theatre

Half an hour before the show started, the Firehall was already packed with an upbeat vibe. Everybody was ready to start this year's Vancouver Fringe Festival with a high note. Did this show deliver tonight?...yes it did!

Comedy, Musical Theatre, Queer, New Work- http://www.riverviewhighthemusical.com

The Hip.Bang! Improv duo of Devin Mackenzie and Thomas Hill provide some decent entertainment. They both have clearly mastered – well, learned – the tricks of the trade that can keep their audience engaged.

Comedy, Improv, Physical Theatre, New Work - http://www.hipbang.ca/

In the end, because one of the players bombastically kissed the audience, I realized Hot Pepper may have been more interesting than I suspected. This conclusion came only in retrospect. Why… did I have to work so hard and …stew so long to get it? …to get that it may not be more complicated than this; around the world, folks connect over corporate office culture. Good or Bad, discuss:

hot pepper on stage

Allyson McGrane’s show does ‘Vision’ accompanied with much conviction and moving lights. The idea is to find the theatrical big thing, that true artistic vision that appeals to everyone. Just like Justin Bieber.

Capital V, Extreme V, Vision!

Figment is a difficult play to recommend. I would say that if you are going out for an evening of fun and delight with friends, I would not recommend this play.

serious and bleak

I’m a fan of improv. I even took an improv class twice down at Granville Island. I wasn’t very good at it, which only made me even more jealous of those who could do it well. Coming up with ideas instantly and running with them in ways that aren’t merely amusing, but actually entertaining, is a tough skill to master.

Here’s the problem I have with ShLong Form: there’s no theme to the show. Four very likeable and talented improv artists come out on stage and engage the audience to prompt them with names, locations or other phrases that will...

improvisational stuff

This one’s a big sigh. Two talented actors (Michael Armstrong as Cal, Drew Staniland as Justin Trudeau) giving excellent performances, and a nice set – but the script feels generic, like a made for TV special. There isn’t a single real surprise just a lot of verbal tennis. And it feels like we’ve seen this before.

It’s the day of Pierre Trudeau’s funeral, and Cal a faithful aide and political mover wants Justin to capitalize on the momentum of his eulogy for his father. 

They battle around a bit and well… check your history book/internet if you don’t know what...

A production by Rolling Stock Theatre written by Peter Boychuk

Capital, Alice!, playing at Studio 16, is a retelling of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Caroll. In this production, Alice is a worker in a retail store and has her adventure inside of a typical suburban mall.

The story begins, of course, with Alice. She is folding jeans in an average retail establishment, a boss type person enters, says something I didn’t quite understand, and then the character of Alice falls asleep on a pile of jeans for no discernible reason. Where was the White Rabbit or some mysterious hole in a wall for Alice to investigate? Why didn’t...

Don't look Lewis Caroll...

The day after I saw Capsule, I headed back to the Boca Del Lupo studio to catch their other fifteen minute show, Value Village. This play is perhaps the best experience I have had at the Fringe for quite a few years. It is short, direct, and involves a great deal of improvisation - always a risky prospect if you don’t have a strong enough actor. Luckily, the actor they have for this show is amazing.

To explain what I mean, here is the set up before the show.  An audience member chooses an object tacked on a board outside...

Buy it and live it

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