Absurdist ‘anti-play’ explores meaninglessness of life
Eugene Ionesco is a polarizing playwright. Along with Samuel Beckett (Waiting For Godot), he is the prime exponent of Theatre of the Absurd – an existential form of theatre that tells us that your life has no inherent value, other than what you impose on it. You’re on your own – and besides, we’re all […]
New incarnation of Robin Hood ‘engaging and spectacular’
Wrapping up a superlative season at the Citadel, Artistic Director Daryl Cloran decided to go out on a high. Like, really high. Three stories high. Back at the beginning of the year, as new Artistic Director, he was getting to know various players on our theatrical scene. One he contacted was Mieko Ouchi – the […]
Music Preview: I Mother Eleven
I Mother Earth and Finger Eleven perform at Union Hall on Saturday night (show starts at 8:25, $19.99 and up, BUY), as part of a lengthy joint tour across North America. They’re in the early throes of said itinerary – some of which still remains to be announced – which sees the bands perform an […]
Infinity is the perfect amount of time
Playwright Hannah Moscovitch doesn’t dodge the big issues. Moscovitch has written with distinction and considerable heart about the Holocaust, Nazi war criminals and gender politics in modern academia. Her plays (The Russian Play/East of Berlin – and others) have been produced all over the country (including Edmonton) and she has been dubbed “the hottest young […]
Undercover best game of Clue ever
The detective story is one of the most durable of genres. The first one was Edgar Allen Poe’s The Murders in the Rue Morgue in 1841. Since then Sherlock survives, Agatha Christie has become a cottage industry and the world-weary Sam Spade continues to stalk the modern shamus. The latest to (metaphorically) don Bogart’s old […]
The School for Scandal shockingly relevant today
The School for Scandal was written by Richard Brindsley Sheridan in 1777. As a piece of satire about Georgian-era social intrigues, it has proven to have remarkable durability and has spoken to successive generations of theatregoers about their own times. It not only probes some of society’s more outrageous and viperous self-aggrandizers, it does so […]
REVIEW: Hedley’s last stand
Thousands of fans filled Rogers Place in Edmonton for Hedley on Thursday night – despite allegations of sexual misconduct looming against frontman Jacob Hoggard. In the 13 years of Hedley, from the singer’s origins as the most interesting Canadian Idol contestant, Hoggard always presented himself as a pompous playboy. Yet in light of these accusations, […]
Emotional Poison lets the healing begin
A man and a woman sit in a bleak room under an unforgiving white light. Rain falls incessantly and thunder beats a distant tattoo. Their halting conversation begins painfully as they attempt to overcome the emotional residue of a relationship that ended a long time ago. The two are in a holding room in the […]
Johnny Reid puts the soul in country
There was feeling of a Sunday church “revival” at the Jubilee Auditorium on Thursday night – and Johnny Reid was the preacher. It was obvious that this Scottish-Canadian country superstar was back in Edmonton to show his audience a good time. No expense was spared when it came to production of his Revival tour, named […]
Outside Mullingar charming Irish blarney
John Patrick Shanley is an American playwright equally at home in whimsy – the Oscar-winning Moonstruck – or serious drama – the Tony-winning Doubt. In his new play Outside Mullingar, currently in production from Edmonton’s Shadow Theatre at the Varscona Theatre until March 25, he descends deep into Martin McDonagh’s patented Irish territory to attempt […]
REVIEW: Bahamas pretty heavy for soft rock
There’s a keen musical mind lurking behind the dark wit of the man who calls himself Bahamas. Or maybe it’s the other way around. During his show at the Winspear Centre on Monday night, Bahamas picked out a couple in the front row who’d told him they just got engaged to his song Lost in […]
FORE! Locals let loose on links in Ladies Foursome
Norm Foster is probably the most produced playwright you’ve never heard of. For the past 35 years, from his home in Fredericton, New Brunswick, the prolific wordsmith has turned out a stream of comic works that have been produced as far away as Canberra, Australia. Although one of his plays was produced off-Broadway, that was […]
