WOMEN OF THE FUR TRADE: Not This Time Either
One of these days, I hope to see a fully realized production of playwright Fraces Končan’s Women of the Fur Trade, a production that might allow me to see the script’s true potential — or lack thereof. This remount of the National Art’s Centre’s interpretation is not...
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM: BEASTLY GOOD
For the second time in 48 hours, I’ve seen a show in which performers previously unknown to me have floored me with their talent. I encourage agents, directors, and everybody who loves good theatre to do their best to see both Rent and now The Animal Kingdom. Glenn...
RENT: VIVA!
Such an extraordinary production! In the lead roles, wildly talented performers —most of whom I’ve never seen before. Such strength and depth in the ensemble. Everybody on the Metro Theatre stage is givin’ ‘er — and they have the chops to deliver. Just wait till you...
A DOLL’S HOUSE: ODDLY CONSTRUCTED
I could not get a bead on Act 1, but I found Act 2 rewarding, which sucks, I guess, for the people who left at intermission. In the theatre, style is often the trickiest thing to get right, and this script exists in a stylistic hall of mirrors. Henrik Ibsen, who wrote...
NEO SOUL TIES (Vancouver Fringe)
You know how, when you go swimming, your body remembers the water for a long time? After I watched the tap-dance show Neo Soul Ties, my body kept thrumming with rhythmic excitement. Neo Soul Ties is exhilarating! And, choreographed by Toronto artist Victoria Miller,...
GOD THE DAUGHTER (Vancouver Fringe)
In her monologue, Patricia van der Meer reveals that, when she was five or six, she believed she was the second coming of Jesus Christ. Then she got a pair of red Buster Brown shoes and loved them so much she realized she was vain — not holy. That’s about it. There’s...
PLAN V (Vancouver Fringe)
The two sections of Plan V are so distinct they might as well be different scripts. The shorter one works. In the longer, opening section of her solo show, Eleanor O’Brien takes on the persona of Mama V, a pink-track-suited proselytizer in the revolutionary Pussy...
A CABARET OF LEGENDS (Vancouver Fringe)
Peak experience. Really. Tymisha Harris’s A Cabaret of Legends had me in tears. Harris’s voice is so rich and pitch-perfect, it feels surreal sometimes that she’s singing live. A celebration of Black female singers, A Cabaret of Legends overflows with substance....
AN AUTISTIC PRIEST AND A DOG WALK INTO A BAR (Vancouver Fringe)
You preach, brother! The premise of Jean-Daniel Ó Donncada’s solo show is that we’re attending a meeting of the St. Steven’s Youth Group. It’s led by Ó Donncada, a real-life Presbyterian minister, who’s also very smart and very funny. At one point, Ó Donncada shows a...
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