Reviews

  • The Fighting Season features strong acting and writing. It is also an intense, heavy drama that may haunt you long after you leave the theatre- not unlike the characters returning from Afghanistan. I usually avoid movies and theatre about war, no matter how well done they are. And this is done well. If you can handle the content, this is definitely one to catch. It is also enlightening. I have no idea how they did it, but somehow the Canadian Forces Health Services group at Kandahar Airfield Base Role 3 Hospital maintained a 97% success (patient survival) rate. For that,...

  • The Common Era presents the full-length comedy The Four of Us by Itamar Moses as part of the Dramatic Works Series at The Cultch – Vancity Culture Lab. The Dramatic Works Series was developed to produce previously published dramatic works. This is a great addition to the Vancouver Fringe Festival as it promotes and assists artists to present full-length plays, something that has been lacking from the festival in recent years.

    The Four of Us is a kind of buddy comedy with an edge. Moses’ play...

  • It was clear to me right from the start there was a lot of love put into this project.  The cast were having so much FUN on stage, how could we not have a blast as well in the audience?  

    I'm not quite sure how to capture this show in words...after all, I knew nothing about the tv show going into it.  I had to actually watch the tv show afterwards out of morbid curiosity and what I have to say to the creative team...

  • What if Shakespeare got it wrong?  What if Mercutio and Tybalt had an amazing bromance that he overlooked?

    In Mercutio & Tybalt we are taken to purgatory where we hear the untold story of how their lives both came to an end.  I’m assuming I am not needing to put any spoiler alerts on here.  If you go to see Mercurio & Tybalt, I am going to take it for granted that you have seen Romeo & Juliet at some point.

    Val Duncan...

  • Tonya Jone Miller is an award-winning performer from Portland, Oregon who tells the story based on her decade of experience as a professional phone sex operator. This show was awarded the Outstanding Individual Performance award at the 2015 London Fringe Festival.

    Tonya is unique and talented monologist. She explores not only the needs, desires, and intentions of the individuals on the other end of the phone line, but also humanity, her own bodily anxieties, and acceptance of herself and others. She lays bare not only her body but her soul.

    ...

  • Peter and Chris: Here Lies Chris is a 60 minute sketch comedy show performed by the Fringe-famous Peter Carlone and Chris Wilson at Pacific Theatre.

        I went into this show with very high expectations for these guys. They often feel like the flagship comedy show of the Vancouver Fringe Festival, and Ive heard fans toot about how great they are. The amount of awards they have won is impressive.

    ...

  • Have you ever been sitting in the audience waiting for a play to begin when you notice a small piece of paper in the program announcing that one of the characters will be played by the understudy? I have and was instantly disappointed. I mean, what if they were not as good as the original actor or what if their performance was not perfect? My thoughts at that moment were all about me as an audience member. My thoughts never ventured to the understudy who was about to take the stage. Is she excited, is...

  • I wish every Fringe venue were on Granville Island, even if it meant spaces like this. The fluorescent lights are terrible, though are apt for this double bill. The space needs theatre lighting or even just lamps. I hope Lind Hall, the Arts Umbrella dance hall, the Arts Club stage, the Improv Centre, and more are added again or utilized full time during the Fringe next year so that audience members can spend more time seeing shows and less time traveling across the city.

    Faroe Islands + Ostrich take us on...

  • What do astronaut John Glenn, president Bill Clinton, and sea monkeys have in common? Before this play I had absolutely no idea. But then again, history isn’t one of my strengths. For that matter, politics, the news, and random fun facts aren’t either. Those of you for whom they are (or if, unlike me, you were born before the 1990s), you might already know that both American heroes were pretty big media sensations in 1998—Clinton for his infamous scandal with Monica Lewinsky, his friend Glenn for returning to space at 77 years of age. If you’re...

  • The show tells the story about Bumbels, whose plane has stalled on the tarmac. Clutching a one-way ticket to his dreams, with his heart (Kiki) and his mind (Fink) at odds, Bumbels must choose between clinging to the past or leaping into the unknown.

    I would highly recommend joining the three adorable clownish characters Kiki, Fink, and Bumbles and embracing the exhilarating journey of taking flight through aerial acrobatics, cirque, physics, mythology, legends, poetic whimsy, and imagination. In 60 minutes you will have an amazing adventure and fall in love with...

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