Bard’s wife crafts sandbox world that demands leaning in

Bard’s wife crafts sandbox world that demands leaning in

“I long for the sea,” announces Anne Hathaway at the start of this 92-minute, one-hander drama by Winnipeg-born, Alberta-based playwright Vern Thiessen. Considering some of the circumstances of her life to be revealed, it will prove to be a shocking statement.

Hathaway, played by Winnipeg actor Debbie Patterson, is better known as the wife of William Shakespeare, to the extent that she is known at all. The Bard had three children with her, but he largely kept his distance throughout his career as it blossomed so fruitfully in the Stratford hothouse. Hence, the woman has largely existed in a cruel obscurity, even in the public imagination. (She barely figures in the whimsical Marc Norman/Tom Stoppard script of Shakespeare in Love.)

With this play, Thiessen seeks to rectify that state of affairs with a backstory that, among other things, suggests the living arrangement was due to Shakespeare’s homosexuality, an affirmation that the “Fair Lord” in many of his sonnets were indeed a reference to his lover.

Hathaway, for her part, is surprisingly worldly about such concerns; the arrangement allows her to indulge her own desires with a succession of willing men. At the same time, she proves to be a doting mother to the three children she had with “Bill,” including her daughters Judith and Susanna, and her auspiciously named son Hamnet. “Hamnet is a stupid name, don’t you think?,” says Anne wryly.

Carney’s defence of Lake Ontario carries enormous weight

For centuries on Turtle Island (North America), explorers, map makers, and political leaders have erased Indigenous place names and substituted them — more often than not — with political, ethnocentric, and self-aggrandizing names.

In recent years, a few places on the continent have had Indigenous names re-established, but as of today, few of the original names are “official.”

So, it was no surprise when U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order directing the U.S. Department of the Interior and Board on Geographic Names to take steps within 30 days to officially rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America.”

The move may have been a result of the Canada-U.S. trade war and Trump’s pettiness and ego, but it also fits in perfectly with his career.

Doctor pays $500K to revamp courtyard at care home where he works

Fifty years after Dr. Pravinsagar Mehta began caring for residents at Actionmarguerite, a courtyard he had long watched deteriorate is getting a new life after he and his wife committed $500,000 to its redevelopment and long-term maintenance.

‘Last chance’ clearance U.S. booze punted from Liquor Marts

American alcohol that returned to Manitoba Liquor Mart shelves in May as part of a “last chance” sale is headed back to storage or will be destroyed.

“We are removing U.S. liquor products from Liquor Mart shelves,” a spokesperson for Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries said Thursday. The Crown corporation had been pushing to off-load its stockpile of U.S. booze.

Premier Wab Kinew launched a provincewide boycott of American alcohol in March 2025 to fight back against tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump. Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries has not placed new orders since the boycott began, but it still had inventory.

As of early May, the U.S. inventory had a value of roughly $3.4 million, which is roughly one-third of what was removed from shelves and placed in storage, Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries has said. It was unable to provide an inventory update on Thursday.

Former care home nurse fined $8,000 for ‘disturbing in the extreme’ 2025 incident

A former nurse has been fined $8,000 and is facing numerous restrictions after making a mistake “no registered nurse should have made” by inserting 10 centimetres of gauze into a patient’s anus instead of dressing a nearby wound.