Christine Quintana’s speech at the Siminovitch banquet
I’d like to begin with some thank yous – First off, to my family and in particular my mom, who has made this life possible for me. To Jiv, the best person I’ve ever met at a theatre conference. To my theatre family – my dear friends and collaborators – The...
Marcus Youssef’s acceptance speech (Siminovitch Prize)
"Phew. Hello. Bonjour. That’s pretty much all the French I’m capable of speaking – West Coaster, sorry. First: there is no way for me, up here, to say what I’m about to say in a way that doesn’t sound pro forma or like a cliché, but: it easily could have been any one...
This show about race is one of the most stimulating productions of the season
Mitch and Murray Productions consistently produces some of the smartest shows in town. This one is called Smart People. Lydia R. Diamond has set her 2016 play in and around Harvard in 2007 and 2008 during the run-up to Barack Obama’s first election. It’s about race...
Girls Like That: How theatrical is this exploration of gender politics?
There are a couple of different ways of approaching Girls Like That, which is about slut shaming: you could look at it as a piece of theatre or you could assess it as a focal point for discussion. Despite committed performances from the teenaged cast, this production...
The Lonesome West: Will it leave you more lonesome?
The Lonesome West is about forgiveness—kind of, if you squint. But I do not forgive The Lonesome West. Martin McDonagh’s 1997 script is part of a trilogy that also includes The Beauty Queen of Leenane and A Skull in Connemera. All three are set in Leenane, a...
King Charles III: It’s stylish but is it relevant?
Who gives a toss? In Mike Bartlett’s 2014 script, Queen Elizabeth II has just died and Charles has become King, although his coronation is a few months off. In one of his first acts as monarch, he refuses to give his assent to a bill that would restrict the freedom of...
VANCOUVER GREENROOM 13: Operating theatre
Theatre is community. OPERATING THEATRE Do you know what all of those losers who got into medical school want to do? Musical comedy. The medical school at New York City’s Columbia University has its own theatre and it takes seriously the effect that rehearsing and...
Honour: this story of a Mumbai courtesan is well-intentioned but narratively weak
I have no doubt that writer and performer Dipti Mehta’s heart is in the right place, but she’s not a great storyteller. In her solo show, Honour: Confessions of a Mumbai Courtesan, Mehta introduces us to Rani, whose mother, Chameli, is a sex worker in Mumbai’s “Fuck...
The acting in Happy Place is stronger than the script
The storytelling in Happy Place could be more focused and compelling, but some of the play’s content pierces to the heart of the current cultural moment and the cast is stellar. In Happy Place, playwright Pamela Mala Sinha takes us to an upscale inpatient treatment...
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