A War of the Worlds
Live-streamed until November 21, 2020
Like Mary Shelley’s 1818 Frankenstein, H.G. Well’s 1898 The War of the World’s just keeps spawning revivals and adaptations.
The Doll’s House Project
Online from Studio 58 until October 17, 2020
Studio 58 boldly steps up to the plate with its first-ever live-streamed performance with The Doll’s House Project; this online presentation is available until October 17 and its free!
Matheus Severo and Sabrina Banks in The Doll’s House Project. Credit: Amir Tabatabei
No Child…
Newmont Stage at the BMO Theatre Centre to November 8, 2020
One-person shows are great vehicles for performers and Celia Aloma does No Child . . . proud. Alternating performances with Ali Watson, Aloma completely embraces playwright Nilaja Sun’s sixteen characters over the course of a little more than an hour, sans intermission.
Celia Aloma in No Child. . . Credit: Moonrider Productions
A Hundred Words for Snow
At Jericho Arts Centre (and online) until October 4, 2020
A Hundred Words for Snow is a sweet coming of age story told directly to the audience by actor Hana Joi. Playwright Tatty Hennessy packs the script with lots of historical detail about various white male explorers who died trying to make the journey to the North Pole in the past, and bone-chilling descriptions of ice, snow and profound cold for which Rory, a young Londoner, is unprepared.
Hana Joi as Rory in A Hundred Words for Snow. Credit: Doug Williams
Forget Me Not
At a secret downtown location until March 1, 2020
There was a moment in Forget Me Not when, after having been invited with everyone else in the audience to participate, I seriously considered stepping into the action to stop something terrible from happening.
Ronnie Burkett in Forget Me Not. Credit: Dahlia Katz
Pot Kettle Black
At PAL Studio Theatre until February 29, 2020
‘In vino veritas’ the saying goes. But just how much ‘veritas’ can this group of six 30 or 40-year-olds handle?
Leah Jackskties and Cody Kearsley in Pot Kettle Black. Credit: Max Montesi
Noises Off
At The Stanley until February 23, 2020
Farce, in the wrong hands, can be as dreary as the rainiest January since 1930. But, under Scott Bellis’s fabulous direction and with a stellar cast of nine, playwright Michael Frayn’s 1982 farce will beat the blahs out of you faster than you can say “sardines”.
Emma Slipp, Tess Degenstein, Colleen Winton, Jovanni Sy and Charlie Gallant in Noises Off. Credit: David Cooper
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
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