Laugh

Arts Umbrella—a perfectly intimate stage for this beautiful and tragic monologue that I think everyone with a family will relate to. A single airplane seat is perched at the front of the room/theatre, where sits writer and performer, Dolores Drake. She has nervously buckled herself in, ready to set out on her first plane trip to visit her granddaughter in Toronto. It’s been five years. Drake’s character is playfully chatty with the type of spice that we love.

Her portrayal of a hardworking and well-intentioned maritime matriarch is spot on. You will...

East Vancouver storyteller, musician and clown Jim Sands takes us on a whimsical trip through a day in the life of a not so attractive plus-sized German man-boy, Hansel. He is on a quest to find a girlfriend in Vancouver. Having a companion means everything in Hansel’s shy life. Firstly it will help our simple and sensitive character set his parents back home in Hamburg at ease, but also to reassure himself that there is a soulmate for everyone.

This one-man play was written and directed by Gina Bastone, and in 60...