OK, The 39 Steps isn’t a straight-up theatrical rendition of the classic thriller film of the same name. And that’s just fine. The play is very funny, with compelling acting and imaginative use of stagecraft to keep the audience engaged.
The play follows the trials and tribulations of Richard Hannay, a man on the run for a crime he didn’t commit. While rambling through the English countryside on the lam from Scotland Yard, he finds himself immersed in a mysterious spy plot with consequences that could affect the future of the nation. Along the...
Diana Coatsworth and Martin Happer in the Arts Club Theatre Company’s production of The 39 Steps. Photo by David Cooper.
Anyone who has had the misfortune of listening to me blabber on about playwrighting will have heard the following: theatre uses simplicity to convey complex ideas. In working through my own scripts I identify what I think of as “literary conceits” versus “theatrical moments”. By literary, I mean those ideas that are best savoured in the mind; ones that make you look up from a page and ponder for a few moments. Because of its relentless, forward movement, theatre doesn’t easily allow for these sorts of mental breaks. Any moment that puts an audience into a reflective state also pulls...
The Canadian Opera Company’s production of Death in Venice tiptoes so near perfection, it’s like a prayer of gratitude to the muses. In this case, inspiration came from life. Both the novella’s author, Thomas Mann, and the opera’s composer, Benjamin Britten, had life experiences that fed into the story of an artist’s demise. With world-renowned actor and director Yoshi Oida at the helm of this production, the story is at its most poignant, a masterpiece of beauty and destruction.
Death in Venice reveals the winding journey of novelist Gustav von Aschenbach from prominent success to humiliation, despair and a...
Alan Oke, front, in the Canadian Opera Company production of Death in Venice
As a big fan of both Grease movies back in the day, I was thrilled to be able to review Screaming Chicken Theatrical Society’s latest production Greece Does Grease. While I thoroughly enjoyed the performance and the all-too-familiar Grease songs (with slightly reworked lyrics), I have to admit that I felt like a naughty little kid sneaking into see the movie Mum and Dad banned you to watch when you were at school. And I loved it!
Greece Does Grease tells the classical Greek story of Persephone, the daughter of Demeter and Zeus, who falls in love with Hades,...
JH: The difficult thing about writing reviews of operatic productions mounted by a world-class company like the Canadian Opera Company is that when it comes to the 'technical' aspects such as vocal and musical performances, there is often much to praise and little to complain about. Or in other words, a lack of stinkers can sometimes make for a dull and frothy article - which is not necessarily a negative, as the purpose of a review by no means to be 'interesting' or pithy but rather informative and hopefully insightful.
Thankfully, the COC has also proven to be a...
Rosario La Spina (back) and Sondra Radvanovsky (front) in the Canadian Opera Company’s production of Aida. Photo by Michael Cooper
Roger Waters is no lion in winter. The creative powerhouse behind legendary English rock band Pink Floyd has recently returned to the road, not to rehash old chestnuts for greying fans, but rather to present packed stadiums with a brilliant redux version of The Wall. Waters launched his tour at Toronto's Air Canada Centre, and will hit Buffalo, Ottawa, Montreal, Vancouver, as well as many other major cities over the coming months.
If Dark Side of the Moon is Pink Floyd's rock symphony, then The Wall is without question their opera. Originally inspired by Waters' increasing sense of alienation between...
American monologist Mike Daisey is a god. Two and a half hours passed in an instant. I definitely was glad I made an effort to get out to this one night PuSh+ presentation. Kudos to Norman Armour and the PuSh Festival for bringing it to a sold-out Vancouver audience at the Vancity Theatre.
Oh my god I have to write a review! It’s 10am, the Sunday after seeing the play What You Want on Friday night at the Havana Theatre, and I still haven’t written the damn review.
Andrew, I sympathize. What to write? How to write it? The never ending torture a writer must go through.
Random notes I took while watching the play:
Entertaining, Funny, Quirky
I laughed A LOT (use another word)
Learned about a new term – ASV (Anal Sex Virgin) – can people really do that on Craigslist? Could I do that? What am I thinking?!
If you can only go to one show this festival, 52 Pick Up would be a good choice. Fifty two playing cards are thrown into the air. Each card dictates a scene that Gemma Wilcox and Sam Elmor perform in the order they are chosen, gradually revealing a romantic relationship that is complex, funny, infuriating, passionate, Mars vs. Venus typical, funny (oh, did I already say funny?, well, it’s very funny), and frighteningly familiar.
Wilcox and Elmor pull off this amazing feat of acting with extraordinary subtlety. Each scene is compelling and I was moved in every direction. I...
Playwright Andrew Templeton returned to Vancouver after a fifteen-year absence and What You Want is the almost-true story of what he got. He has written himself into the play, and the cast takes turns playing him, themselves and their characters. Actors Rachel Aberle, Gillian Bennett, Russell Bennett and Sean Tyson, ramp up the comedy when they bicker about whether they’re actually improvising or if their improvised rebellion is merely scripted dialogue. The pacing is brisk and precise and the delivery naturalistic.
On a bare stage, with just a few boxes to perch on, we’re introduced to Dave and Laura, Starling...
