Celtic Folk group well received in AES opener
October 7th, 2026
Maggie's Wake entered the St. Patrick's stage to an audience harbouring much anticipation for the first AES show of the season; their presence, musicality, and vitality did not disappoint. This was in spite of a touring schedule that sounded quite like their tempo: incredibly fast pace. Following a show on Saturday in Thunder Bay, they travelled to Atikokan, before immediately heading to Fort Frances for two shows on Monday. First and foremost, they were great story tellers. Tara Dunphy and Lindsey Schindler, who are the vocalists, fiddlers and frontwomen of the folk/roots band, prefaced most of their original songs with an elaborate, heart warming, or comedic tale, usually deriving from their own experience, or the experience of someone from the past. Their original, Last First Kiss, told of young lovers walking through a Tamarack forest, destined to spend the rest of their lives together, at last sharing their first moments of intimacy. Dunphy told the audience that Sunday marked guitarist Ken Palmer's first anniversary with his wife. “It's really hard to be away from those you love on days like this,” she said. “Ken has had his last first kiss.” And who was Bridget O'Brien? In spite of not knowing the answer, Dunphy decided to write a song about the late O'Brien, after noticing her gravestone while taking a walk through the cemetery. The year of her death was left un-marked, provoking the songwriter`s curiosity. “We're dying to know what happened to her,” she said, only realizing her own rather dark play on words until afterwards. The instrumental harmonization throughout the evening was astounding. Dunphy's earthy tin and wooden flute mixed brilliantly with Schindler's fiddle on songs such as The Old Maid of Galway; the skills of bassist Peter Klaassen were also on full display on this track, nailing a string of short solos where the rest of the band went silent. The group originally formed when Schindler's old band, Rant Maggie Rant, dissolved after many years together. In Maggie's Wake, Schindler and Dunphy decided to start a new group, long being familiar with each other within the old Canadian folk scene. They have since traveled across North America and Europe, but never forgot their roots in southwestern Ontario, frequently returning to the area to play a series of shows. Whole-heartedly Canadian, when the band was called back to the stage after receiving a standing ovation, they chose to conclude the night with their version of O'Canada, asking the audience to remain on their feet. What started off as a relatively normal rendition suddenly turned into a foot-tapping affair, when right before “with glowing hearts”, they dramatically increased the tempo. Sudden, unexpected alterations such as this is the specialty of their musicality, fitting a key or tempo change into most tunes. Right before leaving, Schindler echoed AES board m e m b e r J e ssi c a Rogoza's introductory remarks, thanking the many volunteers of past and present for making shows like this possible. As for the future of the band - they finish up their tour of northwestern Ontario Friday in Dryden, before travelling across Canada, the US, and the UK in the coming months. In Atikokan, they leave an insatiable longing for more old time fiddle in their wake.
Royal Manitoba Theatre Comes to Town with 'Hockey Mom, Hockey Dad'; Atikokan Entertainment Series Strikes Again with Canadian Classic
March 4th, 2026
A full gymnasium worth of Atikokinates arrived at St. Patrick’s School last Tuesday for a rendition of Hockey Mom, Hockey Dad, a theatrical production originally written by the late Cape Breton born playwright Michael Melski in the 1990’s. Loosely based on a true story, this Canadiana two-hander aroused a wide spectrum of laughter, tension, and ponderance, reaching striking emotional heights scene-in and scene-out thanks not only to intelligent character development, but to the eccentrically talented casting duo: Gwendolyn Collins and Devin Lowry. ‘Hockey mom’ Donna, played by Collins, is a tremendously cautious yet excitable soul who quietly watches her son, Matthew, from the top of the arena bleachers, while ‘hockey dad’ Teddy, played by Lowry, is an intentionally obstreperous yet sympathetic soul who yells endless and unsolicited orders to his son Troy’s team nearly tipping over the side boards. In an instance of symbolic stage balancing the two single parents meet during one of Teddy’s rink-side rants, when he looks upwards in her direction, by all accounts falling in love at first sight. Donna, however, accepts his attention with great hesitancy. The emotional significance of the ensuing plot was intensified by the precise and dramatic body language of the duo. For every spoken word, thousands were communicated through rich and rapidly evolving facial expressions, the true meaning of which even the most interpretative poet would experience impatience putting to page. This rapidity of movement signified a general erraticism within both characters’ archetypical disposition. While Teddy confidently displayed his range of uplifting passion and pouty frustration, Donna’s emotional profile was subtly revealed as the play progressed, sometimes only distinguishable visually through jaw and eye-brow. Although on one level, the play focused on the awkward desperations of single parents searching for love whilst surrounded by supposedly happy couples, on another level it confronts issues central to human survival. A core message, as digested by this reporter, was that although archetypal polarities between two people can produce unbearable destructiveness amidst explosive moments, there is nonetheless an attraction that opposite poles have towards each other, seeking the best aspects of the other in order to attain what the Greeks called ‘The Golden Mean’ (see Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics). To this end, Hockey is used as an allegory. The legitimacy of violence on the ice, an ongoing debate at the heart of the sport’s culture, runs parallel to questions about the role of aggression and physical assertion in one's personal life. When Troy is hit, Teddy roars with a thirst for retributive violence, a desire that Donna is repulsed by. She feels the two players can cordially “shake hands” and resolve their differences to avoid the possibility of escalation; he insists the boys “have to fight back” in order to prove their power and strength to predatory opponents who would otherwise attack. It is Donna’s internal indecisiveness that drives the narrative tension of the play, as she battles the memory of her traumatic past in the midst of his shameless declarations of affection. Her romantic feelings towards Teddy are agonizing not just because she is fearful of his violent capacity, but because it forces her to admit that his philosophy of violence contains a shred of truth. When she finds out he had taught Matthew how to fight, the pain of generational continuity becomes too great to bear. Only in the final scene does the audience witness a relationship where a degree of compromise has been accepted. Collins and Lowry, both Theatre graduates at the University of Winnipeg born and raised in Manitoba, were as charismatic off the stage as they were in character. Evidence of their theatrical spirit is possibly best symbolized by Lowry’s left foot. The audience may have noticed a brace and assumed it was a prop, when in fact, his achilles broke during a December show in Winnipeg. Lowry told the Progress “singing, fighting choreo and all I hobbled around the stage” for 7-8 minutes, taken to the ER only after curtain call. Of their respective characters in Hockey Mom, Hockey Dad, they spoke strongly; Donna was described as “dynamic”, Teddy as “larger than life”. No doubt the duo fit their part well. When asked about the issues that Melski’s script confronts, Collins said that she “can see Teddy’s point”, although Donna’s trauma cannot be ignored or cast aside. Lowry felt similarly, explaining that “there is aggression” in the world, and that Teddy’s perspective has a place. The show was part of the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre’s (MTC) Regional Tour across their home province and Northern Ontario, Atikokan’s Entertainment Series being just 1 of 19 performances. Commenting on the journey, Collins said that they “both feel so privileged to get to travel and to come to Atikokan”. Collins added that she had been here a decade ago with the Royal MTC, and was glad to return. Today, both actors are deeply involved in Manitoba's theatrical scene, as part of Collins’ ‘One Trunk Theatre’ company, and beyond. The night ended in ambiguous suspense, as the conclusion of Melski’s dramedy left the viability of the couple's long-term relationship somewhat unclear. Whether Hockey Mom, Hockey Dad came off as thoughtful and hilarious, or crude and insensitive, what viewers may agree upon is the need for a sequel. Where they will certainly disagree, however, is in the desire to see Donna and Teddy get married, as the latter so hastily suggested. And this divide, too, is an allegory that signifies a much deeper schism in perspective.
The McDades Charm St.Patrick’s Crowd
February 18th, 2026
A Celtic mysticism emanated off the stage of St. Patrick’s gymnasium last Thursday night, thanks to ‘the McDades’, who explored several melodic and mythological themes during their two hour performance in front of an audience of over 100 Atikokanites. Like an alchemical admixture the band’s component parts fused, transitioning to and from compositional sections with remarkable swiftness and seeming spontaneity. The rhythmic syncretism and charismatic stage presence of the McDades is the result of decades of refinement. Shannon Johnson (née McDade) began performing alongside her touring parents when she was 8 years old, front and centre on stage. Younger brothers Solon & Jeremiah McDade eventually joined the family band, telling the Progress they would play in barns, fairs and folkfests across western Canada throughout their childhood. While they carry forth the Celtic legacy, their additional influences were on full display on Thursday night. During a rendition of Gordon Lightfoot’s ‘Sundown’, what was hitherto a fairly close observance to his original, suddenly broke away in the most innovative and exhilarating of ways. Jeremiah, taking a step forward, sprang into a Soprano Saxophone solo that resembled Fusion Jazz more than anything originating from the Gaelic-speaking regions. Both brothers graduated from McGill’s Jazz program, and all three siblings were classically trained. Rock elements, too, were interspersed, especially derived from the influence of drummer Mark ‘Bucky’ Wheaton, whose flourishes in ‘Dance of the Seven Veils’ provided the perfect intensity alongside the macabre fiddling as the tune rose to a climax. By utilizing the middle-eastern harmonic-minor scale in tandem with ‘whipping’ melodic lines which mimicked the sudden motion of a dancer, the McDades painted a picture in line with Oscar Wilde’s ‘Salome’ as well as the original biblical events. In true Canadian fashion, the McDades are bilingual, brought up in French immersion school. Prefacing a Quebecious folk song, Shannon told of a man and woman who were separated – after making love for three years straight – because of a military expedition that sent him far away. Upon returning with hopes high, he finds her settled with another man, leading him towards the desire to take his own life. His mother, offering maternal wisdom, tells her son there are “plenty of other brown haired women just as you like them”. A portion of the audience laughed, somewhat awkwardly. Many tunes in the McDades catalog revolve around heartbreak. As Shannon later explained, “like most Celtic songs, it’s about love gone wrong. Usually, very, very wrong”. Jeremiah, who alternated between saxophone and multiple sizes of Irish whistle, wrote ‘Robin’s Song’ during an especially impressive episode of creativity. While canoeing, the arrangement played itself out in his mind, even though he had not a whistle nor any instrument on his person. When asked about how that moment came to be, he humbly responded, “it is a pretty simple melody”. The opening, played by guitarist Andy Hillhouse, in harmony with the hauntingly restful whistle that soon arose, rang of a simplistic beauty to the casual ear, but was anything but simple to those attempting to seriously examine it. Nearing the conclusion of the evening, even after several hairs of Shannon’s bow had been shed, the band returned for an Encore. Thankful to bring a National treasure like the McDades to town, the audience sent them off with a standing ovation. Without a doubt, they have set a high bar for musicians coming through the entertainment series circuit, perhaps putting unfair expectations on future performers.
Winter '24 Engineering Society Play Review
April 13th, 2024
This term’s engineering play, titled The Engineering Student’s Guide to Time Travel, was put on in the Hagey Hall Auditorium last weekend on April 6 and 7. Only playing on Back to the Future ironically, the approximately 120-minute, two-act show was impressively original. It was exceedingly silly, terribly vulgar, and witty in the best of ways. There was even a point where I got goosebumps and watery eyes. In the few instances where it felt unrealistic, or when there was an ever-so-slight stutter over lines, it was overshadowed by laughter and intrigue. Overall, it was a joyous way to spend a Sunday night, and, being tremendously happy to have bought a ticket, I recommend readers attend future engineering plays. Following a group of UW engineers from various adversarial departments squabbling over the consequences of time travel, the play used time as a narrative device that put characters in comical situations, while also posing questions relevant to UW students, such as “is it moral to use Chegg?” It principally follows the interdimensional journey of eight students who made up the lead cast, and specifically, the academic failures of December Spankoffski (Stephanie De Pol), who will do anything to pass her physics exam – anything. In spite of extreme hesitation and warnings from her friend Remi (Barton Lu) against using “Valeria,” the name of the time machine built by peers Rowan (Kim Hoang) and Elliot (Senan Gaffori), she nonetheless decides to change the space time continuum, eluding the attention of the others who were too busy condemning Remi to keep watch of the machine. Amidst the chaos of whatever science guides the essence of time travel, December brings along Jamie (Zach Betts), Peyton (Daekun Kim), and the latter’s beloved robot, Sofia (Riya Dhillon). In traveling back to a time before she wrote her exam, in which she received a seven per cent from her doctoral professor, December is able to use her future knowledge of the questions (and Chegg) to pass with a resounding 65.5 per cent. The rest of the cast, however, is much more concerned with returning Valeria to its own timeline, and preserving the universe, than with December’s “f*cking exam.” A professional Broadway show cannot be expected from a faculty student association. As engineers, it is somewhat astounding that so many put in such time, effort, focus and passion into an artistic endeavour. But within the engineering society, it is a tradition. The society’s Youtube channel (featuring old videos that everyone should watch) has footage of plays dating back to the fall of 2009, though presumably, the first play was far earlier than that. Being in arts, I am somewhat disappointed that we cannot match this level of faculty-coordinated showmanship. But alas, like other experiences in my undergrad, I decided to role play as an engineer. Two love stories simultaneously unfolded as the play progressed. Jamie, a SYDE student who embodies the most exaggerated stereotypes of shy, awkward guys in STEM, is head over heels for Andi (Maya Wei), one of the most popular girls in engineering. At first, when Jamie “approaches” her group of friends (with more of a drunken march than a swaggering walk), he is laughed at after not forming a coherent sentence. But after getting shot back in time, he finds much more success with this timelines version of Andi compared to his own, after claiming to have beaten up a pack of Laurier engineers guided by “the dark one.” Peyton, in creating Sofia, quickly falls deeply in love with it in the most sad and dystopian ways, but is consistently rejected by the emotionless nature of her creation. Eventually, the writers allow Sofia to express emotions towards Peyton at the very moment when the group, needing the battery inside to get back to the future, is forced to sacrifice her. What follows is a genuinely sad moment of lost love that made me shed a tear. The rowdy audience, who had spent the last hour heckling and laughing out loud, watched on in relative silence. When they made it back to their own time, crisis was averted (save for December getting caught cheating, or, “chegging”), the emotional pull of chaos and confusion felt relatively resolved – a testament to the strength of the writing and direction. The play was written and directed by a trio of engineering students: Cam Barré, Alysha Law, and Jenny Yu. When all was said and done, and the performers took their final bows, these three were greeted with an outpour of applause from the 200 or so audience members, and a bouquet of flowers from the cast. The appreciation was well deserved. The play had excellent narrative progression and character development, seamlessly weaving hilarious archetypes of UW students into the story. For the average writer, it is very difficult to bring to life several characters who have been developed substantially enough for the audience to feel an attachment towards; consequently, productions like these will oftentimes only have three or four lead roles. But in this year’s ENG play, eight lead roles were able to share the stage together in a manner that did not feel forced or condensed, with each character having a function to the plot and something interesting (and funny) to say. Every writer knows that their brilliance of thought is nothing without proper execution. It is a good thing that the trio in this year’s ENG play had spirited acting performances that brought words to life and performed with impeccable comedic timing. I am not a huge fan of relying on curse words to arouse laughter, but here, it worked more often than not. De Pol as December was eye-catching; her body language was impossible not to notice whenever on stage, and the way in which she seemed to portray genuine anger immersed me deeply. Gaffori as Elliot was another highlight, playing the “straight man” who often acted as the sane, rational electrical computing engineer in the midst of insanity. His dialogues with December and Jamie were hilarious, providing deadpan responses and a few well-timed fits of frustration. Lastly, a star performance came from Dhillon as Peyton’s robot, Sofia. Moving with impeccable robotic grace, Sofia spoke quickly in monotone, only using speech inflections at the end once her emotions had been unlocked. As Sofia, Dhillon not only memorized hundreds of semantically complex lines, but performed them in a way that was sharp, quick, and without hesitation. There were a couple of instances where words were tripped over, but this was rare and hardly took away from the scene. Her performance made it easy to forget I was looking at a human being. The other five lead roles and background characters, such as Doctor Brown (Ruth McGuire) and the Dark One (Muzammiluddin Syed), also stood out during their time on stage. And the music! The complex display of singing and choreography was astounding. There were nine musical numbers in total, all based off of songs in other productions – with a UW engineering spin on each. Similar to Handel’s ‘Giulio Cesare’, the characters break the fourth wall by being conscious of and acknowledging the music itself. When Valeria arrives in the pre-exam era, the four of them are immediately greeted to a festive rendition of “La Dee Dah Dah Day” (from Team StarKid’s The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals), reacting with confusion and fear, never having had a musical number sung at them in their own timeline. Mariah (Amanda Hartwig) stole the show here, showcasing tremendous vocal range, and was at the forefront of a choreographed segment that was hilariously chaotic for the time travellers. But the standout musical act, the performance that had the entire auditorium hollering, was the rendition of “To Be a Man” (from Team StarKid’s Holy Musical B@man). Breaking out into song and dance in the midst of intense confrontation with the spooky Laurier engineers, Jamie stands up to them, going toe to toe with their leader (Acoy Campbell). During the infamous chorus, they moved in perfect rhythm to the music, while threatening, in polite terms, to kick each other’s butt as a myriad of middle fingers were raised. The choreography for this bit was stellar, and added a great deal of comedic value, especially in the dramatic shuffle step motion that each character did in unison to the threat of butt kicking. Other performances, such as Peyton’s “Sofia’s Song” and Jamie’s “Andi,” were more solemn and emotional in tone, heightening the drama of their respective love stories. I was not expecting such melodic flare from the eng play, but was thoroughly pleased with what I heard. Lastly, the technical production should be commended. The Hagey Hall auditorium, finally seeing the limelight after months of renovation and shut downs, is back and better than ever, and this production took full advantage. Colours and shades evolved gracefully, being used for specific narrative purposes. The lighting (Alexander Hayhoe) controlled the stage with such technical precision that his ability to manipulate time ought to be investigated. In between scenes, the stage management (Emilia Zerbe) was smooth and did not meaningfully remove me from the narrative in such a way that broke the fourth wall to remind me I was watching a play. In times where transitions were lengthy, the entertaining music made up for it. Sound Tech (Christhpher Rzepka and Lucas Delvoye) was flawless, no doubt aided by the auditorium’s new and improved systems. With the play previously being held in the Arts Lecture Hall, Hagey Hall brought bigger and better possibilities that the directors and production managers took near full advantage of. Overall, it was a very impressive production. I am happy that the engineers have an outlet to express themselves emotionally, as they are clearly anxious about their exams and the morality of breaking the space-time continuum. I rate An Engineering Student’s Guide to Time Travel 4.5 out of 5 stars, and would recommend the ENG play to students of all faculties in future terms.