The latest work from Canadian theatre icon Judith Thompson – Such Creatures – is a warm welcome home after her debut thirty years ago at the intimate backspace of Theatre Passe Muraille.
Such Creatures confronts audiences with pain, rage, fear and unimaginable choices. True to form, Thompson handles the harshest realities of human existence with sensitivity, artistry and always hope. Milder than her earlier work, Such Creatures strikes a graceful balance between accessibility and thoughtful, political theatre. Two powerful, interwoven monologues are artfully brought to life under the direction of Brian Quirt and nuanced actors Michaela Washburn...
I have to admit to mixed feelings about KAMP, which is on at the Roundhouse as part of the ongoing PuSH Festival. While, I admire the technical wizardry of it all and the attention to detail, I’m afraid its purpose and what it adds to the world is one that leaves me unsure and, maybe, a bit uneasy.
Despite two enormous screens that stand behind him and a slide show that sometimes blurs like magic into moving images, William Yang acts out one of oldest and simplest forms of performance: storytelling.
Is musical theatre known for its subtleties? I guess not. And this is why Beyond Eden — despite its tender treatment of challenging themes — wears its many rich metaphors on its sleeve. Everything is on the surface: beautiful but obvious.
I arrive just before 7 pm - for a show that started at 12 noon and will wrap up about 8 pm. The sound begins to envelope you as you enter the space. I then notice about 30 people lying on the floor listening. Some are motionless. Others are chanting or pounding the floor with various limbs. I sit down in the front row of chairs - I think there are more people onstage in the action than with me in the stands.
After several minutes of sounds and audience members wandering in and out, a small band starts to...
The setting for The Passion of Joan of Arc, staged at Christ Church Cathedral on Burrard street, lent a aura of rarefied theatricality to this event. The church's vaulted ceilings, echoing with the buzz of the audience, the polished wood floors and intricate lighting fixtures, the dramatic architecture of the nave itself, with its adjacent alcoves like wings to a stage – these conspired to create a sense of immanent revelation. Where a black box theatre lets distractions disappear form view, the finely-crafted environment of a church makes the setting itself a player in the drama.
The Passion of Joan...
Maria Falconetti in The Passion of Joan of Arc, 1928
Wow – it's supercool to enter the Roundhouse by the train exhibit and use that area as the lobby. I love it! However, another audience member said it was a problem since there were no public bathrooms... (A small price to pay, I think.)
Awkward dance sequences - void of sound and fury signifying nothing
