Barry Smith should run seminars on how to construct and operate a one-person show. His stripped down presentation is a model of the form: one man, a microphone and a multi-media show run from his Mac Book.
*After Life* was a riveting one-person show about three women who live at different times during the 20th century. The success of this piece lay in Candy Simmon’s phenomenal acting and the tightness of the writing.
From behind the audience comes a great speech, but not one that would make any sense – it is a spray of Shakespeare’s quotes, meant to evoke emotions and familiarity.
We're not really sure what Shakespeare looked like
When the house goes dark off the top of Putz, the nasal and at times grating voice of Andrew Bailey rings out in black: “Before the beginning of time, God said, ‘I’m lonely, I’m going to create myself.’
Putz, Adam wore a plaid shirt the day the apple appeared...
Barbara Bell both wrote and performed this one-woman show about a successful academic who must recover her past through the haze of fragmenting psyche.
From the moment I walked into the theatre, I was fascinated. One of the lead actors was already onstage, strapped to a vertical bed, and lolling white-faced and open-mouthed to the sound of deep, interrupted breathing. Disturbed and weirdly captivated by the scene, I was curious about how this story would unfold.
Their press page says: Flo (Helen Morrissey) seems to think that any problem can be solved by taking her clothes off, Bic (Laurie Brazzill) takes solace in her trusty dictionary while bossy, know-it-all Triv (Jane Noble) takes credit for each and every miniscule success, while avoiding like the plague any even remotely dangerous situation.
A Very Trivial Pursuit or the Plank Magazine editorial team
Stephen Lowe’s play Smile did well at last year’s Momentum Festival in Nottingham, and I can see why Vancouver's My Theatre Company (the presenting company's frustratingly generic name) wanted to mount the piece. It’s the kind of story that draws you in slowly and then wallops you with a hit that's both emotional and intellectual.
From the opening rap song, “She’s a soccer Mom ‘ho,” Broad Comedy is an enjoyable hour of sketch comedy and parody. A comedy troupe of four outrageous women, their subject matter is heavy on American culture but pleasingly so.
