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WAITRESS: WILL MORE THAN SERVE

WAITRESS: WILL MORE THAN SERVE

The material isn’t immortal, but it’s substantial enough and the production is perfect. Yep, that’s what I said: perfect. Jessie Nelson’s book for the musical is based on the movie, which was written by Adrienne Shelly. In the story, a waitress and piemaker named...

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THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA: A STAR IS BORN

THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA: A STAR IS BORN

The play is slight. Director Dean Paul Gibson’s production is inconsistent. And young actor Jacob Leonard is a star. If The Two Gentlemen of Verona hadn’t been written by Shakespeare, I can’t imagine it would still be getting produced today. In the simple and...

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THE DARK LADY: MURKY

THE DARK LADY: MURKY

Playwright Jessica B. Hill’s The Dark Lady kept me listening for the most part, but I was never fully or consistently engaged. The Dark Lady imagines a relationship between William Shakespeare and Emilia Bassano, the first woman in England to claim the status of...

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HAUS OF YOLO: NO FOMO IF YOU DON’T GO

HAUS OF YOLO: NO FOMO IF YOU DON’T GO

Mediocre skills and a terrible concept do not make for a fun night at the circus. In HAUS of YOLO, which was created by a New Zealand company called The Dust Palace, four acrobats venture into the world of fast fashion — very fast: the acrobats launch the show in...

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AN IDEAL HUSBAND: I’D MARRY IT

AN IDEAL HUSBAND: I’D MARRY IT

Because theatre has so many moving parts, several of which are moving actors, who come complete with independent sensibilities, stylistic adventure in the theatre is a dangerous game: if you don’t get all those moving parts coordinated, the show will crash in...

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INNER ELDER: AGES WELL

INNER ELDER: AGES WELL

The pay-off is great. A solo show — and memoir — written and performed by Michelle Thrush, who’s Cree, Inner Elder is about the artist’s journey towards self-realization as an Indigenous woman. Raised mostly by her dad, Thrush felt an absence where she wanted her...

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Meeting: Could it have been an email?

Meeting: Could it have been an email?

It’s very well intentioned, maybe even moderately helpful — and a total wank. In Meeting, playwright Katherine Gauthier invites us to observe a meeting of Co-Dependents and Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous, but what she shows us is completely unrealistic — more about...

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