Our plays are noted for their imaginative use of masks, evocative physicality, innovative staging, and for the way they fuse varied art forms and cultures. Plays from the Theatre under the Stars series are performed every summer in Ottawa’s historic Strathcona Park, found on the banks of the Rideau River, just five minutes from the downtown core. This charming open-air venue provides a natural setting to spectators from across the national capital region and to tourists seeking a unique entertainment experience.

George Bernard Shaw’s Arms and the Man
July 25th to August 25th, 2013

Regular Performances - Tuesday to Sunday, 8 PM
Opening Weekend - Special July 26 to July 28
*Matinee Shows - Thursdays & Sundays, 2 PM

Synopsis
Set during the 1885 Serbo-Bulgarian War, Arms and the Man is Shaw’s sardonic critique of naive idealism, particularly as it pertains to love and war. Raina Petkoff, a young Bulgarian aristocrat, is indulging in hero worship; the object of her adoration is fiancé Major Sergius Saranoff. An intruder enters her bedroom, and disrupts her romantic fantasies, in more ways than one. He’s Captain Bluntschli, a Swiss mercenary and hotelier’s son fighting for the losing Serb army. Raina seems to be simultaneously disgusted and intrigued by this strange plain-speaking man. She’s amused by his dishevelled appearance and his chocolate-crazed hunger. With the help of her mother and one of her father’s old coats she helps him evade the Bulgarian troupes. At war’s end, husband to be and father return home and regale in the telling of war stories, one involving a Serbian officer who evaded capture by “entertaining” a patriotic young Bulgarian lady in her chambers. What is Raina to do? Will she be found out? Will she ever see her chocolate cream soldier again?

*Matinees are held at Ottawa University’s Academic Hall
135 Séraphin-Marion Private