FOURTH AVENUE (BROOKLYN) – (Vancouver Fringe)
You’ve got to love a whodunnit in which the who is capitalism. In Fourth Avenue (Brooklyn), which is being performed by co-creators Emily Louise Perkins and Moti Margolin, a guy named Boris is being interrogated because he’s suspected of murdering the...
LOVE, SHARKS & FRENCHING (Vancouver Fringe)
Lou Laurence, who wrote this piece and is performing it, has charm to burn and an appealingly deep and raspy singing voice. Overall, though, Love, Sharks & Frenching is only intermittently engaging. The premise is that Laurence is conducting a scientific...
THE BISCUITEATER (Vancouver Fringe)
One of the first notes I wrote was, “This actor is not relaxed.” Two short pages later I wrote, “The characterization of the grandma is the best.” That second note marked the beginning of a theatrical seduction. In The Biscuiteater, writer and solo performer Jim...
DUCK DUCK MOOSE (Vancouver Fringe)
To make improv work, you need three things: audience goodwill, creative players, and a format that allows them to shine. Goodwill was flowing when I saw Duck Duck Moose and every one of the players had a moment or two in which they showed their potential. But the...
FREE KITTENS (Vancouver Fringe)
I took part in the standing ovation (rarely happens). I bought the T-shirt (never happens). I loved this show. Megan Milton’s comic monologue is about being an “abortion survivor”, somebody who believes her high-school-age mom wasn’t prepared to have kids and should...
EMIL AMOK: 69 (Vancouver Fringe)
There are riches in Emil Amok: 69, but you’ve got to negotiate a lot of clutter to get to them. In his anecdotal stand-up set, writer and performer Emil Amok Guillermo adopts an alienatingly hyperactive persona, his delivery is all over the place, and many of his...
WITCH WITH HER SKIRT ON FIRE (Vancouver Fringe)
Writer/performer Megan Markham’s solo show consists of a series of fairytale-like stories about witches and witchcraft. The imagery and ideas are often charmingly inventive: the library at the centre of the universe that contains every book ever written; the lead...
THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG: GOES RIGHT
Farce is so difficult. You need significant chops to pull it off, so a non-Equity production of The Play That Goes Wrong struck me as a dicey proposition, but this creative team is clearly drawing on a huge treasure chest of non-Equity experience. They’re rocking this...
![THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (ABRIDGED) [REVISED] [AGAIN]: TO ITS OWN SELF IT’S TRUE](https://colinthomas.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-26-at-3.56.45-PM-400x250.jpeg)
THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (ABRIDGED) [REVISED] [AGAIN]: TO ITS OWN SELF IT’S TRUE
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) [Revised] [Again] is kind of like a trampoline park for actors: it gives them a great workout and a chance to show off their skills as they bounce from one Shakespearean play to the next, trying to get them all done...
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