by Colin Thomas | May 28, 2023 | Review
I won’t give away the confession in Derek Chan’s Happy Valley, but it’s the best part of the script. In this interdisciplinary solo, Chan sings and recites poetry — often in Cantonese with English surtitles. We also get Cantonese surtitles. Chan grew up in Hong Kong...
by Colin Thomas | Dec 16, 2022 | Review
For me as kid and even as a young adult, watching the annual TV appearance of the Alistair Sim version of A Christmas Carol was a religious experience. I watched it every year, preferably by myself so that others who might be less devout wouldn’t distract me. I have...
by Colin Thomas | Nov 26, 2022 | Review
I was afraid that Courage Now might be ploddingly literal, but it’s a moving piece of art. There is no doubt that more people need to know the real-life story of Chiune Sugihara, who was Japan’s vice-consul in Kaunas, Lithuania near the beginning of World War II. In...
by Colin Thomas | Jun 3, 2022 | Review
There’s some very nice work in the Firehall Art Centre’s production of Yellow Fever, but, under Donna Spencer’s direction, the production always feels slightly out of focus. Rick Shiomi’s film-noir style script is about Sam Shikaze, a classically hardboiled detective...
by Colin Thomas | Apr 23, 2022 | Review
White Noise is just another pop culture, truth-and-reconciliation comedy: same old, same old … I’m kidding! How many of those have you seen? Taran Kootenhayoo’s White Noise is completely frickin’ original. It has a vision. And it comes with the slap of urgency....
