At the York Theatre until March 12, 2017
I laughed so hard during Elbow Room Café: The Musical, I had to take my glasses off to wipe away the tears that were running down my cheeks. It’s loud and it’s proud and it’s very very Gay.
Allan Zinyk as Patrick/Patrice and David M. Adams as Bryan in Elbow Street Cafe: The Musical. Credit: Tina Krueger Kulic
At the Arts Club Granville Island Stage until March 11, 2017
The woven threads are much like an Indian carpet: lively, bustling and an interesting cross-section of Indian society. If you’ve ever been to Delhi, Calcutta or Bombay, you’ll know what I mean. Everything all mixed together, all moving together, all struggling for a little bit of luck.
Nadeem Phillip as Hasan in The Men in White. Credit: Emily Cooper
At The Cultch (Vancity Culture Lab) until March 4, 2017
The enigmatically titled am a, created by Amber Funk Barton (dancer/choreographer) and Mindy Parfitt (writer/director) could hardly have come at a better time for me, having reached an ‘interesting’ place in my own career.
Mindy Parfitt and Amber Funk Barton in am a. Credit: Tristan Brand
At Jericho Arts Centre until March 11, 2017
Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped off is a play about women in power, how they manipulate and are manipulated, how they remain in power and how they lose their heads – romantically as well as actually.
Geneva Perkins (front) and Erin Morgan in Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off. Credit: Nancy Caldwell
At Pacific Theatre until February 25, 2017
If you never saw Francis Ford Coppola’s film The Godfather or read Mario Puzo’s novel on which it is based, read the IMDb synopsis before going to Pacific Theatre to see this all-female production of Corleone: The Shakespearean Godfather.
Nicola Lipman as Vito Corleone, The Godfather. Credit: Ron Reed
At The Fishbowl (on Granville Island until February 18, 2017. Sold out.
Realtors have bumped lawyers (except for her lawyer brother) into second place on the list of professionals that Toronto actor/writer Karen Hines distrusts the most. And for good reason.
Karen Hines in Crawlspace. Credit: Gary Mulcahey
At the Firehall Arts Centre until February 18, 2017
Whether or not you find the increasingly fantastical elements compelling, Thompson’s performance is riveting as we watch Marguerite transform from noblewoman to wild woman at one with Nature and the First Nations: a very Canadian – at the same time universal – story. Back to Nature, back to the Garden.
Severn Thompson as Marguerite in Elle. Credit: Michael Cooper
At Studio 1398 February 6-11, 2017
This review was posted in April 2015. For further information regarding the 2017 production, contact Theatre Conspiracy at www.conspiracy.ca. Foreign Radical won the Critics’ Choice Award for Innovation in 2015 and is even more relevant in view of President Donald Trump’s ban on immigration from seven, predominately Muslim nations.
Milton Lim (front) and Aryo Khakpour in Foreign Radical
At The Stanley until February 26, 2017
Don’t go to The Audience if you think the Royal Family is irrelevant. Do go if you think, in changing times, having a stalwart, gracious, well-spoken, committed, dog-loving Queen of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, is something worth holding onto.
Anna Galvin (centre) as Queen Elizabeth II in The Audience. Credit: David Cooper
At White Big Top, extended until March 5, 2017
Bring out all the superlatives that can be mustered: Odyssey by Cavalia is awesome, spectacular, fabulous, beautiful, heart stopping, magical and ethereal.