Slings and Arrows

Ellen's audit is not going well and she is shocked to hear that a settlement will be forced on her if she can't hand in all of her records on time. Sarah and Patrick, after an 'intense' nighttime rehersal, find themselves in bed together, which is odd since Patrick is openly gay. Still, Romeo and Juliet is far from being ready to open. Writer Lionel Train uses Anna as his main inspiration for his new play. Come opening night she doesn't feel flattered anymore as she sees her darkest secrets revealed to the audience. The production of Macbeth is also faced with the dilemma of having to replace Henry Breedlove, who was the main attraction. But the understudy proves himself despite personal problems and stage fright. Nevertheless, at the end of the evening Ellen asks a reluctant Geoffrey to ask Henry to come back. The latter, with the help of seasoned actor Brian Cabot (Leon Pownall), has come to the decision to ask Geoffrey for the same thing. But when Geoffrey asks first, Henry feels vindicated and arrogantly informs Geoffrey that he will play Macbeth - but his own way. But all is not well in the end which finds Richard close to a nervous breakdown when Sanjay is arrested by the RCMP and is found to be a con-artist. With the government funds gone and no new sponsors in sight, New Burbage seems doomed.

The curse of Macbeth seems to work its dark magic on the festival. Geoffrey struggles with Oliver over staging, the guest director for Romeo and Juliet breaks her neck falling off the stage - the only one available to replace her is Geoff's arch-enemy Darren Nichols( Don McKellar) - and Ellen finds out she's being audited by Revenue Canada. Richard is shocked to find that Sanjay Rainier, head of Froghammer Advertising, has launched a controversial campaign to re-brand the festival. Only, the regular subscribers are not amused and cancel in droves. Meanwhile, Henry Breedlove (Geraint Wyn Davies) undermines Geoffrey's direction of the play and manages to draw Ellen to his side, which is due to the fact that Eleen is losing Geoffrey to the ghost of his former boss.

“Slings & Arrows’” second season revisits the comically dysfunctional New Burbage Theater Festival, under the artistic direction of Geoffrey Tennant (Paul Gross). Tennant’s triumph with “Hamlet” has done nothing to solve the theater’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 also proposes to her, but thanks to Geoffrey's interference, she declines.

With Geoffrey now directing the production of Hamlet, Richard and Holly fear that his success may doom their plan to redirect corporate resources to the Shakespeare Village. But their attempt to derail the production is foiled by one of the actors literally "breaking a leg."

Geoffrey hands the actual production of Hamlet over to Stage Director Darren Nichols, so that he can devote himself to supervising the Festival's new money-making scheme, the "Shakespeare in Business Seminar". Holly Day spirits Richard off to Toronto to see Mamma Mia and indulge in more scheming. Kate and Jack enjoy a movie-popcorn afternoon while tongues wag. Geoffrey manages to alienate everyone when he is interviewed by a theatre critic, then gets drunk and challenges Darren to a sword duel.

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 (Theatre Without Money). 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 his 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 interest in the festival, and in Richard. Kate McNab, an actress making her debut in the play, is shocked that her high school drama teacher wants to give up his teaching career to act in the festival.