THE REPLACEMENT WIFE: COLOURING OUTSIDE THE LINES
It’s exhilarating to see somebody colouring outside the lines for a change. Aaron Bushkowsky’s new play, The Replacement Wife, is a reality-bending comedy about marriage, death, and the fickle nature of love. Its pieces didn’t come together for me in a substantial way...
YOU’RE JUST A PLACE THAT I KNOW: BUT NOT WELL, APPARENTLY
In the theatrical concert You’re Just a Place That I Know, singer/songwriter Adrian Glynn McMorran sets out to tell the story of his grandparents’ flight from Ukraine, post-WWII, to Montreal. But he doesn’t really know that story, so the core of this piece is hollow....
PARADISUM: NOT QUITE PARADISE
There’s an enormous amount of technical skill on display in Paradisum, which is a circus show from the Hungarian company Recirquel. But the level of artistry is inconsistent and that’s a problem: because circus is enjoying a huge renaissance these days, there are...
ANNIE: NOT EVERYTHING I WANTED FOR CHRISTMAS
Annie is the Gateway’s Christmas show, so let’s say this pudding is tasty sometimes, but also pretty lumpy. Stylistically, director Josh Epstein’s production is inconsistent — and that’s partly because, stylistically, Annie is a tricky musical. Based on the comic...
LOUISA MAY ALCOTT’S LITTLE WOMEN: SURRENDER
For some reason, probably general curmudgeonliness, I tried to resist Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. I failed. Yes, the story is sentimental, but it’s about the importance of familial and romantic love — of kindness, honesty, and openheartedness. In this age, which...
A WONDERHEADS CHRISTMAS CAROL: ENOUGH ALREADY
I suggest a moratorium on adaptations of A Christmas Carol. We’ve had more than enough and some of them are good. In this variation from Victoria’s Wonderheads Theatre, there’s skill on display and some moments work but, as a whole, the evening is boring. The medium...
THE CRICKET ON THE HEARTH: GENEROSITY WINS OUT
Despite a bumpy start and hitches along the way, this journey is more than worth it. This United Players production is the premiere of a new adaptation, by Naomi Wright and director Sarah Rodgers, of Charles Dickens’s novella, A Cricket on the Hearth. The story, which...
EAST VAN PANTO: WEST VAN STORY – DOES NOT GO SOUTH
Theatre Replacement’s East Van Panto has become the most reliable theatrical offering in Vancouver’s cultural calendar. I’m so appreciative of the tradition that, about three minutes into this year’s show, I was choking up with gratitude. It means a lot to come...
BURNOUT PARADISE: WHY?
You know the moody kid, the one hanging around at the edge of the playground at recess, the one watching all the other kids chasing each other and screaming with an enthusiasm that’s inaccessible to him? That’s who I felt like at Burnout Paradise: everybody else...
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