Click on TJ Dawe and Itai Erdal’s Hyperlink
Hyperlink is terrific, stylin’ entertainment. It’s about social media. And, in crucial ways, it’s the opposite of social media. During the show, we’re all in the same space at the same time, for instance. Real human beings, live flesh: how refreshing! Nobody is...
1 Hour Photo is underdeveloped
There are exquisite elements in 1 Hour Photo. There are also significant problems with the storytelling. For almost its entire length, 1 Hour Photo doesn’t seem to know what it’s about. Writer Tetsuro Shigematsu, who performs the show with musician Steve Charles,...
The Goblin Market: “She suck’d until her lips were sore.”
Make no mistake: Christina Rossetti’s poem, Goblin Market, which was published in 1862 and which inspired this circus performance, is about sex. At twilight, sisters Laura and Lizzie are tempted by goblin men, who offer to sell them fruit. At first, Laura demurs: “We...
As You Like It: Is Shakespeare’s comedy the right vehicle for a meditation on the refugee crisis?
There’s a lot going on. And a bunch of it works. In setting As You Like It, Shakespeare’s comedy about banishment, director Michael Scholar Jr. draws inspiration from the global refugee crisis. The combination isn’t always a good fit, but it does result in the...
VANCOUVER GREENROOM 9: Failure is essential
Vancouver Greenroom: theatre is community FAILURE IS ESSENTIAL Comedian, actor, and filmmaker Mike Birbiglia offers some of the best artistic advice ever. Highlights include, “Failure is essential. There’s no substitute for it. It’s not just encouraged but required.”...
Japanese Problem: these people were Canadian and they weren’t a problem
Japanese Problem is delicate production, but it packs a punch. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, thousands of Canadian citizens of Japanese origin were removed from the West Coast and forced to live in internment camps in the BC interior...
VANCOUVER GREENROOM 8: Perfection is the enemy of excellence
Vancouver Greenroom: theatre is community MEANINGFUL INVITATION “Perfection is the enemy of excellence.” Doesn’t that sentence make your shoulders relax? Wouldn’t it be lovely to hear it during rehearsals? It’s a sentence favoured by Simone Hamilton, one of...
Posh: Is it worth spending an evening with these toffee-nosed gits?
I love class analysis. Posh is packed with class analysis. So why does this script, which premiered in London in 2010, not work for me in this Vancouver production in 2017? In Laura Wade’s play, a group that calls itself The Riot Club meets in the private dining room...
The Christians: for an atheist, whether or not hell exists is not a burning question
The Christians: if you’re not Christian, what’s in this play for you? Not a lot in terms of moral complexity. But a fair bit in terms of theatricality. In Lucas Hnath’s script, Pastor Paul is the leader of a gigantic evangelical congregation: his church has thousands...
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