Stanley BFL CANADA Stage to October 18, 2026
Tickets from $69 at 604-687-1644 or www.artsclub.com
Posted September 24, 2026
The stars of Heist – hands down – are Projection Designer Wladimiro A. Woyno Rodriguez and his associate projection designers Marianne Benoit-Gagnon, Merve Yoruk, Jack Chipman, Genna Crowe; Lighting Designer Sophie Tang; and Set Designer Ryan Cormack. This show looks absolutely spectacular from the huge board game video (with, amongst other objects, a big diamond, a bomb and a bolt cutter) that greets you when you take your seat in the theatre. Constantly changing, video projections run at warp speed behind the live action throughout the entire two-hour show. The effect replicates cinematic, blockbusting action films, of which I am not a fan, but it’s the major appeal of Heist, a high-stakes burglary caper that goes sideways. I’m not sure why Canadian playwright/writer/former ophthalmologist Arun Lakra decided to go for a cinematic look, but this Arts Club production does him proud: Heist looks fantastic. It’s amazing. And it will probably appeal to a younger demographic which is a good thing.
But as someone who doesn’t always understand who dunnit even after the big reveal, I was seriously lost for much of the show. For starters, the action runs (mostly) – in reverse with projected text that reads, “Three days earlier”, or Six months earlier”, etcetera. Trying to keep track of what’s happening in ‘now time’ was a challenge. However, Heist redeems itself in the last ten minutes. So, hang in there. The payoff is worth the wait.
Marvin (Charlie Gallant) is a heavily accented Irishman leading a team of thugs bent on stealing a sixty-million-dollar ruby. The team comprises Marvin and four seriously messed up characters: Ryan (Tainui Kuru), a man of conscience and second in command; Angie (remarkably agile Alexandra Lainfiesta who spends quite a bit of time hanging upside down or doing gymnastics in a suspended hoop); Kruger (Andrew McNee) with a hair-trigger temper; and Fiona (Jennifer Tong), a super-skilled techie with the hots for Angie. They successfully steal the ruby, but it turns out to be a fake; either that, or one of the five has actually managed to pocket the real gem from right under the nose of the others. The narrative then shifts to the thieves trying to figure out which one of them has the ruby while, simultaneously, setting out to steal a huge diamond from The Spider (Patti Allan), a notoriously nasty crook with a reputation for killing off the competition.
The performances are terrific. Charlie Gallant, as Marvin, would be a spirited leprechaun of an Irishman if he wasn’t such a badass. Lainfiesta could be a Cirque gymnast so impressive is she on the hoop: beautiful, sexy but dangerous. Kuru is the most underwritten of the characters but, as Ryan, he does some amazing work with his hand stuck in a wall safe as he reaches for the diamond. McNee is hilariously explosive; a kind of sub-intelligent, violent type so familiar in the film and tv. The arrival of Patti Allan – such a Vancouver favourite – got huge applause on opening night before she said a word. And she got even better.
Heist looks good. The cast, under the direction of Andrew Kushnir, is great. And the last ten minutes are really, really entertaining.
But questions remain: what’s the point of trying to replicate film in live theatre – even when it’s really well done? Live theatre allows for intimacy the way film does not. That’s its special appeal. And so, while I appreciate everything that has gone into Heist, I question the relevancy and the amount of money spent mounting a show like this. Some of the most profound moments – for me – over years of theatre-going have been the small shows that packed a huge wallop: Scott Bellis, alone on stage, in a 2006 production of Thom Pain. Canadian actress Clare Coulter, in a friend’s living room, doing Wallace Shawn’s The Fever. Sam Beckett’s Happy Days with solo character Winnie buried up to her neck in sand. No bells, no whistles. Unforgettable. What I will remember about Heist are the production values. And probably Lainfiesta hanging upside down wielding a litter-picker-upper.
Heist will sell out. And the last ten minutes, I have to admit, are fun.