Photog: An Imaginary Look at the Uncompromising Life of Thomas Smith is an ambitious, experimental work combining video, verbatim text and physical theatre to tell the story of a life in conflict photography. The script is developed from a number of verbatim interviews with award-winning war photographers and journalists, and incorporates images from their work.
Before the performance began, Ana Sokolovic came up on stage to say a few words. Some of those words included “please don't follow along in your program”. Not that she needed to worry. The program is in English, the opera is in Serbian, I would never know which words were which.
The lights go down and Madonna's iconic Like a Prayer blasts over the speakers. Salvatore Antonio, in impeccable Madonna-inspired makeup screams out, “Get interpretive, bitches!” and the audience is on their feet; we obey his orders. At this point, we're about half-way through Truth/Dare, a tribute to the iconic documentary of Madonna's 1990-91 tour, and everyone is having a blast, lovingly milking the camp for all it's worth. I don't even like Madonna, so it took me half a song to realize that yes, I do in fact know the words to Papa Don't Preach, and oh hey, yeah Madonna...
Truth / Dare - check it out if you are that brave!
The Arts Club is bringing to the stage a holiday one-man show. Starring Ryan Beil as Crumpet, The Santaland Diaries offers one elf's experiences in the New York world of Macy's Santaland. And if you like your Christmas entertainment on the sarcastic side, this may just be for you.
Written by David Sedaris, The Santaland Diaries began as a radio essay read by the author on National Public Radio in 1992. An overnight sensation, it was the author's first big break and led to him continuing to share his diary entries with radio listeners monthly. The onstage version was...
Ryan Beil as the Macy's elf named Crumpet (photo by Tim Matheson)
Dickens’ Women is a one woman show (plus pianist) that explores the relationship between the women Charles Dickens knew in his life and the female characters he portrays in his novels. This potentially dry subject is brought to rambunctious life by Myriam Margolyes. Based on extensive research and including quotes from Dickens’ books and letters, Dickens’ Women also appears in book form, which you can purchase in the lobby after the show.
From the moment her mischievous face peeps around the curtain, Miriam Margolyes is captivating. She introduces the audience to a wide variety of real and fictional characters that...
Touchstone Theatre’s West Coast premiere of Anton Piatigorsky’s Eternal Hydra is a magnificent and dangerous beast, weaving a labyrinth narrative of ambition, loyalty and questionable ethics. You will need both your brain and your heart to make sense of this non-linear play, but don’t be discouraged. It is well worth unraveling!
I ended up with a seat in the back corner, stage left of the thrust and I was pleasantly surprised to feel so included in the action. This production is skillfully staged, making full use of the space and a transformational set. Every now and again blank pages would...
Andrew Wheeler (L) John Murphy (R), Photo credit: Tim Matheson
Directed by Janet Wright, Clybourne Park is the Vancouver premiere production of the award-winning play by Bruce Norris. Set in the neighbourhood of Clybourne Park in Chicago, Illinois, the play's first act happens in 1959 and the second 50 years later in 2009. The play explores the issues of race and housing through an exchange of all-too-human emotions. It's funny, it's sad, it's shocking, it's engaging and very very witty.
The story involves the history of one house in Clybourne Park. In 1959, the house is in a white neighbourhood and being sold by a white...
When I first read the flyer I thought that a life changing on the flip of a dime story would be a morose journey fueled by emotion and probably unashamedly highlighting a few taboo subjects along the way. So as I settled in for what I thought would be a less than humorous play, you can imagine my surprise when the stage erupted with the charismatic and charming Megan Phillips. Watch out - she performs a one-woman all singing all dancing upbeat and funky rendition of how a spilt second changed her life! I speak about her as if she...
Drama, Musical Theatre, Monologue, New Work - http://breakingvelocity.wordpress.com/
A young starlet, her controlling mother, a very much younger sister and a whole slew of other fame related cling ons tell the story of how when the glitter wears off it's really hard to keep reality and fiction separated.
This may sound like a story you have heard so so so many times and for all intense and purposes it is, it's Hollywood, every starlet has the peaks and troughs of fame and fortune, I bet you can name at least three off the top of your head? So why should you come and see this show?
If they are willing to do it in the rain – I’m willing to watch it in the rain. These young artists took on powerboats, reminding us that Vancouver is in a rain forest and the most dreaded of Granville Island obstacles – drunk rich people.
Made up of a combination of verse, modern lines and with a through line of the five steps to acceptance of death, Phycopomp is the story of Glauce (daughter of the king of Corinth and Jason’s second wife) who is murdered by Medea and preparing to cross the river Styx. We stand at the...
Comedy, Drama, New Work - http://www.psychetheatre.com/
