Sister Act christens new theatre with joyful nun-sense
The MacEwan University Theatre Arts Program has opened its striking new Triffo Theatre in Allard Hall in their new downtown building. The preview was delayed a day due to “equipment problems.” The wait was worth it. The new theatre is outstanding. The colours are subdued with hues of purple in the seats and curtain. The […]
REVIEW: Spotty sprawling spy spoof sparkles
Our Man in Havana announces the creation of a new Edmonton theatre company, The Varscona Theatre Ensemble. It’s actually an umbrella organization under which a number of Edmonton troupes will operate. Running through Dec. 2, this show is produced by Bright Young Things – a company known for its brilliant succession of Fringe shows. The […]
Hadestown one HELL of a musical
The first thing you see when you enter the theatre is a vast empty space with a huge bleached tree reaching out with leafless arms. Winter’s coming. It’s a powerful invitation and a warning of the wonders and dangers that are to come in the new musical Hadestown. It’s a simple enough start to a […]
Mayfield’s ‘80s sequel a riot of gnarly fun
The 1980s decade was not the best of times. Following just after the cultural explosion of the ‘60s, it brought us bad hair, gay bashing, Margaret Thatcher and AIDS. But after the astonishing success of the musical revue Back to the ’80s in 2015, the Mayfield Dinner Theatre has deemed to go back to the […]
Jabberwocky a union made in puppet heaven
Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The Jaws that bite, the claws that catch! So warned Lewis Carroll back in 1871 in his famous nonsense poem in Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There. But, by all means, don’t take the author literally when it comes to the latest puppet show from Calgary’s Old Trout […]
REVIEW: John Ware gets the story he deserves
John Ware was the most famous Alberta hero you’ve never heard of – and the subject of a remarkable new play by Calgary playwright Cheryl Foggo. John Ware Reimagined is an absorbing and ultimately touching production from Edmonton’s Workshop West (from the original 2014 Ellipsis Tree Collective production in Calgary). It plays until Nov. 19 […]
REVIEW: Testament of Mary one of the best
The small house where Mary was supposedly taken by the Apostle John after the Crucifixion sits on a mountaintop in Ephesus in Turkey. Irish Playwright Colm Toibin sets his play, The Testament of Mary, in this modest abode. She is now an embittered old woman. Recently, two men have been appearing at her door. One […]
Constellations a moving multiverse rom-com
The multiverse is a scientific theory that suggests the possibility of not just one universe – but many. They all exist at the same time. So if you’re reading a review about a play at this moment – in another universe you are running a marathon, or lying on a beach in Bali. These universes […]
REVIEW: Lilies bloom in gay opera
The list of successful Canadian operas is a short one indeed. It is a pleasure then to note the emergence of Les Feluettes (Lilies), a full-length, fleshed-out Canadian production in the grand opera tradition, a work that shows all the signs of becoming a major hit. This superlative production by Edmonton Opera at the Jubilee […]
THEATRE: Evil rises again in Bright Room
Back in 1985, American playwright Tony Kushner launched a new work called A Bright Room Called Day. He went on to write the two-part Angels in America that became one of the most highly regarded pieces of theatre of the 20th Century. You can certainly see elements of the genius that Kushner was later to […]
THEATRE: Ubuntu a haunting fusion of cultures
The story of how Ubuntu (The Cape Town Project) came to be could make something of a play in itself. Back in 2004, current Citadel Theatre Artistic Director Daryl Cloran became fascinated by the ancient Bantu word “Ubuntu” meaning, “I am because you are.” The concept, and Cloran’s perception that theatre would be one of […]
REVIEW: Lemoine remount a dark delight
Stewart Lemoine has long been a champion of new talent. Not one to write throwaway material at developing performers, the local playwright-director always brings his full canon of talent to bear on his embryo performers, whether writing for the Citadel, Grant MacEwan or local stage-struck lawyers looking for a new play in which to perform. […]
