At the Red Gate Revue Stage (Granville Island) until July 23, 2017
The inaugural production of Midtwenties Theatre Society, This Is Our Youth might be “brilliant, darkly humorous and bittersweet” but, for me, it was deeply disturbing.
Zack Currie as Dennis and Quinn Hinch (foreground) as Warren in This Is Our Youth. Credit: Ken Thorne
At Theatre Under the Stars until August 19, 2017
There’s nothing snoozy or sleepy about this TUTS production of The Drowsy Chaperone: it’s flat-out, full-on fun. Plus it’s wickedly clever.
Shawn Macdonald, Caitriona Murphy, Peter Stainton and Sheryl Anne Wheaton in The Drowsy Chaperone. Credit: Tim Matheson
At Performance Works until July 17, 2017
City of Angels, the musical, is so meta-theatrically clever it almost gets itself tied in knots but it’s a whole lot of film noir fun.
Donal Thoms-Cappello as Stine and Michael Lomenda as Stone in City of Angels. Credit: Rhonda Dent
At Bard on the Beach until September 16, 2017
I should probably never see The Merchant of Venice ever again: it makes me crazy.
Warren Kimmel as Shylock in The Merchant of Venice. Credit: David Blue
At Bard on the Beach until September 22, 2017
Tis passing strange, this play. There are lengthy discourses, no swordplay, not a lot of action in the original sense and it shifts over the course of five acts from a tragic beginning to a happy ending.
Kaitlin Williams as Perdita and Austin Eckert as Florizel in The Winter’s Tale. Credit: David Blue
At the Arts Club Granville Island Stage until July 29, 2017
“We need to talk”. Four little words that almost always mean there’s trouble in paradise.
Cailin Stadnyk and Josh Epstein in Bittergirl: The Musical. Credit: Emily Cooper
At Spanish Banks until June 30, 2017
Be prepared to space out and have your perceptions totally messed with.
At Bard on the Beach until September 23, 2017
If you’re looking for a fresh take on Much Ado About Nothing, director John Murphy is your man.
Kevin MacDonald and Amber Lewis in Much Ado About Nothing. Credit: Emily Cooper and David Cooper
53 West Broadway. No more performances.
At the Vancity Culture Lab at The Cultch, June 8-10, 14-17 and 21-24, 2017
Heard at curtain from an enthusiastic pair of patrons: “Bravo” and “Well done”. It’s a good reminder for a critic that has seen at least a dozen productions both big and small, that there’s a Hamlet for everyone.
Kurtis Maguire as Hamlet. Credit: Tracy-Lynn Chernaske