There was no bride, no vows, and no glass broken underfoot. There was no marriage, but Les Yeux Noirs may as well have been entertaining a Jewish wedding party. And it was one hell of a party.
The Chop Theatre's KISMET one to one hundred (currently on as part of the Tremors Festival) embodies the essence of collective creation. Four artists (Anita Rochon, Emelia Symington Fedy, Daryl King, and Hazel Venzon) set out on a journey across Canada. Their goal was to interview one hundred people from the ages of one through one hundred on the subject of fate and destiny. Predictably, although their list of questions is fairly simple and straight forward, the responses they gathered were as varied and idiosyncratic as the people they interviewed. They recorded their separate journeys (Fedy and...
It was after seeing Sebastian Croon’s Fringe show Circus last year that I lamented the rarity of horror genre work in theatre, so you can imagine my glee upon hearing about The Mill, an ambitious project conceived by Daryl Cloran and Matthew MacFadzean for Theatrefront. The Mill is a series of four plays forged under the manifesto, as described by MacFadzean, to “make Canadian history less boring”, particularly by telling it through the lens of fear. March saw the delivery of the series’ third installment, though I was lucky enough to catch up on the first two...
Ryan Hollyman and Michelle Latimer are at the mill.
Hidden away on Franklin, a desolate street north of Hastings, is a small gallery space which has been turned into a theatre space for Craning Neck Theatre’s premiere of TRUNK written and directed by Jeremy Waller.
Billy Bishop is back and this time it’s personal. The Arts Club Granville Island Stage presents a youthful, enthusiastic production of the classic Canadian musical, Billy Bishop Goes to War, more than 30 years after it was first performed by its co-creators, John Gray and Eric Peterson.
Having seen the first incarnation of Theatre Melee's Cozy Catastrophe at Hive 2 in 2008, it was fascinating to see how this show has evolved. Now part of the ongoing Tremors Festival, the show has been expanded from its original form as a 20 minute short play into an 80 minute one act.
Getting cozy during a catastrophe are Juno Ruddell, Michael Rinaldi and Erin Mathews
What better way to end a rainy Easter weekend then with some homegrown entertainment? On April 5th In the House Festival offered just that with “Chasing the Monkey King.” There were three viewing periods over the course of the evening, at a house in East Vancouver. Guests who arrived early were invited into the hosts' transformed carport for tea. Glowing Chinese lanterns, crimson curtains, and trailing garlands of white Christmas lights created a fantastical setting in which to serve Oolong Ginseng and Phoenix Blend -- traditional teas with evocative names and pungent flavours, served by tea connoisseur Daniel Lui....
A Japanese artist's (Yoshitoshi) interpretation of the Chinese figure of the Monkey King
Why Not Theatre is back for the Theatre Centre’s Free Fall Festival with I’m So Close…, an updated version of their 2008 Summerworks offering I’m So Close It’s Not Even Funny. While I unfortunately missed this first version, fellow Planker M John Kennedy put forth a thorough and very positive account here. During the interim time Why Not’s creative team have expanded on their themes, crafting a multimedia commentary on human connection in the era of globalization.
Troels Hagen Findsen reprises his role as Steve, a green-tech innovator now thrust into the world of product...
On my ever expanding list of topics for future PLANK articles there is one entitled “why are some reviews harder to write than others?” Queen Lear by Eugene Strickland, currently on at Presentation House and produced by Western Gold is proving to be a nightmare of a review to write. Why? Well, in part because I didn’t feel much of anything for this show. It is a show that could be comfortably produced in a church basement somewhere in the Fraser Valley, by an amateur theatre troupe (the type that the show gently mocks throughout) or at...
Shirley Broderick (left), Jennifer McPhee and a cello
