Slings & Arrows

Seven years after suffering a mental breakdown during a performance of "Hamlet" at the New Burbage Festival, Geoffrey Tennant is struggling to make ends meet, managing the dilapidated Theatre Sans Argent. Oliver Welles, still the artistic director at the festival, is mounting his tenth identical production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream", and is worried that he has lost his creative edge. Richard Smith-Jones, general manager of the festival, attempts to save the funding as their sponsor, Lenstrex, goes through a change of management. The new Lenstrex liaison, Holly Day, seems interested in the festival…and in Richard.

Richard finds himself overwhelmed trying to keep the festival running smoothly in the wake of Oliver's death. Kate ditches rehearsals to audition for a commercial and runs into Hollywood action star Jack Crew, who has been hired to play Hamlet. Ellen begins a relationship with Sloan, a young deliveryman. Geoffrey questions his sanity when Oliver begins to speak to him from "the other side". Despite his delivery of a scathing speech at Oliver's funeral, the board of directors offers the job of Artistic Director to Geoffrey, on a temporary basis. Anna asks Geoffrey to help carry out Oliver's final request.

Having been named interim creative director of the festival, Geoffrey wisely cedes directing the festival's new production of Hamlet to a visiting director, but is distressed when the board chooses his long-time nemesis Darren Nichols. Richard and Holly go to Toronto for an evening of "real theater". Kate and visiting movie star Jack get closer. Geoffrey manages to alienate everyone when he is interviewed by a theatre critic, then gets drunk and challenges Darren to a sword duel.

In jail after his escapade at Ellen's party, Geoffrey is visited by the ghost of Oliver, who counsels him on the danger of trying to ignore his past feelings for Ellen. Holly and Richard work on their merchandising scheme‒a Shakespeare-themed village of retail stores. Geoffrey is forced to fire Darren as director, to the relief of the cast.

With Geoffrey directing the production of Hamlet, Richard and Holly fear that his success may doom their plan to redirect corporate resources to the Shakespeare Village. Oliver's ghost frees Ellen's pet chameleon and, viola, Ophelia is recast.

It's opening night for "Hamlet" and, though Jack has shown promise, insidious words from Richard send him running. Ellen and Geoffrey finally talk about the breakdown and the events leading up to it.

Geoffrey Tennant's triumph with "Hamlet" has done nothing to solve the New Burbage Theater Festival's financial woes, and now he has no choice but to mount a new production of the most jinxed play in theatrical history‒"Macbeth." Ellen's boyfriend proposes to her but she declines.

Christmas comes to New Burbage and so do the interns, who are part of the new austerity program. Richard raises begging to new heights and hires Sanjay Ranier of the hip and edgy marketing firm Frog Hammer.

Geoffrey struggles with Oliver over staging. The director for "Romeo and Juliet" breaks her neck falling off the stage and the only one available to replace her is Darren Nichols. Ellen finds out she's being audited by Revenue Canada. Richard is shocked to find that Sanjay Rainier has launched a controversial campaign to re-brand the festival, causing regular subscribers to cancel.

After a fight with Ellen, Geoffrey moves into a storage room at the theater. His actors and Oliver refuse to accept Geoffrey's ideas for the play. Ellen has to get her financial records straight for the audit. Darren Nichols' staging of "Romeo and Juliet" doesn't sit well with his actors.

Ellen's audit is not going well. Sarah and Patrick, after an intense nighttime rehearsal, find themselves in bed together, although Patrick is gay. "Romeo and Juliet" is far from ready to open. Writer Lionel Train uses Anna as the inspiration for his new play. Richard comes close to a nervous breakdown when Sanjay is arrested by the RCMP and is found to be a con artist.

Richard is surprised to find that, against all odds, Sanjay's rebranding of New Burbage‒Youthquake‒is working and the box office is clogged with young people buying tickets to "Hamlet". Geoffrey, dealing with an actor who refuses to take direction, decides to make some last-minute changes to teach Henry Breedlove a lesson. All that's left to do is save "Romeo and Juliet" from total disaster; Geoffrey convinces Darren Nichols to rethink his concept and stage the play as the desperate love story that it is.

Trying to top the critical and financial success of its last production, the festival plans to stage "King Lear", as well as a contemporary new musical. But creative director Geoffrey Tennant finds himself seized by fits of uncontrollable weeping. Ellen is too busy taking Geoffrey's panic personally to be of any help. Geoffrey coaxes his boyhood hero, Charles Kingman, out of retirement to play Lear.

Charles Kingman brings secret demons of his own to the production and immediately alienates the cast and crew. Meanwhile, Richard Smith-Jones, flexes his creative muscles.

Charles's erratic behavior becomes more and more disruptive, prompting Geoffrey to consider replacing him. As tensions grow within the cast of "Lear", personal and professional jealousies widen the rift between the Shakespearean actors and the eager young players in the musical.

With "East Hastings" a smashing success, Richard proposes the heretofore unthinkable‒moving the Shakespearean tragedy to the workshop stage and the musical to the main venue.

Anna steps in to help Geoffrey with Charles. But "King Lear" loses its Regan as Ellen Fanshaw flees the festival for the promise of a big payday on TV. All the tension leads to a bar brawl.

Lear gets cancelled and Geoffrey's future at the festival is in doubt. Ellen finally fires Barabara. It ends in typical Shakespearean fashion‒with a wedding and a song.