by Colin Thomas | Apr 14, 2018 | Review
Much to the credit of playwright Jovanni Sy, Nine Dragons is a rewarding thriller. Riffing on film noir, Sy sets the action in the Kowloon neighbourhood of Hong Kong in the 1920s. A character that the press calls the Kowloon Ripper is murdering women, then chopping...
by Colin Thomas | Apr 12, 2018 | Review
The Arts Club’s production of Misery is a journey straight to heck and back. It’s not scary, which is a flaw in a thriller. William Goldman, who wrote the play, also penned the screenplay for the1990 movie. Both are based on a book by Stephen King. In the story, a...
by Colin Thomas | Apr 8, 2018 | Review
WTF is one of my favourite responses at the theatre. I had it a lot while watching Mr. Burns, a post-electric play. Part of the pleasure of watching Mr. Burns is that the three acts are so different that you have to re-orient yourself after each of the intermissions....
by Colin Thomas | Apr 7, 2018 | Review
In Once on This Island, love triumphs—supposedly. It’s really sexism that wins. If you want to be surprised by the story, don’t read any further; to make my point, I’m going to give away the plot. In this musical, which premiered on Broadway in 1990 and which is...
by Colin Thomas | Mar 31, 2018 | Review
This Renegade Arts mounting of Rent gets so much so wrong. There are talented people in the cast, and some elements of the show work, but fundamental errors undermine the production. A rock musical, Rent features a group of young-adult friends who are living in New...
by Colin Thomas | Mar 29, 2018 | Review
The Humans is the real thing. Scripts like this are why I go to the theatre. Playwright Stephen Karam starts with a standard set-up: the Blake family gathers for Thanksgiving dinner. Young-adult daughter Brigid has just moved into an apartment in New York’s Chinatown...
