A brilliant idea is ruined by a poorly rehearsed performance – for this show to work it needs to move like clockwork. It doesn’t.
The floor is covered in a map of the world – Cormack tells us part of her life story as she moves from country to country as a recorded voice lists them alphabetically. In the middle section of the show, she draws Ireland and Wales in outline and lists statistics that join her two “homes.” Then she tells us where she’d like to visit on earth, taping down a zig-zag line and then there is a...
Written by Katherine King and Hannah Vaartnou, this show is 45 minutes of pure cringe-making hell. Pretentious beyond belief, boring, amateur, with two young performers caught way over their heads. If the performers had produced this mess themselves I might just forgive them, instead they are betrayed by King’s hubris. (Here’s a concept for you, Ms. King - study that one and leave the hero’s journey and cabaret alone. No matter how “off balance” you try to keep us as an audience you cannot disguise the lack of talent displayed here.)
Performers Maya-Roisin Slater and Paisley Nahanee deserve better....
A site-specific production in the bring your own venue (BYOV) category, Willow's Walk: Ripples in Time is a 20 minute short piece at Sculpture Grove which is right beside Alder Bay and Bridge. It is hidden away a bit, so make sure to venture through Granville Island as if you were looking for treasure. Willow (Miranda Allen) is a treasure in her own right as she takes you into time periods of her life and you watch as she puts the big picture together.
This is Miranda Allen's first performance at the Vancouver Fringe Festival. Even with the multiple distractions...
It didn't faze me that I had just inhaled a couple of burgers and was on my way to the Cultch to see a show about food, fat and fitness. I'm also sure most guys would have done the same thing. The only time I am thinking about food as a negative only happens when I've eaten so much that I can't zip up my jeans and I have to go out. I'm all about food. If I could I would be a full time eater-of-food...or maybe a food critic...hmmm...
Now, let's change the POV. What about women? What thoughts...
The story flows naturally and transplants the audience member into the life of a girl named Timal (Veenesh Dubois). Taking place in Fiji, Veenesh's characters are well defined, having a lot of depth from her culture, which are strongly embedded within them.
Jigsaw is a blend of feel-good fun, smart humour, and quiet sincerity, and its young performers work hard to bring its nuances to life. Billed as “a youth-produced cabaret” that draws inspiration from the 1920s, The Hero's Journey, and our modern desires,” it is a series of inter-connected vignettes that follow two loosely-sketched characters (played by Maya-Roisin Slater and Paisley Nahanee) on a psychological and theatrical journey through the world of 1920s stage-performance. The scenes are conntected thematically, but each is also a self-contained drama and characters shift and transform from scene to scene.
No really, folks, this is quality theatre. The budding seven-year old magician in overalls who sat on his mom’s lap beside me mumbled that he, “loved da feet trick.”
Another modern adaptation of an ancient myth participating in this year's SummerWorks Festival, Hero and Leander drags the tragic tale of two mortal star-crossed lovers who defy the gods into the forum of the Broadway musical with flair and a generous dollop of popular appeal.
Hannah's Turn (on now as part of the SummerWorks Festival) sheds light on an intriguing and personal chapter of noted philosopher Martin Heidegger's life. More accurately it sheds light on his relationship with Hannah Arendt (Severn Thompson), Heiddegger's student, lover, and intellectual sparring partner. Although it is never explicitly spelled out in the program notes, it would not be a stretch to assume that the title refers to the fact that Heidegger (Richard Clarkin) overshadowed Arendt in terms of historical renown, and this is work is, in part, intended to give voice to his lesser known companion by placing...
