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Dinner takes center stage

By Joanne Latimer

Become part of the show at the Halifax Feast Dinner Theatre.

Imageshop / Jupiter Images

Archie Bunker in Halifax? In a manner of speaking. The iconic television character comes to life in All in the MacFamily, an original Canadian play that spoofs the hit TV series All in the Family. Archie and Edith head to Nova Scotia on vacation to visit Archie's parents ­– true Cape Bretoners who roll with the punches and play the perfect hosts despite the comic misery of their marriage.

 

Written and directed by playwright Jim Petrie, All in the MacFamily opens at the clubby Halifax Feast Dinner Theatre, specially designed for dramatic effect and optimal sight lines. The grand theatrical venue, complete with a lush red curtain, is nestled on the main floor of the Maritime Centre building downtown, where Nancy Marzocco, Food and Entertainment editor of The New York Times, called her experience "a five star evening."

 

As is the theater's custom, audience members are greeted at the door by the actors (in character!), who get to know which guests are keen to participate in the show – and who wish to observe – before enjoying a garden salad and freshly baked homemade bread. Most of the menu ingredients are grown locally – if not in Petrie's backyard – and with nine entrée choices, including the Louisiana-style haddock and 9-oz roast loin of pork, the menu serves up nature's seasonal performance.

 

Getting here

Halifax Feast Dinner Theatre, feastdinnertheatre.com
Halifax Tourism, halifaxinfo.com
Nova Scotia Tourism, 1-800-565-0000, novascotia.com

When Joanne Latimer isn’t dashing out of town to check out the latest spa, she can be found covering the fashion beat. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Globe and Mail, enRoute magazine and FASHION Magazine.