political

1973. Salvador Allende, Chile’s democratically elected president, beloved by the people as a reformer and nationalizer, is overthrown in a CIA-initiated coup that brings to power General Pinochet. Hundreds of thousands of Chileans, identified by the new regime as threats to the nation, communists, and dangerous radicals, are rounded up, herded into sports stadiums, threatened, jailed, executed. Many endangered people flee the country. Anywhere But Here, a new work in first draft form by Carmen Aguirre, unfolds the story from the eyes of the children of a family who fled, then split up, and what happens when some of them...

When rabbit comes hopping out in her bunny suit, one might suppose these two forest creatures are all cute and fluffy. They do seem so on the surface with the soft coats and noses twitching. Are these wild creatures or creatures of comfort looking for their square of land in the high priced land of luxury?

Mika Laulainen has written a clever mix of slapstick comedy and dark statements on environmental profit-mongering all wrapped up in cute fluffy animal costumes.

There are two pieces in this performance set at different speeds. Rabbit and Raccoon find themselves at odds...

Kitimat – Mostly Exposition

I love staged readings, they're pure. Just the words and the actors and the audience. No distractions or fancy staging, no pomp and circumstance. Staged readings really let you see a play bare, stripped of all pretension. 

Kitimat by Elaine Avila is about the aforementioned town's reaction to a proposed pipeline. It reads more like a dramatized debate than a story. An argument based on pathos without facts, or detailed anecdotes to support it. 

There are some beautiful human moments in the flash backs where we...

The Back to the Future/Doctor Who time travel dimension to this work strikes a resonant chord, bringing the 1970 imposition of the War Measures Act into comparison with the 2015 Bill C-51 Anti-Terrorism Act. Both laws were enacted under the somewhat arrogant leadership of law-and-order-oriented Prime Ministers of the day—one Liberal, one Conservative. Whereas The Hunger Games: The Musical focuses on youthful response to oppression in a time of complete Orwellian surveillance, Just Watch Me examines the more subtle...

          Kirsty Provans He Roars treads familiar territory with its portrayal of journalist Roses (Kirsty Provan) struggle as she pursues a relationship with her childhood friend Charlie (Sebastian Kroon) who is a soldier in the Canadian Armed Forces. The play charts their romance between Charlie...

If you like symbolist, Artaudian, avant-garde, experimental theatre, I would recommend making the trek out to the Firehall because there aren’t many shows like this at the Vancouver Fringe Festival.  

But if you don’t, then don’t waste your time with this show.  

I don’t like this type of theatre. But that’s just me. Objectively, Pipef@%! is a well-oiled assembly line of activity that is passively interesting but produces no clear messages or story in its 60 minutes on stage. 

...

Ali & Ali 7: Hey Brother, Can You Spare Some Hope and Change? begins with a slide show that is both amusing and quizzical. Set to a loud thumping beat, the audience is shown a quick succession of images of Muammar Gaddafi looking eccentric, Stephen Harper sporting his blue sweater and stock sympathetic smirk, and Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson from the film A Few Good Men. We are left to ponder which of the two leaders looks the most ridiculous: a Salvador Dali-esque Gaddafi wearing tinted shades and long robes, or an awkward Stephen Harper wearing a suit...

Camyar Chai and Marcus Youssef in Ali & Ali 7, photo by Tim Matheson