by Colin Thomas | Dec 14, 2025 | Review
Annie is the Gateway’s Christmas show, so let’s say this pudding is tasty sometimes, but also pretty lumpy. Stylistically, director Josh Epstein’s production is inconsistent — and that’s partly because, stylistically, Annie is a tricky musical. Based on the comic...
by Colin Thomas | Dec 5, 2025 | Review
For some reason, probably general curmudgeonliness, I tried to resist Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. I failed. Yes, the story is sentimental, but it’s about the importance of familial and romantic love — of kindness, honesty, and openheartedness. In this age, which...
by Colin Thomas | Dec 1, 2025 | Review
I suggest a moratorium on adaptations of A Christmas Carol. We’ve had more than enough and some of them are good. In this variation from Victoria’s Wonderheads Theatre, there’s skill on display and some moments work but, as a whole, the evening is boring. The medium...
by Colin Thomas | Nov 30, 2025 | Review
Despite a bumpy start and hitches along the way, this journey is more than worth it. This United Players production is the premiere of a new adaptation, by Naomi Wright and director Sarah Rodgers, of Charles Dickens’s novella, A Cricket on the Hearth. The story, which...
by Colin Thomas | Nov 23, 2025 | Review
Theatre Replacement’s East Van Panto has become the most reliable theatrical offering in Vancouver’s cultural calendar. I’m so appreciative of the tradition that, about three minutes into this year’s show, I was choking up with gratitude. It means a lot to come...
