Connection. Humanity. Honesty. A frenetic opening led to brief, (seemingly) autobiographical monologues about what's important to each member of the company. I felt like a welcome guest at an intimate and eclectic discovered space and appreciated the diversity and vulnerability present.
Theatre Terrific's mandate is to support artists of all abilities to develop performance skills and collaborate in the production of theatrical works. This show isn't for everyone. There's not really any characters or traditional story arc. If you're looking for a professional, polished production that is guaranteed to entertain, I'd recommend Peter and Chris. If you're looking to spend...
The show styles itself as a lecture in the form of a play, and I believe that description does this show a disservice. Instead of a lecture, think more along the lines of a revue (and it's appropriately at the Revue Theatre) where the actors are sharing snippets of an artist's work. In this case, scenes from Oscar Wilde's life are included and provide context for his decisions regarding his fall from social grace. The actors were delightful to watch and the play was both informative and entertaining.
My knowledge of Wilde was limited to one play and one children's...
Just as an experiment, guess what the world record is for ball juggling? Twelve? Thirteen? It’s twelve, but If I had told you thirteen would you have cared that much more? It seems that a lot of things today are impressive, but not a lot of things are surprising. For this reason it’s sometimes hard to sit down and enjoy some good old fashioned human spectacle.
Matt Henry’s one-man juggling show might be the worthiest spectacle at this year’s Fringe. Henry is impressive, animated, fast talking. To say he endures the pressure of being before an audience with...
I’m supposed to be reviewing six shows in two days. Four down, two to go. Eye Candy starts at 7:30 at the Performance Works. I’m on Granville Island at 7:15. Plenty of time. I wander over to the Fringe tent and run into an old friend, Benny. Our dads both worked in the theatre industry. I tell Benny I’m now working as a reviewer. He says I must have a pretty good lay of the land. We laugh. Of course I do.
I bid Benny adieu because they’re letting people in at the theatre and I want to...
This kind of theatre must be a genre to itself: Creative Nonfiction Historical Documentary. However, Kyle Rakoz doesn’t strike me as a man interested in labels. His solo show, Ludwig and Lohengrin, employs an impressive array of storytelling techniques to familiarize us with the legend of Ludwig II, King of Bavaria.
For those who aren’t familiar, Ludwig II reigned during the mid-nineteenth century, was a close friend and patron of Wagner, and also happened to be obsessed with the building of castles. During his lifetime, many of his own ministers considered him as insane; Rakoz offers a...
Two Hands Productions presents CODA (Children of Deaf Adults). CODA weaves the tale, equal parts funny and poignant, of what it is like to be raised by parents both of whom are deaf.
Mark Murray plays Tim, a boy who yearns to be heard and hopes for a closer relationship with his mother. He and his mother have difficulty communicating and do so mostly through his father, as his mother’s disease involves not only deafness but a slow loss of vision causing her understanding of another’s signing to be difficult.
Tim must learn to answer that age-old question that...
"The Legend of White Woman Creek" has its roots in the brutal conquest of the American West. Reality was different than the triumphal narrative of brave pioneers, bound together with love of family and God, who fought the savage natives and usually won. But we know now that "Little House on the Prairie" and Hollywood Westerns are not completely true.
History is written by the victors, it's said, but other versions linger in the collective unconscious too. A quick Google search for "White Woman Creek" brings up two conflicting narratives of how the creek got its name, and...
I’m sure there are a thousand clichés in this piece which can be criticised – but it’s not by me, at least, not today. I found this simply enjoyable. If you’ve watched any film about a band on a road trip, you know what to expect here. They will fight, they will enhance each other (in that “being a little shit about it” sort of a way), you will laugh, and you will certainly cringe at some of the things these uninhibited musicians get up to.
This particular band is made up of three men and one woman;...
This show takes place at Granville Island’s public waterpark. No, the water is not running. Instead, the dormant yellow waterslide, the rolling cement hills, the intricate playground apparatuses, all are host to a conference of William Shakepeare’s favourite female characters. Sounds interesting? There’s more.
Twenty some odd audience members are split into three groups and then led around the landscape by their Pixie Captain. The aim of the Pixie Captain is to illuminate female/lesbian/queer/trans perspective in Shakespeare’s drama. Only once all of Shakespeare’s female characters are liberated from their subordinate gender roles can anyone go home.
Winnipeg’s random band name productions presents Fraz Wiest in his 60 minute one man show “Fraz vs The Future”. It is being staged at one of my favorite venues -- the lovely intimate Studio 1398 on Granville Island. I was a little disappointed that there was no programme for some cheat notes, and that they chose to close the black curtain over the big, beautiful, bay window, even though the play takes place in the present, and lighting and special effects are at an absolute minimum.
It’s all about Fraz. He strides onstage with a towel and a water bottle (which...
