Infinity
At The Cultch until January 19, 2020
Obsession is a jealous mistress; she leaves little time for anything else.
Amy Rutherford, as Carmen, and Jonathon Young, as Eliot, in Infinity. Credit: Dahlia Katz
Category: Review
Holiday at the Elbow Room Café
At The Cultch until December 29, 2019
Just when I think I have reached the height of my Bah! Humbug-edness, I find myself moved by a young man sweetly singing Silent Night. The young man is David Underhill, a recent Studio 58 grad, and the carol breaks through the craziness that is Holiday at the Elbow Room Café.
Emma Slipp, Joey Lesperance, Emilie Leclerc and David Adams in Holiday at the Elbow Room Café. Set and costume design: Marina Szijarto. Lighting design: Taylor Janzen. Credit: Tim Matheson
Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley
This review was initially posted following the November/December 2018 production. There are some cast changes in this Arts Club remount.
At the Arts Club Granville Island Stage until January 4, 2020
It’s a wonderful life when a new Christmas play comes around to spice up the old familiar theatrical gluhwein. It’s even better when it feels like Jane Austen couldn’t resist revisiting Mary, the seriously bookish middle one of the five Bennet sisters in Pride and Prejudice.
Leslie Dos Remedios (Jane), Baraka Rahmani (Lydia), Kate Dion-Richard (Mary) and Lauren Jackson (Lizzy) in Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley
It’s a Wonderful Christmas-ish Holiday Miracle
Goldcorp Stage at BMO Theatre Centre until December 22,
If you’re dreading all that frantic, late-night Christmas Eve gift wrapping, just take a look at Lauchlin Johnston’s set for this festive Arts Club offering and be grateful it wasn’t your job: a veritable mountain of silver foil-wrapped boxes forms the backdrop for Marcus Youssef’s seasonal family drama.
Mattreyea Scarrwener as Chloe and Nicola Lipman as Esther in It’s a Wonderful Christmas-ish Holiday Miracle. Credit: David Cooper
Fado: The Saddest Music in the World
At the Firehall Arts Centre until December 14, 2019
Written by Elaine Ávila, Fado: The Saddest Music in the World is a hybrid: part play, part concert. And while the transitions are a little formulaic the music is well worth the framing of the play.
Pedro M. Siqueira, Dan Weisenburger, Sara Marreiros and Judd Palmer. Credit: Derek Ford
East Van Panto: Pinocchio
At the York Theatre until January 5, 2020
Each playwright commissioned by Theatre Replacement to write the Panto gets a two-year kick at the can. The team of Marcus Youssef and Stephen Drover – in their second of two years – has been terrific. The proof? It takes at least half an hour to get your face back on from all that laughing, hooting and hollering. “Oh yes we did”. “Oh no you didn’t”. “Oh yes we did.”
Pippa Mackie as Pinocchio and Amanda Sum as Jiminy Pattison in the East Van Panto: Pinocchio. Credit: Emily Cooper
The Father
At The Cultch until November 30, 2019
The Father is a profoundly moving play and this is a very fine production. Those who laughed in the first half, were silent in the second. Most of us – if not all – will have to deal with dementia or Alzheimer’s in a loved one – or worse, in ourselves. How in God’s name do you prepare yourself or your loved ones for such an eventuality?
Kevin McNulty in The Father. Credit: Tim Matheson
Anon(ymous)
At Studio 58 until December 1, 2019
Perhaps young adults – familiar with music videos and virtual reality – are better equipped than I am to deal with Iizuka’s style that lurches from stark, poetic realism to exaggerated, caricatured characters.
Ashley Cook as Anon and Isaac George-Hotchkiss as Pascal in Anon(ymous). Credit: David Cooper
The Sound of Music
At the Stanley until January 5, 2020
Directed by Arts Club Artistic Director Ashlie Corcoran, this is a splendid production from Drew Facey’s handsome set and costumes to Itai Erdal’s lighting, Shelley Stewart Hunt’s choreography and Ken Cormier’s musical direction. Without being ‘Christmassy’, it’s the ideal family show for over the holiday season.
Synthia Yusuf as Maria and Jonathan Winsby as Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music. Credit: Emily Cooper
The Price
At Jericho Arts Centre until December 1, 2019
The Price, written by Arthur Miller in 1968, is enjoying something of a recent revival: March 2017 (New York), August 2018 (Bath), February 2019 (London) and now a United Players production at the Jericho Arts Centre.
Patrick Bahrich (Victor), Sjahari Hollands (Solomon) and Christine Iannetta (Esther) in The Price. Credit: Nancy Caldwell