vancouver

Wow. I can't believe an entire year has gone by. I remember like it was yesterday when I wandered into my first performance in 2011. I was pumped and excited to be involved with the Vancouver Fringe. I was ready to write as many reviews as possible and get as much exposure for the performers as I could.

Written by Katherine King and Hannah Vaartnou, this show is 45 minutes of pure cringe-making hell. Pretentious beyond belief, boring, amateur, with two young performers caught way over their heads. If the performers had produced this mess themselves I might just forgive them, instead they are betrayed by King’s hubris. (Here’s a concept for you, Ms.

Expectations always get in my way. For example, if everyone tells me I will love a movie, my expectations build up so high that no matter how good the movie may be I always feel disappointed when I see it. Seeing Hungry Like The Wolf made me consider my expectations for a dance performance. SiNS (Sometimes in Nova Scotia) have been assembling a repertoire of pieces based on each of the seven deadly sins. Upon hearing this work was a study on greed that would use hundreds of uniform boxes as the objects of desire I instantly had visions of these wolf-like characters hoarding boxes in a very animalistic way. When the piece (rightly) avoided going down that obvious route, I felt let down. Then I got upset with myself for having such clichéd expectations in the first place. We all see dance for different reasons – some to see great movement, to see interesting ideas, to think deeply, to hear a story. The list goes on and on. Our needs as viewers are varied but are all equally important. All of these needs were satisfied at the Shadbolt last night, but I still wanted more. Maybe the piece itself made me feel greedy. That being said, I do think it’s much better to leave the theatre wanting to see more than it is to leave thinking the piece overstayed it’s welcome. Though getting to the Shadbolt is a bit more of a trek than I usually like to take, Hungry Like The Wolf offered plenty of rewards in return for my long journey.

Our friend at The Next Stage, Simon Ogden, has written an interesting piece on rebranding theatre in Vancouver. He takes as his starting point the recently completed run of HIVE 3.