*This Mortal Flesh* presented by the "Firehall Arts Centre":http://www.firehallartscentre.ca/index.php and produced by "MachineFair":http://machinefair.ca/ opens strongly: a beautiful woman dressed in a slim and clinging red dress is on stage alone and engaged in an inner monologue, preparing herself for a sexual tryst with her lover. The seductive Tanya Marquardt (Holly) is hilarious in this sequence; she has the audience in the palm of her hand. The excellent and engaging Billy Marchenski (Harry) enters the apartment stage left with jacket over his shoulder, coming home from work....
Billy Marchenski and Tanya Marquardt can't touch this mortal flesh; photo by Natasha Kanji
Daniel Martin and Dave Mott, co-founders of "Upintheair Theatre Society":http://www.upintheairtheatre.com/, bring us *Johnny Grant: A Rollicking Adventure Story*, the quasi-historical tale of the Martin’s real-life great-great-great grandfather John Francis Grant.
The most recent addition to the oeuvre of Toronto’s "One Little Goat Theatre Company":www.onelittlegoat.org is *Someone is Going to Come*, the first work written by Norwegian playwright Jon Fosse. Though Fosse’s minimalism boasts considerable popularity in Europe he is rarely seen in North America.
Someone is Going to Come: bleakly forceful language drives tension between Dwight McFee and Stacie Steadman; photo: Yuri Dojc
When I was 12, I went on a family vacation to "Barkerville, BC":http://www.barkerville.ca/ where the staff dress as 1860’s townsfolk and tourists lap up the Gold Rush experience. We saw the school teacher at the one room school house, the blacksmith at the smithy, and Hanging Judge Begbie at the old courthouse.
Entering through the fireplace is the cast of Under the Hawthorn Tree
First performed in 1987, Joan McLeod’s *Toronto, Mississippi* is as fresh and poignant in 2009 as ever. The production at the "Vancouver Playhouse":http://www.vancouverplayhouse.com/is strong, playful, and captures the heart of this wonderful play.
Alessandro Juliani and Meg Roe in Toronto Mississippi
Not long after the Dunblane shooting (where a man entered an elementary school in a small Scottish town and shot and killed a teacher and 15 kindergarten children), Martin Amis was interviewed on Michael Ignatieff’s talk show in England. Amis observed that immediately following the events, people said there are no words to describe such a tragedy.
Jennifery Mawhinney and Russell Roberts in Blackbird; photo: Tim Matheson
This production by the "Evolving Arts Collective":http://evolvingartscollective.com/ misses the mark, though it is not for lack of trying. The costumes, the set, and the lighting have all been thoughtfully designed. The actors are talented and invested. But despite these earnest good intentions, the show flounders in mediocrity.
Family life can be hell: beggars in the house of plenty
Last night I watched Nanay, a testimonial play. Staged at Chapel Arts, it is an archival look at Canada's Live-In Caregiver Program (LCP) and its impact on Filipino families. When you arrive, you will be given a clipboard, a pen and a piece of paper which allows you to write down your questions during the performance. It also contains a short survey to complete which is intended to as an information-gathering tool for those who put together this play - namely researchers Geraldine Pratt and Caleb Johnston who are working in collaboration with the Philippine Women Centre of BC.
A funny thing happened on my way to New York City…at the "Gateway Theatre":https://www.gatewaytheatre.com/ in Richmond. On my list of must-see Broadway shows for a brief visit to NYC was "South Pacific":http://www.lct.org/showMain.htm?id=174; a revival that has garnered enough awards to make you go cross-eyed.
Take that New York! The cast of Guys and Dolls in Richmond
One of the coolest things about Leaky Heaven is their connection to East Vancouver, specifically to the Strathcona and Grandview neighbourhoods. This connection was in full evidence at the third edition of Blink at a packed Russian Hall on December 13th.
