Mom’s the Word 3: Nest 1/2 Empty—Theatre really is the church of love
Theatre is the church of love. Don’t believe me? Head on down to the Granville Island Stage and take in Mom’s the Word 3: Nest 1/2 Empty. As the title makes clear, this is the third installment of the Mom’s the Word series. The first hit the boards way back in 1995...
Not my Christmas Carol
Nobody likes to rain on a parade—especially not a Christmas parade—but the Gateway Theatre’s production of A Christmas Carol is so vacant that I have no choice. As Trump’s Republicans ruthlessly exploit the poor to increase their personal wealth, the relevance of...
Onegin is superb
I saw Onegin again last night and, not to put too fine a point on it, it was like falling back into the arms of a favourite lover. Go see it. It’s the best show in town—by a snowy, Slavic country mile. In Onegin, which is a sung-through musical, Veda Hille and Amiel...
Beauty and the Beast: this holiday entertainment could be more generous
You want a big show like Disney’s Beauty and the Beast to be lavish and dazzling but, in crucial ways, the Arts Club’s production is stingy and incomplete. Fortunately, there are also some excellent performances in the mix and the story itself is strong. In Beauty and...
The Realistic Joneses: a comedy about the limitations of language and the beauty of trying to speak
In The Realistic Joneses, playwright Will Eno behaves like a compassionate—and funny—palliative care nurse. In the play, Pony and John Jones have just moved in next door to Jennifer and Bob Jones. Now they all live in the same small town. Bob has a degenerative...
Little Dickens: The Daisy Theatre Presents A Christmas Carol – genius, with limitations
Puppeteer Ronnie Burkett is a genius. He just is. Another blunt truth: Little Dickens isn’t his best show—at least it isn’t yet. As the full title makes clear, Little Dickens: The Daisy Theatre Presents A Christmas Carol is yet another riff on Charles Dickens’s...
How Star Wars Save My Life gives witness—and could save lives
How Star Wars Saved My Life is an important personal witness. Structurally, it could be stronger, but that almost doesn’t matter. Nicholas Harrison is a well-known Vancouver fight choreographer. He’s got a PhD in directing from UBC. He lectures at Capilano University....
On Criticism
(This is a repost of an essay that I wrote a while back.) A few years ago, I was talking with a local director in a theatre lobby. I had recently given a show of his a mixed review and, as we spoke, he became so enraged that I braced myself for a blow to the head. He...
The set and costumes star in East Van Panto: Snow White & the Seven Dwarves
Every year, when I go to the East Van Panto, simply walking into the York Theatre is one of my favourite parts. Because of all of the kids in the audience, life suddenly becomes like bubble tea: sweet and devil-may-care. This year’s panto, Snow White & the Seven...
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