Reading back over all of my 2013 reviews – about a hundred and fifty of them – brings back such wonderful memories: this script, that actor, this set design, that soundscape. Here’s what stood out for me beginning with Terminus, a pi theatre production directed by Richard Wolfe.
Pippa Mackie in Terminus. Credit: Ian Snow
Under the White Big Top in the Village on False Creek until January 5, 2014
For joy, there’s no better place than under the White Big Top where sixty-seven horses gambol with forty-eight two-legged performers. This is Odysséo, Cavalia’s new show that brings men, women and horses together in such an atmosphere of mutual respect that your heart will almost burst with delight.
Oasis. Credit: Pascal Ratthé
At York Theatre until December 29, 2013
Well, the beans have now been spilled: the York Theatre, operated by the Cultch, is open again for business. It’s monkey business in the form of an East Van pantomime complete with a bone-grinding giant and a naïve little boy who trades the family’s cow for a handful of beans.
Patti Allan, Allan Zinyk, Maiko Bae Yamamoto and Dawn Petten in Jack & the Beanstalk. Credit: Emily Cooper
At Havana Theatre until December 14, 2013
Lungs will hit a lot of childless, 30-something couples right where they’re at: to have a baby or not to have a baby.
Stephanie Izsak and Kayvon Kelly in Lungs