Slings & Arrows | |
---|---|
Created by |
Susan Coyne Bob Martin Mark McKinney |
Directed by | Peter Wellington |
Starring |
Paul Gross Martha Burns Stephen Ouimette Susan Coyne Mark McKinney |
Country of origin | Canada |
No. of seasons | 3 |
No. of episodes | 18 |
Production | |
Running time | 45 minutes |
Release | |
Original network |
The Movie Network Movie Central Showcase |
Original release | November 3, 2003 – August 28, 2006 |
Slings & Arrows is a Canadian TV series set at the fictional New Burbage Festival, a Shakespearean festival similar to the real-world Stratford Festival. The program stars Paul Gross, Stephen Ouimette and Martha Burns.
The darkly comic series first aired on Canada's Movie Central and The Movie Network channels in 2003, and received acclaim in the United States when it was shown on the Sundance Channel two years later. Three seasons of six episodes each were filmed in total, with the final season airing in Canada in the summer of 2006 and in the United States in early 2007.
Slings & Arrows was created and written by former The Kids in the Hall member Mark McKinney, playwright and actress Susan Coyne, and comedian Bob Martin. All three appear in the series as well. The entire series was directed by Peter Wellington.
Rhombus Media decided to make a television series after the pattern of their 2005 documentary Five Days in September: The Rebirth of an Orchestra, which chronicled the backstage activities of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. They hired Bob Martin, Susan Coyne, and Mark McKinney to create the series. The fictional New Burbage Festival in Slings & Arrows is loosely based on the Stratford Shakespeare Festival with some events being an amalgamation of Bob Martin's experiences in the production of his Broadway musical The Drowsy Chaperone and The Second City.