by Colin Thomas | Jun 17, 2023 | Review
There are so many great songs in this show. And there’s so much talent on the Arts Club stage. But there’s so little story in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical that it often feels more like a concert than theatre. Douglas McGrath’s slim book follows the legendary...
by Colin Thomas | Jun 4, 2023 | Review
All sorts of people call A Flea in Her Ear one of the great farces. I’m not sure if the script is salvageable. Written by Georges Feydeau in 1907 and seen here in the 2006 adaptation by David Ives, Flea concerns a woman named Raymonde Chandebise who suspects her...
by Colin Thomas | Jun 3, 2023 | Review
Leah Nanako Winkler’s God Said This explores important experiences, but does so in annoyingly sentimental and on-the-nose ways. Fortunately, in this Pacific Theatre production, there are significant rewards in both the performances and physical production. In the...
by Colin Thomas | May 28, 2023 | Review
I won’t give away the confession in Derek Chan’s Happy Valley, but it’s the best part of the script. In this interdisciplinary solo, Chan sings and recites poetry — often in Cantonese with English surtitles. We also get Cantonese surtitles. Chan grew up in Hong Kong...
by Colin Thomas | May 26, 2023 | Review
First Métis Man of Odesa is such compelling — and funny — storytelling. It’s charmingly performed, and exquisitely directed and produced. I hope The Cultch and Punctuate! Theatre can find pull quotes in those two sentences to use in their advertising because I want to...
by Colin Thomas | May 7, 2023 | Review
I hated this show so much that thinking about writing this review gave me a stomach ache. I don’t want to be cruel but, if I’m not frank, I’m not doing my job. I first encountered playwright Bronwyn Carradine’s Unexpecting in early 2021 when it was an audio play...
