REVIEW: Fire from the ashes in Annapurna
Twenty-five years ago, actors Shaun Johnston and John Hudson put together a new company called Shadow Theatre to present “modern theatre for adult audiences.” A lot has changed. Hudson also still performs, but now is best known as a sensitive director with a deft feel for text. Johnston went on to be a staple of […]
Fortune Falls more style than substance
Of Jonathan Christenson’s dark Catalyst Theatre off-Broadway production of Nevermore – The Imaginary Life & Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe, one waggish New York reviewer observed, “Quoth the raven – Lighten up!” It looks as if Christenson took it seriously. His latest musical, Fortune Falls, which plays through Feb. 5 on the Citadel’s Maclab […]
Gender a moot point in powerful Henry V
Shakespeare’s Henry V is the most manly of kings. In his earlier play, Henry IV, the Bard gives us the wild, undisciplined wastrel known as “Prince Harry,” who together with his partner in excess Falstaff probes the depths of dissipation. But in Henry V we see a new man born. The former rake assumes the […]
Toruk the stuff of recurring dreams
Toruk – The First Flight, from the world’s largest theatrical company Cirque du Soleil (100 productions and counting), is taking flight in Edmonton. At Rogers Place until Dec. 26, the show is based on James Cameron’s box office juggernaut Avatar using Cameron’s lush, vividly imagined world of the planet Pandora. Cirque strips away Cameron’s least […]
Beauty from the ashes in Burning Bluebeard
If you are going to enjoy the unique Edmonton Actors Theatre Christmas neo-pantomime, Burning Bluebeard – until Dec. 24 at the Roxy on Gateway – there are a couple of points that in other circumstances might be regarded as “spoilers.” First of all, there will be no happy ending. Second, it is based on a […]
Walterdale takes on Oscar Wilde
When asked how went the (1892) premiere of his first major play, Lady Windermere’s Fan, the evening before, playwright, bon vivant and master comic wordsmith Oscar Wilde observed, “Oh, the play was a great success, but the audience was a total failure.” The play was a success and established him as a major cultural force. […]
REVIEW: Embrace Anxiety with a brave heart
Edmonton’s “Theatre Yes” is not a company to sit us in theatre seats while we watch thespians perform. It demands that audiences not just join in but give themselves to the experience. No, you will not be expected to create a character, read lines or engage in improve, but you are drawn into a shared […]
REVIEW: Fen a bleak portrait of muddy misery
In highly successful plays like Cloud 9 and Top Girls, English feminist playwright Caryl Churchill dramatically examines the abuse of power, sexual politics, women under duress and the evils of capitalism. She creates new forms and styles to present each of her plays – which often include humour and even farce. There is not much […]
REVIEW: We were so stupid back then
Watching the checkered history of gay rights in the United States, which continues in headlines still today, it’s tempting to point a superior Canadian finger. But our record is not that distinguished, either. As recently as 1981, Toronto police raided a series of bathhouses rousting out and charging homosexuals with the resultant destruction of their […]
Drowsy Chaperone a fresh, lively romp
The story of The Drowsy Chaperone might make a musical in itself. It began as a stag party lark from Toronto playwrights Don McKellar and Bob Martin (with music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison). It was transferred to a modest production at the Toronto Fringe where it wowed the locals. So much […]
REVIEW: Only In Vegas a full meal deal
The Mayfield Dinner Theatre may have finally hit the wall with their Christmas show this year. Not that audiences have had enough—just try to get a table for their new show, “Only in Vegas.” Perhaps their winning formula of good food, seductive nostalgia and superlative musical production has reached saturation. Probably not though, because, as […]
SHOCKER: Teen sexuality on Scona stage!
German theatregoers discovered sex in 1906. And boy, were they stirred up. The good Burghers of the time were horrified (and delighted) by a new work called Spring Awakening, from playwright Frank Wedekind. This provocative play dared to suggest that adolescents discover their sexuality. In the early years of the 20th Century, the heady rush […]
