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
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
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
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
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
Goldcorp Stage at BMO Theatre Centre until December 22,
If you’re dreading all that frantic, late-night Christmas Eve gift wrapping, just take a look at Lauchlin Johnston’s set for this festive Arts Club offering and be grateful it wasn’t your job: a veritable mountain of silver foil-wrapped boxes forms the backdrop for Marcus Youssef’s seasonal family drama.
Mattreyea Scarrwener as Chloe and Nicola Lipman as Esther in It’s a Wonderful Christmas-ish Holiday Miracle. Credit: David Cooper
At the Firehall Arts Centre until December 14, 2019
Written by Elaine Ávila, Fado: The Saddest Music in the World is a hybrid: part play, part concert. And while the transitions are a little formulaic the music is well worth the framing of the play.
Pedro M. Siqueira, Dan Weisenburger, Sara Marreiros and Judd Palmer. Credit: Derek Ford
At the York Theatre until January 5, 2020
Each playwright commissioned by Theatre Replacement to write the Panto gets a two-year kick at the can. The team of Marcus Youssef and Stephen Drover – in their second of two years – has been terrific. The proof? It takes at least half an hour to get your face back on from all that laughing, hooting and hollering. “Oh yes we did”. “Oh no you didn’t”. “Oh yes we did.”
Pippa Mackie as Pinocchio and Amanda Sum as Jiminy Pattison in the East Van Panto: Pinocchio. Credit: Emily Cooper
At The Cultch until November 30, 2019
The Father is a profoundly moving play and this is a very fine production. Those who laughed in the first half, were silent in the second. Most of us – if not all – will have to deal with dementia or Alzheimer’s in a loved one – or worse, in ourselves. How in God’s name do you prepare yourself or your loved ones for such an eventuality?
Kevin McNulty in The Father. Credit: Tim Matheson
At Studio 58 until December 1, 2019
Perhaps young adults – familiar with music videos and virtual reality – are better equipped than I am to deal with Iizuka’s style that lurches from stark, poetic realism to exaggerated, caricatured characters.
Ashley Cook as Anon and Isaac George-Hotchkiss as Pascal in Anon(ymous). Credit: David Cooper