, The Buffalo News

"Wrong For Each Other"
by Norm Foster
Directed by John Dalingwater
Starring Bernadette Feeney & Paul Lewis
"So, would you like to do something? Watch
some T.V.? Order a pizza? Have sex?"
"What?" "I'm sorry, that wasn't supposed to be out loud."

July 11 to September 29, 2001

A chance meeting in a restaurant, after four years apart, sends a couple
flashing back through the highs and lows of their courtship and marriage,
It is an hilarious and often heart-breaking look at the rollercoaster ride
of a relationship.

"surprises with unexpected takes on the familiar boy-meets-girl story.
Bernadette Feeney is a richly talented actress, as quick with one-liners
as she is moving in her depression and anger. Paul Lewis s a winning personality,a cartoonish figure with a mobile face staging throughout
is fluid and seamless."
* * * (out of * * * *) Tony Lewis, The Buffalo News

2000 · 2003 · 2002 · 2001

"Billy Bishop Goes To War"
by John Gray
Directed by John Dalingwater
Starring Kirk Dunn with Musical Direction by Don Simpson
"We were off to fight the Hun. And it looked like lots of fun,
somehowit didn't seem like war at all, at all, at all.
Somehow it didn't seem like war at all!"

July 20th to September 3rd, 2000

Billy Bishop is a high-flying ace of a show, capturing the humour, the hellfire
and the derring-do of an extraordinary career.

A rollicking good evening of entertainment presented here by the
multi-talented Kirk Dunn, who is required to act, sing, dance and adopt any
number of dialects and accents in impersonating the incidental characters
who flit through the scenario and give it a necessary variety of texture.
The central stage is graced only by a chair, a stool and a few odd props.
But behind and above is the set's most effective prop, a large, stage-width
green rectangular hanging with pictures of World War I notables (that)
pivots forward becoming the upper wing of Billy's plane in which his
animated descriptions of the aerial dogfights become the gripping centre
of the narrative.
* * * (out of * * * *) Herman Trotter, The Buffalo News

"Oliver!"
Music, Book & Lyrics by Lionel Bart
Directed by John Dalingwater
Starring Bernadette Feeney as "Nancy" and "Widow Corny" -
John Dalingwater as "Fagin" - Paul Lewis as "Bill Sikes"
and introducing Jenna Warriner as "Oliver", Alyssa Clarke as
"The Artful Dodger" and Jennie Rorison as "Oliver" & "Dodger"
Also starring Bill Schmidt as "Mr. Bumble", J. Mark Hand as "Mr. Sourberry"
and Bailey Dalingwater as "Charlie"
Musical Direction by Keith Tait, Choreography by Keith Tait and
John Dalingwater

December 2000


A physically complex, terribly demanding musical, stuffed to its gills with
shrieking fishwives, gamy orphans and some of Dickens' funniest and most
snotty-nosed adults. This is a very impressive production with much to
recommend the show's most notable qualities are the singing and
dancing ofwhat must be 50 cast members aged 4 to 70, and excellent production designby John Dalingwater who also directs here and puts
in a star turn as a wonderfully realized Fagin Feeney turns in two fine performances as the self-sacrificing bar girl
Nancy and as the hilariously salacious Widow Corney. Bill Schmidt is excellent as the
lecherous and slobbering Mr. Bumble and his seduction numbers with
Feeney are show stoppers. This production is overall, a considerable feat.
* * * (out of * * * *) Patricia Donovan, The Buffalo News

"Shirley Valentine"
by Willy Russell
Directed by John Dalingwater
Starring Bernadette Feeney
"Sex for breakfast, sex for dinner, sex for tea 'an sex for supper!"

July 14th to September 23rd, 2000

Inside Mrs. Joe Bradshaw ... 42 year-old mother of two grown children ...
is the former Shirley Valentine longing to get out.

Bernadette Feeney&s take on Shirley Bradshaw's humdrum life as the wife
of a cranky lout and the mother of selfish teenagers is a strong and
beautifully nuanced performance. Feeney's is a powerful presence
who can turn from scorn and derision to wistful moments of reverie and
make the transition smooth and believable. Her collapse into near-whisper when she loses some of her bluster
and describes her awful marriage is affecting and memorable. She has a
comedian's way with one-liners, impressions and double takes, and yet
evokes the sadness in her character with all the strength of a tragedian.
* * * ½ (out of * * * *) Tony Lewis, The Buffalo News

"Vincent"
by Leonard Nimoy
Directed by John Dalingwater
Starring Gabe Bettio
"I soon noticed, however, that his work had after all made an
impression on me that I could not get out of my head."

August 17th to September 21st, 2000

This play is a portrait of Vincent van Gogh, seen by many as the
quintessential modern artist, as painted by his brother Theodore.
Through his reminiscences andtheir correspondence to each other
we glimpse the true personality of Vincent's genius and are given a
deeper understanding of what it is like to be the younger
sibling of a gifted and tormented artist.

"In traveling this dramatic route, Bettio often switches from Theo to the character
of Vincent, which not only establishes a sense of brotherly conversation
and contention, but also allows the actor to fully develop the burning
sense of passion that fueled all of Vincent's actions, both reasoned and blatantly irrational Bettio successfully treads a fine line, clearly
establishing Theo as benevolent and long suffering while painting
Vincent as a monumental genius who was mercurially inconsistent
and infuriatingly self-destructive, yet under it all pathetically loveable.
* * * (out of * * * *) Herman Trotter, The Buffalo News