The Magic Hour: It really is

promotional image for The Magic Hour at Presentation House

The library is just one of the trippy sites in The Magic Hour. (Photo by Clayton Baraniuk)

The Magic Hour opened me up and rearranged me. It was extraordinary.

The Magic Hour offers an immersive experience that audience members go through one at a time — or in pairs if you need to. The idea is that you’re finishing a dog walk and re-entering your home during the Covid pandemic.  But, when you pass through the first door, you find out that your home is an extraordinary maze of interconnected installations — the entire interior of Presentation House has been repurposed — and every installation offers opportunities to reflect on Covid and climate change.

This isn’t grim; in fact, it’s often transcendentally poetic. [Read more…]

Anywhere But Here: Go there

Electric Company is presenting Anywhere But Here at the Vancouver Playhouse as part of the PuSh Festival.

Alexandra Lainfiesta’s performance in Anywhere But Here is masterfully unadorned — as clear as glass. (Photo by Emily Cooper)

Carmen Aguirre’s script for Anywhere But Here takes a long time to find its groove but, when it does, it’s thrilling. Really. Although I was ambivalent about the text after the first act, I rocketed out of my seat for the ovation at the end. And the production is always bracingly vibrant and confident. [Read more…]

The Full Light of Day: through a glass darkly

 

Gabrielle Rose in The Full Light of Day. Photo by Don Lee

Little Gabrielle Rose and big Gabrielle Rose. (Photo by Don Lee)

The Full Light of Day is obsessed with its surfaces and, as a result, many of them are well crafted. The performances in this production are first rate. And the script is a mess—especially in Act 1, which is 90 minutes long. By intermission, I had very little idea who the story was about, what it was about (other than the obvious), or why I should care. [Read more…]

40 Days and 40 Nights: It’s personal

Kim Collier and Daniel Brooks embrace in 40 Days and 40 Nights.

In 40 Days and 40 Nights, Kim Collier and Daniel Brooks explore their love—and the concept of love.

I attended 40 Days and 40 Nights last night. It’s an exploration of love from theatre artists Kim Collier and Daniel Brooks, who are romantic partners.

I was going to review it but, after the show, Kim asked me not to, saying that 40 Days is intended as a gift. All shows are gifts, of course, but the larger context of our conversation brought me to the understanding that this is a particularly personal gift and a professional assessment wouldn’t be appropriate.

So I’m not going to review 40 Days and 40 Nights.

I will describe my favourite sequence, though. The audience is sitting around a rectangular playing space. It’s dark, but we all have little, candle-like lights that we can turn on and off. Kim and Daniel ask a series of questions. If our answer to the question is yes, we turn on our lights. If our answer is no, we leave them off.

Kim asks if we have ever yearned for a lifelong love. Everybody in the audience turns on their lights—including all of the young guys sitting across from me. Oh dudes! How tender. I guess I’m not used to men being so open in public.

40 DAYS AND 40 NIGHTS By Daniel Brooks and Kim Collier. Consulting director Jennifer Tarver. Co-produced by The Electric Company Theatre, Necessary Angel Theatre Company, and TheTheatre Centre. On Thursday, May 31. Continues at Progress Lab 1422 until June 2.

Tickets.

 

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