At The Cultch. No more performances
Not often is the whole less than the sum of its parts. So while Extraction didn’t hang together perfectly, its parts were startlingly and often disturbingly informative.
Jimmy Mitchell, Sunny Sun and Jason Wilson in Extraction. Credit: Tim Matheson
At the Arts Club Revue Stage until March 23, 2013
How Has My Love Affected You? might give your tear ducts a major workout. My guest, a cool but sensitive guy, sobbed openly for the last ten minutes. I didn’t know that his mother’s dementia had progressed so far that he can’t bear to visit her in the care facility where she now lingers.
Zak Youssef and Marcus Youssef in How Has My Love Affected You? Credit: Simon Hayter
At Performance Works until March 17, 2013
Wear your flak jacket to this one and be prepared to be strafed, assaulted, flayed and blasted by words, words, words in Irish writer Mark O’Rowe’s searing, fantastical tale of three separate souls on a night-out in down-and-dirty Dublin.
Pippa Mackie in Terminus. Credit: Ian Snow
At The Anderson Street Space (TASS) until March 2, 2013
Sparkling jewel. Tiny gem. Small treasure. These all – inadequately – describe this utterly charming little piece presented by Boca del Lupo as part of their Micro Performance Series.
At Norman and Annette Rothstein Theatre until March 3, 2013
I don’t believe in ghosts but if someone else wants to, go ahead. So when young artist Sarah, whose abortionist father died of a heart attack a year ago, says she is being “visited” by him, what’s the problem?
Carmel Amit and Kayla Deorksen in Haunted. Credit: Tim Matheson
At Studio 1398 until March 2, 2013
If you were watching TV in the 60s, The Girl in the Frame (book, music and lyrics by Jeremy Desmon) will remind you of I Dream of Jeannie. That half-hour show was light and romantic and silly and this is light, romantic and silly, too.
Synthia Yusuf in The Girl in the Frame
At the Firehall Arts Centre until March 2, 2013
There’s nothing funny about a 14-year-old boy shooting a 15-year-old classmate twice in the back of the head with a .22 caliber revolver. But Vancouver playwright Dave Deveau finds humorous little personality quirks in his half dozen or so characters that keep this dark story from sinking under the weight of its own tragedy.
Anton Lipovetsky in My Funny Valentine. Credit: Brandon Gaukel
At Studio 58 until February 24, 2013
Daffodils are thrusting through the ground and the buds on the maples are swelling. Spring, in all its fecundity, is rushing in. But what’s happening in the garden and forest pales in comparison to what’s happening on the Studio 58 stage.
Lauren Jackson in Spring Awakening. Credit: David Cooper
At Jericho Arts Centre until February 17, 2013
If you wonder what possible relevance Hecuba, written by Euripides in 424 BC, has for us today, consider Hecuba’s words from Scene 2: “Failing justice, there is only rage.”
Joan Bryans and and Robert Ruttan in Hecuba. Credit: Lee Buckley
At Presentation House until February 10, 2013
If I ever find myself in the position Ernie (Jay Brazeau) finds himself in, let me have a speech therapist as compassionate and perceptive as Her Royal Highness (Alison Kelly) and an adult child like George (Haig Sutherland) to hold my hand.
Jay Brazeau in The Secret Mask. Credit: Chris Van Der Schyf