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
The Cultch remounts Little Volcano, previously presented at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts in April 2019. The show will be live-streamed from the Cultch, October 22-25, 2020. This is a re-posting of my previous review.
[At Shadbolt Centre until April 27, 2019]
Little Volcano – half concert, half storytelling – is insanely wonderful. That is, it’s exquisitely beautiful – the kind of beautiful that makes you want to cry.
Veda Hille in Little Volcano. Credit: Matt Reznek
At Studio 16 until May 5, 2019
There’s a lot going on in Dead People’s Things. Jenn Stewart’s set – floor to ceiling piled with cartons each with a post-it note marked “Trash” or “Keep” – is the tip-off.
Eileen Barrett as Beatrice and Meaghan Chenosky as Phyllis in Dead People’s Things. Pre-production photo credit: Tina Krueger Kulic
At the Annex (823 Seymour Street) until April 20, 2019
Produced by Delinquent Theatre, a Vancouver-based theatre company whose mandate is to create, develop and produce new Canadian plays, Never the Last is an ambitious and very promising step forward for Christine Quintana, the 2017 Siminovitch Protégé prize winner. And what’s not to love about a love story?
Anton Lipovetsky as Walter Gramatté, Christine Quintana as Sophie-Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté with violinist Molly MacKinnon in Never the Last. Credit: Bold Rezolution Studio
At The Cultch until April 20, 2019
Very early in the play Jess and Faith poke fun at those who tell them how “brave” they are, how “inspiring”. Act of Faith is not a perfect play but there’s no other way of saying it: it’s a “brave” play, bravely performed.
Credit: John Endo Greenaway
Arts Club Granville Island Stage until May 4, 2019
This is a charming enough Bed & Breakfast: tender and well-realized. However, if you like your theatre a little more challenging or a little rough around the edges, you might want to check into another place.
Mark Crawford as Brett and Paul Dunn as Drew in Bed & Breakfast. Credit: Moonrider Productions