Undaunted by some terrible reviews of Zastrozzi: A Romance, a novella written by Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1809, Canadian playwright George F. Walker adapted it for stage in 1977 – not from the novella but from a plot summary of the novella – and it has been cropping up on stages ever since.
Birkett Turton as Zastrozzi in Zastrozzi: The Master of Discipline. Credit: Amanda Waschuk.
At Jericho Arts Centre until June 30, 2019
Act 1 is mostly texture, not much plot. And it’s long at three hours. But see it because the payoff in Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem, directed by Kathleen Duborg for United Players, is colossal and mythic in scale.
Adam Henderson as Johnny Rooster Byron and Jack Rigg as the Professor in Jerusalem. Credit: Nancy Caldwell
Other Inland Empires: rEvolver Festival 2019
This is an odd little show: part meditation, part travelogue and part adventure.
Stephanie Wong in Other Inland Empires. Credit: Tim Matheson
The Firehall Arts Centre remounts I Walked the Line from October 15-25, 2020. This is a re-posting of my review of the original production at the Anvil Centre in May 2019.
What does an internationally-known, high-profile actor do when the biz hands him lemons? First, he finds alternate employment, uses his theatre skills in the new job and eventually turns the whole experience into theatre.
Allan Morgan in I Walked the Line
At the Stanley until July 14, 2019
What’s wrong with kids today? Absolutely nothing if you can judge by the ten or so kids on stage at the Stanley until mid-July. They are undoubtedly the stars of Matilda: The Musical.
Alison MacDonald as Miss Honey and Georgia Acken as Matilda in Matilda: The Musical. Credit: David Cooper
At Pacific Theatre until June 8, 2019
The icing on this particular cake is Erla Faye Forsyth. As Della, Forsyth pulls from her own larder a wealth of ingredients: humour, scrappiness, defiance, optimism, girlishness, wisdom, generosity and, yes, even sexiness.
Erla Faye Forsyth as Della in The Cake. Credit: Javier Sotres
At Havana Theatre until May 18, 2019
The Fitting Room (written by first-time playwright Ellery Lamm) was, early in its development, workshopped under the guidance of playwright and teacher Joan MacLeod (Shape of a Girl and others). Like that play, The Fitting Room would do really well in schools.
Kelly Vanderswan as Amy and Ciaran Volke as Henry in The Fitting Room. Credit: Victoria Simpson
At The Cultch until May 19, 2019
“Yeki bood. Yeki nabood.” Freely translated from Farsi it means, “There was one and there was no-one” and it’s the story-opening equivalent of, “Once upon a time”.
Nassim Soleimanpour in NASSIM. Credit: Studio Doug
At Jericho Arts Centre until May 19, 2019
For a play that begins like Shakespeare’s The Tempest with a shipwreck and a drowning, the Sea is quirkily funny and resoundingly defended as a comedy by those who have the temerity to produce it.
Genevieve Fleming as Mrs. Rafi in The Sea. Credit: Erin Aberle Palm
Goldcorp Stage at the BMO Centre until May 19, 2019
Under the superb direction of Meg Roe, this Arts Club production of The Great Leap is so thrillingly fast-paced and fantastic visually that it’s easy to overlook a script that doesn’t always score.
Milton Lim as Manford in The Great Leap. Credit: Pink Monkey Studios