crime

Grey with blackened edges. Mark Hughes’ life reads like a modern reboot mashup of Lost Weekend, Reefer Madness, The River’s Edge and Sleepers. Or maybe Breaking Bad with less horrific murder.

Tragedy + Time Served = Comedy was dramaturged by TJ Dawe, whom Hughes considers his mentor in getting this riveting monologue together. From the opening narration that describes the imperfect social construct that is the corrections and criminal justice system, to Hughes’ willingness to work with the reaction of his audience, this is an experience that few will forget or fail to be moved by.

It’s almost hard to...

Mark Hughes

    Lee MacDougall’s comedy caper High Life, presented at the Cultch as part of the Fringe Dramatic Works Series is the kind of play that would make Martin McDonagh (In Bruges) or Tracy Letts (Killer Joe) very proud with its witty portrayal of scheming criminals. Unfortunately, this production doesn’t do justice to the excellent script. The writing has a very particular style, and it demands a certain vocal agility to capture the repartee. In the opening scene Dave Evenson and Marcel Perro, as longtime partners-in-crime Dick and Bug, speak the dialogue at a jarringly uneven pace, not quite making...