What a weird play. My Granny the Goldfish by Anosh Irani is at turns laugh out loud funny, casually racist, treats alcoholism with as much respect as a Foster Brooks’ routine and descends into a predictable movie-of –the-week plot featuring unearned moments of character transcendence/revelation.
Veena Sood and David Adams in My Granny the Goldfish. Photo by David Cooper
Ali & Ali 7: Hey Brother, Can You Spare Some Hope and Change? begins with a slide show that is both amusing and quizzical. Set to a loud thumping beat, the audience is shown a quick succession of images of Muammar Gaddafi looking eccentric, Stephen Harper sporting his blue sweater and stock sympathetic smirk, and Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson from the film A Few Good Men. We are left to ponder which of the two leaders looks the most ridiculous: a Salvador Dali-esque Gaddafi wearing tinted shades and long robes, or an awkward Stephen Harper wearing a suit...
Camyar Chai and Marcus Youssef in Ali & Ali 7, photo by Tim Matheson
This isn't easy material. Refuge of Lies explores a story that hits close to home and it's clear that writer/director Ron Reed feels passionately about the show's subject. Inspired by actual events that took place in Vancouver, Refuge of Lies, currently on at Pacific Theatre, tells the story of a Nazi soldier on the run from his past. But the past catches up with him, as pasts are wont to do, in the form of a reporter on a quest for justice.
There was no bride, no vows, and no glass broken underfoot. There was no marriage, but Les Yeux Noirs may as well have been entertaining a Jewish wedding party. And it was one hell of a party.
The Chop Theatre's KISMET one to one hundred (currently on as part of the Tremors Festival) embodies the essence of collective creation. Four artists (Anita Rochon, Emelia Symington Fedy, Daryl King, and Hazel Venzon) set out on a journey across Canada. Their goal was to interview one hundred people from the ages of one through one hundred on the subject of fate and destiny. Predictably, although their list of questions is fairly simple and straight forward, the responses they gathered were as varied and idiosyncratic as the people they interviewed. They recorded their separate journeys (Fedy and...
It was after seeing Sebastian Croon’s Fringe show Circus last year that I lamented the rarity of horror genre work in theatre, so you can imagine my glee upon hearing about The Mill, an ambitious project conceived by Daryl Cloran and Matthew MacFadzean for Theatrefront. The Mill is a series of four plays forged under the manifesto, as described by MacFadzean, to “make Canadian history less boring”, particularly by telling it through the lens of fear. March saw the delivery of the series’ third installment, though I was lucky enough to catch up on the first two...
Ryan Hollyman and Michelle Latimer are at the mill.
Hidden away on Franklin, a desolate street north of Hastings, is a small gallery space which has been turned into a theatre space for Craning Neck Theatre’s premiere of TRUNK written and directed by Jeremy Waller.
Billy Bishop is back and this time it’s personal. The Arts Club Granville Island Stage presents a youthful, enthusiastic production of the classic Canadian musical, Billy Bishop Goes to War, more than 30 years after it was first performed by its co-creators, John Gray and Eric Peterson.
Having seen the first incarnation of Theatre Melee's Cozy Catastrophe at Hive 2 in 2008, it was fascinating to see how this show has evolved. Now part of the ongoing Tremors Festival, the show has been expanded from its original form as a 20 minute short play into an 80 minute one act.
Getting cozy during a catastrophe are Juno Ruddell, Michael Rinaldi and Erin Mathews
