About BC Books Online
BC Books Online was created for anyone interested in BC-published books, and with librarians especially in mind. We'd like to make it easy for library staff to learn about books from BC publishers - both new releases and backlist titles - so you can inform your patrons and keep your collections up to date.
Our site features print books and ebooks - both new releases and backlist titles - all of which are available to order through regular trade channels. Browse our subject categories to find books of interest or create and export lists by category to cross-reference with your library's current collection.
A quick tip: When reviewing the "Browse by Category" listings, please note that these are based on standardized BISAC Subject Codes supplied by the books' publishers. You will find additional selections, grouped by theme or region, in our "BC Reading Lists."
Description
When an image of Jesus appears on the side of a Tim Hortons restaurant in Nately, Nova Scotia, life is forever changed. The town’s inhabitants are challenged to ask difficult questions about faith, life and love with sometimes moving, sometimes hilarious results. Complicating the matter, of course, are the more mundane questions of whether this appearance is a miracle, an accident or quite possibly even a hoax.
At the centre of this wickedly entertaining play resides the more existential and personal question of what has happened to our notion of meaning and ethics in the strip-mall culture of concrete and crass competition which has replaced a more pastoral and rural life of care for the earth, the cycle of the seasons and its festivals, and the blessings of renewal in the family. Has religion lost the ability to mediate these two conditions, or did it ever really have that power?
Halo is a brilliant examination of the need to believe and the power of forgiveness. Cast of three women and four men.
Contributor Notes
Josh MacDonald
Josh MacDonald is a writer and actor living in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. His first play, Halo, has toured throughout Canada and is Two Planks’ largest box-office success to date. MacDonald’s latest play, Whereverville, also produced by Two Planks, went on a national tour in the 2004-2005 season. His comedy-drama feature film Faith, Fraud & Minimum Wage will be released in theatres by Seville Pictures/Entertainment One in October 2010.
Awards
- Short-listed, Merritt Theatre Award for Best Play
Editorial Reviews
“Halo successfully melds faith, drama and honour...very funny and quite moving.”
—Halifax Daily News
“As gullible faith and hard-hearted defeatism collide in the face of a possible miracle, Canadian playwright Josh MacDonald’s warmhearted Halo finds its way to genuine moments of human reconciliation and acceptance.”
—Los Angeles Times
“Brimming with humour and humanity, Halo retains a serious, poignant core that resonates deeply in a post 9/11 world. Beautifully constructed, it’s a homegrown work that’s slowly but surely establishing a North American-wide reputation.”
—HFX Entertainment Guide
“Halo is theatre at its very best. There is not a false note in this high-wire act of comedy and tragedy with beautifully-written, believable characters who never lose their balance in script or performance. [MacDonald] is a writer to watch.”
—Chronicle Herald
