Mx: a mixed review from me
I’m a white guy reviewing a show about mixed-race identity, specifically the reclamation of Black identity. The lack of diversity in criticism is a serious problem and I’ve been trying to find ways to address it, but I lack resources. I’ve recently had a conversation...
Fifty Shades of Vinyl: you can do anything to me if you make me laugh
The fun started when I was trying to book a ticket for this online show using my phone: voice-to-text translated Fifty Shades of Vinyl as Fifty Shades of Anal. That was just the beginning of the evening. In Fifty Shades of Vinyl, writers Kyle Carpenter and Nico...
Rishi and d Douen: hang in (if you can)
I’m glad I stuck around for the last two episodes of the three-part audio series Rishi & d Douen; they’re so much better than Episode 1. The story is about a nine-year-old named Rishi, who uses they/them pronouns according to Carousel’s press material. Like their...
Unexpecting (the audio play, from 2021): we should expect more
Bronwyn Carradine is a recent alumnus of the Arts Club’s Emerging Playwrights’ Unit. That means she’s veryfreshly baked, but she’s already demonstrating considerable control of craft in her new audio play Unexpecting. Carradine’s story is about lesbian couple Annie...
She Sells Sea Shells: I ain’t buyin’ ’em. (But they’re pretty.)
Watching She Sells Sea Shells is like watching somebody you like dating the wrong guy: admirable artists have worked very hard and very skilfully on this production, but Helen Eastman’s script isn’t worthy of their talents and attention. I’m going to chew on the...
The Cave: Enter quickly (only two more shows left)
John Millard’s music for The Cave is glorious. And who couldn’t use some gloriousness these days? The Cave is a musical cabaret with characters and a narrative. Pursued by fire, the animals of the forest are running for their lives. They take refuge in Bear’s cave,...
Panto Come Home!: ghosts of Christmases past
The whole is less than the sum of its parts, but some of those parts are excellent. This year’s (online) East Van Panto is a collection of greatest musical hits from the last seven years of The Cultch and Theatre Replacement’s pantos. Writer Mark Chavez strings the...
Be-Longing embraces double-jointed identities
A lot of the work in Be-Longing is skilled. And, although not everything in the piece succeeds for me, there’s an underlying integrity to it that makes several passages compelling. Created by Fay Nass, Meghna Halder, and Sammy Chien, Be-Longing is about the double...
Nom Nom Gnomes: Nope
Carousel Theatre recommends this 30-minute audio play for kids who are three years old and up, but I can’t imagine any kid I know sitting still for it. I could barely manage. In Nom Nom Gnomes, Momoka, her nine-year-old son Taku, and his little sister Kyoko prepare a...
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