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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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At the Stanley until January 5, 2020
Directed by Arts Club Artistic Director Ashlie Corcoran, this is a splendid production from Drew Facey’s handsome set and costumes to Itai Erdal’s lighting, Shelley Stewart Hunt’s choreography and Ken Cormier’s musical direction. Without being ‘Christmassy’, it’s the ideal family show for over the holiday season.

Synthia Yusuf as Maria and Jonathan Winsby as Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music. Credit: Emily Cooper

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At Jericho Arts Centre until December 1, 2019
The Price, written by Arthur Miller in 1968, is enjoying something of a recent revival: March 2017 (New York), August 2018 (Bath), February 2019 (London) and now a United Players production at the Jericho Arts Centre.

Patrick Bahrich (Victor), Sjahari Hollands (Solomon) and Christine Iannetta (Esther) in The Price. Credit: Nancy Caldwell

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At The Cultch until November 17, 2019
The stars of this show are undeniably set designer Sophie Tang and lighting designer Gerald King. Kuroko, written by award-winning playwright Tetsuro Shigematsu, looks fantastic.

Kanon Hewitt as Maya/KobraKali and Lou Ticzon as Kenzo/Kilroy37 in Kuroko. Credit: Chris Randle

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At PAL Studio Theatre until November 17, 2019
If you think of British playwright Caryl Churchill, Harold Pinter and Samuel Beckett you’ll come close to imagining Escaped Alone: gritty, funny, existential ponderings all wrapped up in fractured, free-range dialogue and a bonus – one hilarious dance routine.

Tanja Dixon-Warren as Mrs J in Escaped Alone. Credit: Javier Sotres

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