Working the Musical by the Canadian College of Performing Arts. A review. Working the Musical may be forty years old this year but it still packs an emotional wallop. Students from the Canadian College of Performing Arts, under the leadership of director and choreographer Matthew Howe, do great tribute to these stories of ordinary working people. Based on the book written in 1972 by ethnographer and oral historian Studs Terkel, of his … [Read more...]
Working the Musical by the Canadian College of Performing Arts. A review.
April 27, 2018 By 1 Comment
Swan Song and Other Farces at Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre. A review
April 26, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Swan Song and Other Farces at Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre. A review Swan Song and Other Farces (currently at Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre April 24-May 6, 2018) combines four of Chekhov’s short farces into one continuous and riotous ninety minute frolic to begin the company’s 10th anniversary season. Director Jacob Richmond has an unquestionable grasp of the genre, a talent he has honed for over a decade as the founder and one of the main … [Read more...]
Working the Musical by the Canadian College of Performing Arts. Preview.
April 24, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Working the Musical by the Canadian College of Performing Arts. Preview. The Canadian College of Performing Arts (CCPA) sheds the glitz and glamour of their spring performance with the Victoria Symphony to don a different uniform this week. The students – singers, actors and dancers all – will become a tableau of America’s often invisible working classes in the Tony Award-nominated musical WORKING. WORKING paints a vivid portrait of the … [Read more...]
The Clean House by Sarah Ruhl at Langham Court Theatre. A review.
April 23, 2018 By Leave a Comment
The Clean House by Sarah Ruhl at Langham Court Theatre. A review. Langham Court Theatre tackles the challenge of Sarah Ruhl’s comedy-fable The Clean House (April 18-May 5, 2018) with intelligent direction, sophisticated staging and design, and spirited acting. Ruhl’s witty deadpan style demands skilled actors with an appreciation of the pause, a talent the ensemble displays in abundance. This absurdist fable also requires a complete … [Read more...]
Salt Baby by Falen Johnson at the Belfry Theatre. A review.
April 20, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Salt Baby by Falen Johnson at the Belfry Theatre. A review. Girl meets boy, falls in love and lives happily ever after. Not if you’re Salt Baby (Dakota Ray Hebert) the titular character in Falen Johnson’s story of indigenous identity and belonging, Salt Baby (currently at the Belfry Theatre April 17-May 13, 2018); it’s brim-full of questions and the awkward sense of constantly checking one’s assumptions. Salt Baby is brash, bold and … [Read more...]
Swan Song and Other Farces at Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre. An interview.
April 19, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Swan Song and Other Farces at Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre. An interview. Noa Paster may only be seven going on eight, but she’s already an experienced musician and performer who is prepared to hold her own with the talented ensemble of Swan Song and Other Farces, the opening production of Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre’s tenth anniversary season (April 24-May 6, 2018). Director Jacob Richmond (The Caretaker, Animal Crackers, Waiting … [Read more...]
Lessons by Wendy Graf. Bema Productions April 12-22, 2018. A review.
April 13, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Lessons by Wendy Graf. Bema Productions April 12-22, 2018. A review. Bema Productions does it again with the nuanced production of Lessons by Wendy Graf (performed in the most appropriate 153 year old heritage synagogue Temple Emanu-El April 12-22, 2018). Now in their fourth season, Bema has come to be known for insightful renderings of scripts that on the surface appear simple—it is director Zelda Dean’s single biggest gift—to find the … [Read more...]
Tomorrows Child at Belfry Theatre SPARK Festival 2018. A review.
March 23, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Tomorrows Child at Belfry Theatre SPARK Festival 2018. A review. The mind-bending experience of Tomorrow’s Child by Ghost River Theatre (currently at the Belfry Theatre SPARK Festival 2018 March 20-24) begins long before entering the theatre. Panels and poster boards provide information on the company and the main creators. Bright-eyed “performer mecs” greet patrons assembled in the lobby for this auditory immersive piece. Instructions are … [Read more...]
Cafe Daughter at Belfry Theatre SPARK Festival 2018. A review.
March 21, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Cafe Daughter at Belfry Theatre SPARK Festival 2018. A review. Café Daughter, the fictionalized story of the life of Senator Lillian Eva Quan Dyck, by noted Cree playwright Kenneth T Williams, currently at the Belfry Theatre SPARK Festival 2018 March 20-24, is a deep dive into systemic and internalized racism through the eyes of a child, told with humour and grace. Yvette Wong (Tiffany Ayalik), growing up in small town Saskatchewan in the … [Read more...]
The Comedy of Errors at UVic Phoenix Theatre. A review.
March 17, 2018 By Leave a Comment
The Comedy of Errors at UVic Phoenix Theatre. A review. The Comedy of Errors, currently at the University of Victoria Phoenix Theatre until March 24th, deserves to be widely seen by the youth and young adult audiences of the Capital region. Director Jeffery Renn has made it abundantly clear in this contemporary, bright and frothy adaptation that he is aiming directly for Generations Y and Z. Fear not—even older audiences will appreciate the … [Read more...]
