A Dog at a Feast written by Michelle Deines touches on the experience of women in theatre. An all female cast where men only live on the other end of the phone, some themes such as sex and success are hit head on, where others such as racism are tossed around only briefly with no depth offered. The play is done well but could go even further if developed into a full-length piece.
Maya is described as a starlet on a streak of luck, but is she sleeping her way to the top or does she have real...
Amelia Van Brunt of Bad, Bad Bunny company from San Francisco gives the audience a laugh out loud romp through the troubles of old age while still delivering a hint of the pain and frustration of aging. Her character, Mona Whittaker, lives alone in a leaky apartment, her husband deceased and her children absent. Her best ally and comfort is her plush Lazy Boy rocker that serves as her nap nest, catapult, and boat as she imagines the leak becoming a flood. Mona’s other joys are tea and the newspaper obituaries (do come to the show to see why)....
In performance and in script, My Ocean is a gem of a show. Considered individually, each facet of Nadeem Phillip’s rendition of a bookish twelve-year-old glimmers brightly.
He can show you what it’s like to overflow with wide-eyed wonder at nature.
He can portray the impotent, naive rage of a young boy as he becomes aware of the horror and injustice in the world.
And he nails the raw physicality of a child doubled over in emotional pain.
It’s only as one is walking out, reflecting on what they’ve just experienced, that they begin to realize what a voyage it...
Better known from past shows as Birdmann, Trent Baumann is back this year as himself in a cloudy, sky-blue suit. It’s hard to see this as a departure from past performances—Birdmann’s distinctive style of carefully choreographed foppishness and anti-humour mixed with self-reflection and true physical virtuosity is very much preserved (along with a couple of his gags). The new performance builds on this underlying formula with a standout new segment (which I won’t give away) and an aesthetic direction that aims to be a deeper and more sombre reflection on life, the universe, and everything.
Grey with blackened edges. Mark Hughes’ life reads like a modern reboot mashup of Lost Weekend, Reefer Madness, The River’s Edge and Sleepers. Or maybe Breaking Bad with less horrific murder.
Tragedy + Time Served = Comedy was dramaturged by TJ Dawe, whom Hughes considers his mentor in getting this riveting monologue together. From the opening narration that describes the imperfect social construct that is the corrections and criminal justice system, to Hughes’ willingness to work with the reaction of his audience, this is an experience that few will forget or fail to be moved by.
We've all done stupid, stupid things. That’s how learning happens. MacLeod’s cosy set delivered in discrete acts highlighting different lessons learned in self-regulation, thematically reinforced by the musical number, courtesy of the Heartbreakers. I Had Sex Until My Heart Stopped is well-choreographed and tastefully lit.
A monologue starting from a cozy set more than a little reminiscent of Zach Galifianakis's Between Two Ferns, MacLeod relays the possibly questionable decisions made in the throes of youthful exuberance and under the influence of… many, many things. Each vignette has an epithetic moral that brings laughs, knowing head nods and sounds of recognition from the...
Two sisters, Morgan (played by Alexandra Lainfesta) and Maura (Baraka Rahmani) explore their tensions, traumas, and failures in an atmospheric and heart-wrenching performance with a very strong presence of cheesecake. Maura is a university dropout using kickboxing to find her way through a difficult recovery from an eating disorder. Morgan is a successful academic writing a thesis on the Salem witch trials. Exploring their unresolved tensions between one another and with their parents, Lainfesta and Rahmani give a very convincing and touching portrayal of the way that siblings love and hate as only siblings can.
James Jordan: Vaudevillian is billed as family-friendly, and James Jordan delivers on that promise in spades! It’s a magical comedy show for more than just the kids—the adults in the audience were certainly having a fabulous time watching card tricks, trying to understand how sleight of hand is faster than the eye and being amazed by a man who is willing to let live mousetraps snap onto his fingers. His expressions alone are enough to make you laugh out loud!
We enter the theatre to see James Jordan vamping upbeat tunes at the piano. He welcomes us to the show,...
Jen Derbyshire, a unique, hilarious, talented monologist and certified insane person, tells a story based on her own experience in the world of mental health. She states that she has been certified as insane eight times! Jen turns the audience into a mental health review board to help determine her current state of sanity.
The audience gets thrown into topics that most people know very little about, fear a lot, and don’t like to talk about. Derbyshire’s delivery is passionate and brave. She shares her personal tragedy with dignity and an intelligent sense of humor: she can make you laugh...
The show opens with a glimpse of the sisters, Mattie and Maybelle Haydell (played by Donna Kay Yarborough and Sadie Bowman), bickering as they set up. Over the whole show the two sisters break up their songs to argue about their respective histories since their high flying nineties duo broke up in ‘93—and about the restraining order Lyle Lovett placed against Maybelle. They recount their history in bits and pieces, from the innocent childhood songs their grandpa told them about red-headed peckers, to their meteoric rise to stardom from their humble laundromat venues, to the halls of “country royalty,” to...
Mattie and Maybelle Haydell (Donna Kay Yarborough and Sadie Bowman)
