CHILD-ish
At Pacific Theatre to March 9, 2024
Kids say the darndest things. Ask any fond grandmother.
The cast. Credit: Chelsey Stuyt
Category: Review
Gertrude and Alice
Jericho Arts Centre to February 11, 2024
Gertrude Stein is Gertrude Stein is Gertrude Stein. And when actor Tanja Dixon-Warren (as Gertrude) breaks down the fourth wall and asks us why we came to see this show, I’m betting it’s curiosity not about what Stein wrote but about the person, the famous/infamous Gertrude Stein.
Tanja Dixon-Warren as Gertrude and Kelsi James as Alice in Gertrude and Alice. Credit: Nancy Caldwell.
A Christmas in Wales
Jericho Arts Centre to December 24, 2023
Directed by Sarah Rodgers, A Christmas in Wales is long on nostalgia but you’d have to be grinchy not to be charmed. Sweet as sugar plums? Not quite. There’s always an undercurrent of melancholy, of time passing; just enough to give it an edge.
Ellen Kennedy, Kazz Leskard and Andrew Lynch in A Christmas in Wales. Credit: Nancy Caldwell
Theatre Replacement’s East Van Panto: Beauty and the Beast
York Theatre to January 7, 2024
Theatre Replacement’s East Van Panto always features a reworked fairy tale that takes place in and around The Drive but this time, co-written by Christine Quintana and Jivesh Parasram, it’s really specific: all the action happens on the corner of Clark and Venables at Fujiya Japanese Foods, across from Mr. Mattress.
The cast of Theatre Replacement’s East Van Panto: Beauty and the Beast. Credit: Emily Cooper
Hurricane Mona
The Cultch to December 3, 2023
A comedy about the climate crisis? You’ve got to be kidding. But playwright Pippa Mackie isn’t kidding and yet Hurricane Mona is very funny. It’s also more than a little surreal; one of the characters is a human-sized frog.
Alex Gullason as Mona in Hurricane Mona. Credit: Pedro Augusto Meza
Elf: The Musical
The Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage to December 31, 2023
Is this Arts Club production fun? Oh, yes! Is the set design by Brian Ball fantastic? Absolutely. Lights by Itai Erdal? Bright and beautiful. Christine Reimer’s costumes? Amazing. And there are tap-dancing Santas. What more could anyone ask?
Andrew McNee as Buddy in Elf: The Musical. Credit: David Cooper
Dr. Suess’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical
The Centre in Vancouver (777 Homer Street) from November 14-18, 2023
On the highly unlikely chance your kids aren’t already vibrating with excitement as Christmas approaches, Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical might just do it.
The Ensemble of Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical. Credit: Jeremy Daniel
Troika: 3 Short Comedies by Chekhov
Jericho Arts Centre to November 12, 2023
What’s especially interesting in these short one-acts is that they give us a glimpse of Chekhov’s thoughts on marriage and relationships in general: never peaceful, loving or supportive. Always fractious, complicated, burdened by miscommunication.
Assembly Hall
Vancouver Playhouse. No more performances
Assembly Hall, the latest collaboration between Jonathon Young and Crystal Pite once again yields strange but beautiful fruit.
Renée Sigouin in Assembly Hall. Credit: Michael Slobodian
Peace Country
Firehall Arts Centre to October 22, 2023
Fresh. Real. Relevant. Inclusive. That’s Peace Country, written by Pedro Chamale, and the Firehall Arts Centre’s 23/24 season opener. A rice & beans theatre production, presented by the Firehall, this is theatre that really matters. To us.
Angus Yam, Sofia Rodriguez, Manuela Sosa, Kaitlyn Yott and Sara Vickruck in Peace Country. Credit: Pedro Augusto Meza