by Colin Thomas | Nov 24, 2019 | Review
Fado: The Saddest Music in the World is an odd title for a play that evokes so little feeling. The problem is the script. In playwright Elaine Ávila’s story, a young Portuguese Canadian woman named Luisa travels to Lisbon with her widowed mom, Rosida. Luisa,...
by Colin Thomas | Nov 23, 2019 | Review
If Pinocchio was my first East Van Panto, I’d be writing a different review. But I’ve seen all seven and some — especially Little Red Riding Hood (2016) and The Wizard of Oz (last year) — have been so much better that, although Pinocchio is a good show in some ways,...
by Colin Thomas | Nov 22, 2019 | Review
My smart, charismatic mom, who had always feared dementia, sank deeper and deeper into it for the last six years of her life. She’s gone. And now I fear dementia. So, when I was keeping notes as I watched The Father and I thought, “Fuck! Did I get that character’s...
by Colin Thomas | Nov 17, 2019 | Review
If good intentions were all that mattered, Anon(ymous) would be worth seeing. In playwright Naomi Iizuka’s riff on Homer’s Odyssey, a rogue wave sideswipes the boat that a refugee mother and her son are escaping on. The two are separated: the boy is washed...
by Colin Thomas | Nov 16, 2019 | Review
I think The Double Axe Murders wants to be atmospheric but, in this production at least, it’s not. In the story, which is based on real murders that happened in Newfoundland in 1809, Sarah Singleton has come looking for her fiancé and her brother, who have disappeared...
