If Wounded Soldiers, 4th Line Theatre’s latest original production, came with a warning label, it might read: “Warning — If you’re looking for a light-hearted evening of musical theatre, Wounded Soldiers isn’t it. However, if you’re looking for a gritty play full of strong performances, hard-hitting drama, three-dimensional characters, and thought-provoking ideas, you’ve come to the right place.”

Who doesn’t dream about escaping from their dreary existence by running away to an exotic location to find themselves and fall in love? This is exactly what the Peterborough Theatre Guild allows its audience to do as they cap off their 2013/2014 season with Judi Wilson’s production of Enchanted April.

The title of the play is not misleading. It’s exactly how the audience will leave the production — completely and utterly enchanted.

Brianna Gosselin is living the dream

Brianna Gosselin has a pretty good thing going. Her downtown studio at 384-1/2 George St. is a surprising oasis in the heart of downtown Peterborough. Although the front door to the building is right on a busy stretch of George St. between Hunter and Simcoe, the second floor walk-up backs onto a European-style courtyard with a pleasant smattering of trees and greenery.

I’m not sure if there’s been a month with quite as much music going on as August in Peterborough and the Kawarthas.

There are free outdoor concerts all over the place and live music bars are chalk full of acts. Even some small restaurants have great live music.

With that in mind, here’s a guide to some things coming up during the last full month of summer.

I find it difficult to pass violence off as comedy. Long gone are the dusty antics of The Three Stooges, with pratfalls so lumbering that the sheer creaking ineptitude of their execution was half the fun of the slapstick. Now, with technology being as capable as it is, we must endure a never-ending freight train of grotesquely muscled-up punches to the face — all in the name of a good high five while we leave the theatre energized from witnessing a plethora of mass destruction in the name of escapist recreation.