The Tideline - Halifax Examiner

After two years and 95 episodes The Tideline is washing up but one last time. It's a bit of a format flip, featuring first guest and perennial mention Kat McCormack in the host chair, talking to Tara about the history of arts coverage in Halifax, the dire straits of the local music venue, the disconnection of the disciplines, and some fun stuff too! Thanks to the team at the Halifax Examiner and engineer/mixer Palmer Jamieson for a fine little podcast. And especially thanks to you for listening.

Halifax poet laureate Sue Goyette, an early-run Tideline guest, returns one last time to discuss her new book Monoculture, out in October. Neither poetry nor fiction, its hybrid form imagines a near future where Nova Scotia's last living forest has become a tourist attraction and explores our relationship to trees and the land through the website's comments section. It's ever evocative and poignant and at turns funny, enraged, and in awe of its surroundings. Sue speaks to its creation, her deep relationships to the elements, and the deplorable way they've been treated.

The debut feature of Halifax hyphenate Koumbie — known as an actor for the stage and screen, a writer, and a director — will have its world premiere at the Atlantic International Film Festival on September 22. Bystanders tells the story of a lifelong friend group rocked to its foundation by accusations of sexual misconduct against one of their own. He's their friend, brother, even ex-boyfriend — so now what? As Koumbie puts it, "What do you do when someone you love does something you hate?" A thoughtful conversation that digs into the grey areas of so-called cancel culture, how it is to be an actor directing actors, and what the filmmaker hopes you'll take away from the experience.

The multi-hyphenate Jackie Torrens — we're talking writer, director, actor, broadcaster, icon — stops by ahead of the Atlantic International Film Festival screening of her murder mystery doc Bernie Langille Wants To Know What Happened To Bernie Langille, which had its world premiere at Hot Docs this spring. Between the military, the time (50 years ago), intergenerational family trauma, and advances in science, Torrens has crafted an intriguing and emotional look into one man's search for answers. She speaks to all of this plus the innovation of using miniature sets to recreate the scenes of the day.

The Halifax-based poet and university professor Annick MacAskill has crafted a beautiful (and beautiful to touch thanks to Gaspereau Press) ode to a common but still stigmatized subject matter: pregnancy loss. Shadow Blight considers the pain of pregnancy loss through the classical myth of Niobe, whose grief for her dead children was so monumental she turned to stone. MacAskill speaks to the process of crafting and presenting such intimate, personal thoughts and the lack of popular culture on the subject, among other things. Plus a song from the new Klarka Weinwurm album.

The Halifax Fringe Festival is celebrating its first full in-person festival since 2019, which itself was cut short by hurricane Dorian. And that's not all—after seven festivals, executive director Lee-Anne Poole will head out the revolving door of Halifax arts org leaders and hand the reigns over to Sara Graham. Both are on the show this week to talk entrances and exits, why they do the work that they do, the festival's present and future, and all the details you need to attend. Plus a song from the new surprise Hello Delaware album.

What is there to say that hasn't been said 100 times (probably more) about Halifax's most famous animal? Gus—the de facto mascot of the Museum of Natural History—has been with the museum at its two locations since 1942, after being purchased in Florida for five American dollars. This weekend there are six chances to celebrate his life and sing happy hatch day to the oldest known living gopher tortoise in the world — Tara burrows into her love for him and his enduring place in the city's tapestry.

To sleep, perchance to dream—in this humidity?! Shakespeare By The Sea's production of Hamlet—its first staged tragedy since 2019— opens on August 5, and director Drew Douris-O'Hara and the man himself, Deivan Steele, stop by the show before rehearsal to chat. Topics include: Climate change's effect on outdoor theatre, the timelessness of Shakespeare's most popular work, the failure of funding models in all times (not just COVID), and the resilience of squirrels.

Author Andre Fenton returns to the show with a new book, The Summer Between Us: It's a complex, empathetic YA story about teens on the cusp of adulthood in the under-examined summer between high school and university, an expansion of the characters explored in his debut, Worthy of Love. He reveals his writing process, how his personal mission to unpack toxic masculinity dovetails with his hero's, and what inspires him to write. Plus the lead track from the brand-new Aquakultre album out this week.

The riotous gay rock band Partner—aka Lucy Niles and Josée Caron—beams into the show from Montreal ahead of its Sunday afternoon show at the Garrison Grounds for Halifax Pride. They dig into what it was like putting out an album in the pandemic, what pride means to them now, the lives they're still changing, and guitar solos. Plus Adam Reid from Halifax Pride returns to chat about this year's event, back to full strength for the first time since 2019. Plus a song from Jazz Fest headliner The Weather Station.

Martha Paynter is a registered nurse who works in abortion and reproductive health care. Her new book ABORTION TO ABOLITION (with illustrations by Julia Hutt) was published the same week Roe v Wade was overturned in the United States—her launch party was the day after—and couldn't be a more timely introduction to the history of abortion in Canada. She's on the show this week to talk about how different the two countries' laws and health care systems are, why reproductive justice is so tied up with abolition, and various provinces' wins and losses over the years.

Logan Robins (writer/director/composer) and Katherine Norris (star/composer) of the Unnatural Disaster Theatre Company are on the show this week ahead of their provincial tour of HIPPOPOSTUMOUS, Robins' musical exploration of invasive species, colonization, environmentalism, and history. Hear how Pablo Escobar's personal hippos have invaded and are ruining a section of Colombia, why Robins was intrigued to make a show about it, and all the places you can catch it this July. Plus Norris cracks out the banjolele to perform one of the show's songs. And the new jam from Beauts!

After a year's worth of singles and videos, the Halifax duo is finally releasing its first recorded project in the form of FLUTTER, a six-song genre-agnostic EP that's deeply personal and incredibly catchy. Art Ross and Aaron Green return to the show a year later to dish on their music-industry immersion, why Ross' sapphic lyrics strike all kinds of chords, and where you can see them this summer.

Juanita Peters is a former broadcast journalist and current icon who writes, acts, and directs, including her debut feature 8:37 Rebirth. A tough, dark drama about restorative justice and the grey of life, the film is up for four Screen Nova Scotia Awards on Saturday. She stops by to chat about the film's COVID shoot, her time as a reporter, what's in the works—plays! docs!—directing Diggstown, and being named ACTRA's Woman of The Year. Plus, a new song from Corvette Sunset.

Dartmouth's annual theatre extravaganza Stages returns live to Alderney Landing this week for shows, works in progress, solo experiments, and all kinds of wild weirdness. That includes SHAKESPEARE'S TIME MACHINE by The Villains Theatre, a classically irreverent comedy by Dan Bray. Co-director Rebecca Wolfe and performer/producer Colleen MacIsaac are on the show this week to talk post-pandemic life in the theatre, their personal Stages picks, and more. Plus a new song from Good Dear Good!

Five years ago, an idea was born and named after a Barenaked Ladies song about how Halifax sucks. Hello City has been delighting Halifax audiences with its open, supportive, good-natured humour—heck, last summer they were the only pandemic entertainment in town—and friendly, charismatic cast. Liam, Stevey, Gil, Peter, Colin, and Henri—with regrets from Beth and Shahin—stop by for their fourth Tideline appearance (and sole improv-free visit) ahead of this weekend's sold-out anniversary show at the Bus Stop. Find out how they all met, got started, and keep going.

Singer-songwriter Willie Stratton has wandered a number of genre path, starting with raw acoustic folk as a teen phenom, moving through surf rock as Beach Bait, and landing in a Roy Orbison-style classic country on his new album Drugstore Dreamin'. Ahead of his release show at the Marquee on Friday, he stops in to explain why mixing influences makes the best art, how he approaches the guitar, and what he likes about his day job as a barber.

Grace McNutt and Linnea Swinimer are the Minute Women, two Haligonians who host a podcast of the same name about Canadian history as seen through a lens of Heritage Minutes (minutewomenpodcast.ca). In a lively celebration of the show's second birthday, they stop by to reveal how curling brought them together in podcast — and now BFF — form, their favourite Minutes, that time they thought Jean Chretien was dead, and the impact their show has had. Plus music from brand-new ECMA winners Hillsburn and Zamani.

For a show (and cult film) out of the mid-1970s, The Rocky Horror Show was ahead of its time in its depiction of queerness and gender and—save a handful of instances—has aged surprisingly well enough to fit into this contemporary time. Neptune Theatre's production opens this week (running through June 26) and director Jeremy Webb and actors Allister MacDonald (Dr. Frank N Furter) and Breton Lalama (Riff Raff) squeeze in a chat between tech run-throughs to dig into how they've updated (and produced) the show with 2022 eyes—namely an intimacy director and active consent between characters—and whether they're prepared for the rare theatre audience that talks back. Plus a new song from Nicole Ariana.

In 1994, Elizabeth Murphy, Patrick Christopher Carter, and Jean Morpurgo staged a now-legendary, free production of Twelfth Night in Point Pleasant Park. On that summer weekend, Shakespeare By The Sea was born, anchoring every summer in Halifax with a slate of Shakespeare and a company-created family show. As its 28th season dawns, Murphy—the surviving co-founder who's been running the company with Jesse MacLean—has decided to step away from SBTS. Her retirement tour stops by the show this week for a deep dive into the company's history, challenges—hurricanes! fires! beetles!—its legacy in the theatre community, and her next act. Plus a new song from Rich Aucoin.