At Firehall Arts Centre until October 5, 2019
The most challenging and exciting moment in this production is the longest, silent, face-to-face stare-down between the five actors and the audience that I have ever experienced in the theatre. What did I feel? Guilt? Sorrow? Empathy? All of the above? I’m still processing. . . .
Andrew Creightney in The Shipment. Credit: Ryan McDonald
At The Stanley until October 13, 2019
Act 1 of A Thousand Splendid Suns made me so angry, I felt my blood beginning to boil. It validated my hostility toward certain fundamentalist Islamic regimes: the subjugation of women, the domination of husbands over their wives, the denigration of female babies and much more.
Anita Majumdar (as Laila) and Deena Aziz (Mariam) in A Thousand Splendid Suns. Credit: David Cooper
At Pacific Theatre until October 5, 2019
I have never once given a thought to Joan of Arc’s mother but American playwright Jane Anderson did and the result of her musing is Mother of the Maid.
Anita Wittenberg as Isabelle Arc in Mother of the Maid. Credit: Jalen Laine Photography
OLD-ish
Havana Theatre: September 9, 11, 13 and 14, 2019
I have been reviewing playwright/performer Susan Freedman’s brand of wry humour for seventeen years – longer than many marriages!
How to Become More Less Crazy
The Nest: September 10, 13 and 15, 2019
How to Become More Less Crazy isn’t likely going to be Pick of the Fringe but writer/performer Bill Bernat would win the Vancouver Fringe Festival Award for Courage if there were one.
Bill Bernat in How to Become More Less Crazy
THE WALK IN THE SNOW: The True Story of Lise Meitner
Carousel Theatre: September 9-14, 2019
Jem Rolls, most notable for his fast-paced performance poetry but now seriously into dense, detail-driven, mesmerizing storytelling, tells us he recently placed flowers on the grave of Lise Meitner in Bramley, Hampshire, UK, fifteen miles from where he grew up.
Lise Meitner (credit: Wikipedia)
Advanced Field Zoology for Beginners
Waterfront Theatre: September 8, 10, 13 and 15, 2019
Victoria’s Shawn O’Hara returns to the Vancouver Fringe Festival with a follow-up to Field Zoology 101, a hit at last year’s festival. The new show is not a sequel so don’t worry if you didn’t catch it in 2018.
Shawn O’Hara as Dr. Bradley Gooseberry in Advanced Field Zoology for Beginners
A Woman of a Certain Age
Studio 16: September 7, 9, 10, 13 and 15, 2019
Writer Wendy Froberg is a woman of a certain age and she’s a registered clinical psychologist so she really knows her stuff.
Wendy Froberg as Lucie in A Woman of a Certain Age. Credit: Helena Froberg
Vancouver Fringe Festival 2019
A.I. Love You
Studio 16, September 8, 9, 12-14, 2019
A.I. Love You is fascinating, provocative and as innovative as it gets. It’s all about what it means to be truly human. Activate yourself. See it. You might want to see it twice.
Vancouver Fringe Festival 2019
Inescapable
Waterfront Theatre, September 7, 11-13 and 15, 2019
Playwright/performer Martin Dockery is an acquired taste and I’ve acquired it. If you have, too, then don’t miss Inescapable, performed with Jon Paterson.
Jon Paterson and Martin Dockery in Inescapable