Promise and Promiscuity is simply a wonderful production. This one-woman musical is full of laughs, clever remixes of musical hits through the ages and double entendres, especially involving the word balls. Not being a fan of Victorian era writing, I was expecting to be bored.
How wrong I was.
This exceedingly clever satire shines its comedic light on the many differences and similarities between our time and the Victorian era. No area is left out: capitalism, feminism, classism, romance, music, art, and marriage. Each made into song and poked fun at. Vancouvershire is woven into...
Shattered is created and performed by Andrew Barrett. He is the Artistic Director of Impulse Theatre based in Victoria, BC which has created over 10 new highly visual and engaging works since 2010. This newest work premiered at Intrepid Theatre's UnoFest May 2013.
The write-up for Shattered states: "Each of us has dozens of pieces and parts inside of us, but what happens when they have to fend for themselves? An intense and beautiful physical theatre piece, Shattered gets inside a person who is broken apart. This solo endeavour follows the pieces as they strive to find where they fit and...
Watching A False Face, I was constantly reminded that the Toronto theatre scene is definitely not the same as Vancouver. We may all be Canadians, but theatre comes in different flavours and it is a product of geography as well as individuals. Vancouver's theatre is generally nowhere near as political, nor as earnest. Add in an urban Aboriginal element and we're definitely not in Kansas (I mean, Vancouver) anymore.
This new script is the debut play written by social worker and novelist Jeff D'Hondt produced by Spiderbones Performing Arts. D'Hondt draws on his 20 years of experience in social work to explore the...
Written by American playwright Glen Berger, Underneath The Lintel is a Fringe Festival anomaly. Unlike many shows you'll see at the Fringe, King Baby Productions chose an existing script - one that was published, proven and has been performed in several countries as well as translated into multiple languages. Kudos to this independent professional company based on Bowen Island for bringing Vancouver this intriguing story well told.
Staged in the Culture Lab at the Cultch, we meet The Librarian (played by David Cameron). He has rented this "auditorium" for one night only - it's expensive, you know - and plans to offer us proof...
Even though the Fringe shows are assigned randomly to our Plank reviewers, somehow I feel I was destined to see this performance at the 2013 Fringe. Perhaps it's because 2013 is my year of Star Trek. Since January I have seen ALL of Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager (which is 21 seasons of Star Trek in case you're counting). So Johnny Tomorrow feels like a good friend (and I bet he's seen all those episodes of Star Trek too).
We meet Johnny in a shiny silver space suit. He tells us: "...
Genre Definition = Family Friendly · Poetic · Intellectual
Toronto-based playwrights Julie Cohn and Anjali Rai bring us the tale of the domestication of "Bears In The City". The sub-plot is a metaphorical experiment about the assimilation of a newcomer (Bear) into acquiring the socially acceptable behaviors of a citizen in their new confines. With the help of a seasoned trainer...of course. Immigration maybe.
The struggle is finding a balance between dropping one's own innate or cultural characteristics, and picking up new ones to fit in. This play certainly has its moments of humour. "Little Bear" is a wonderfully simple, mischievous, child-like character that...
The play Fractured by Seacoast Studios looks at the aftermath of a school shooting. Nine adolescents who have survived a school shooting sit together and discuss what happened, how they were affected, why the shooter did it, facts about school shootings, and more.
I am curious as to whether this play is completely scripted, or allows some improvisation. The conversation among the nine actors flowed naturally. They inhabited their characters and conversed as them. When I have seen this done on film, improvisation is usually part of the magic.
I find it difficult to listen to scenes of murder, desperation, and...
This show is a blast! I bet it is completely different every night. True audience-participation improv theatre at its best.
"Butt Kapinski" is an enigmatic character that puts the "issthp" in lisp with every word. The house and stage lights are all out...the only beam is from the lamp that the androgynous "Butt" has extending over his or her back like a halo, so "Butt" can spot his next audience victim or suspect.
This clever "Film Noir" satire spoof is engaging throughout. The plot is simple...there was a murder in Vancouver, and...
Staged at the Havana Theatre, this unusual show is created by a girl moving various illustrated transparencies above an overhead projector, while, with the other hand, manipulating 2-D figures (a form of shadow puppets, which are usually behind a screen) above the transparencies. Only a few people sitting in the front row can see how this is done, so the focus of course is on what we see on the big screen. The pictures are supported in two ways. A second girl plays a guitar, with the audience supplying sounds (a hiss, engine...
