Archives for October 2019

Frankenstein, Lost in Darkness: waiting to be found at Pacific Theatre

Pacific Theatre is presenting Frankenstein as a radio play.

Tariq Leslie as Frankenstein’s creature. 

Taking in Frankenstein: Lost in Darkness is very much like sitting around a fire on a winter evening and listening to a storyteller who is very good — if a little long-winded. [Read more…]

China Doll: Could I get some dramatic tension with that?

The Gateway Theatre is presenting Marjorie Chan's China Doll.

Jennifer Tong as Su-Ling and Manami Hara as Poa-Poa in the too-simple world of China Doll.
(Photo by Tim Matheson)

Oh man, why do such poorly written plays get produced? Yes, Marjorie Chan’s China Doll is admirably feminist and admirably inclusive of underrepresented experience, but it’s also boring. [Read more…]

Take d Milk, Nah?: Yeah, take d milk

Take d Milk, Nah? is playing at The Cultch.

According to Jivesh Parasram, Hindu cows don’t say moo.
He’s in a position to know.

I’ve been so bored in the theatre so often lately that I’ve been starting to wonder if I’m dead inside. That’s why I’m feeling so high right now:  Take d Milk, Nah? kept me consistently stimulated and engaged. [Read more…]

Cost of Living: sentiment, beauty, mistakes

The Arts Club Theatre/Citadel Theatre co-pro of Cost of Living is at the BMO Theatre Centre

This is where it gets beautiful. (Photo of Ashley Wright and Teal Sherer by David Cooper)

Equivocation isn’t much fun, but it’s all I’ve got. [Read more…]

Company: in the wrong room

Rancity Theatre is presenting Stephen Sondheim's Company.

It’s not easy being young and handsome and getting all the sex you want — at least so I’ve been told. (Jonathan Winsby in Company)

The venue doesn’t work. The style doesn’t work. And the wig they’ve given Katey Wright is horrible. But it’s not all bad news. [Read more…]

Body Awareness: starts off numb

Mitch and Murray Productions is presenting Body Awareness at Studio 16

Stylistic inconsistencies plague Body Awareness. (Photo of Suleka Mathew, John Murphy, and Jennifer Copping)

What country, friends, is this? For about the first three-quarters of Body Awareness, I had no idea where I was. [Read more…]

The Birds & the Bees: A play about U-turns takes one of its own

The Arts Club is producing Mark Crawfods The Birds & the Bees at the Granville Island Stage.

Do older people have sex? Yes. Yes we do. (Photo of Tom McBeath and Susinn McFarlen by Moonrider Productions)

Sometimes I think that theatre companies should offer half-price tickets to people who only want to watch Act 2. [Read more…]

Luzia: Just say yes to this sensual extravaganza

Acrobat Sascha Bachmann has chops. So does everybody on the design team.

Luzia is by far the most sensual Cirque du Soleil show I’ve seen. Go with your body wide awake. Go with somebody you can grab onto when you’re screaming and lean into when you’re swooning. [Read more…]

What We’re Up Against: the politics outweighs the art

Thersa Rebeck's What We're Up Against is playing at the Havana Theatre.

Natalie Moon’s Eliza is justifiably pissed. (Photo by Justine Warrington)

In What We’re Up Against, playwright Theresa Rebeck makes legitimate points, but the way she makes them is so boring! [Read more…]

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