Jo Ledingham Theatre Reviews

The Great Gatsby

At Max Bell Theatre (Calgary) until November 10, 2013
Almost half the cast list of The Great Gatsby reads as if director Kim Collier had cherry-picked her way through Vancouver’s finest: Bob Frazer, Jonathon Young, Craig Erickson, Celine Stubel, Jennifer Lines and Haig Sutherland. But 2010 Siminovitch Prize-winning Collier isn’t directing this show for a Vancouver company; she’s directing for Theatre Calgary.

Amy Rutherford as Daisy in The Great Gatsby. Poster photo credit: David Cooper

Of Mice and Men

At Little Mountain Gallery (195 East 26th) until October 26, 2013
John Steinbeck’s stage adaptation of his classic novella Of Mice and Men is a surprising choice for young director Genevieve Fleming. The play is so early 20th century American and so masculine it smells of dust and sweat: nine men, one woman.

Sebastian Kroon as Lennie in Of Mice and Men. Credit: David Cooper

Venus in Fur

At the Arts Club Granville Island Stage until November 2, 2013
In Venus in Fur, a storm is brewing outside but it’s nothing compared to the storm that’s about to break inside the rehearsal hall where Thomas (Vincent Gale), a playwright and director, has just wrapped up auditioning three dozen actresses.

Vincent Gale and Lindsey Angell in Venus in Fur. Credit: David Cooper

Speech & Debate

At Studio 1398 until October 12, 2013
High school: the happiest years of your life. Yeah, sure. Directed by Brian Cochrane for Twenty Something Theatre, Speech & Debate is geared more to the fifteen and sixteen-year-old crowd than to the twenty-somethings. But most of us have been there: teenaged, dateless on a Friday night and feeling too geeky for words.

Alex Rose, Claire Hasselgrave and Scott Button in Speech & Debate. Credit: David Cooper

The Zombie Syndrome: On Death Island

At an undisclosed venue until November 2, 2013. Participants are advised 24 hours prior
My so-called ‘crack team’ of special agents really, really sucked. Our mission: to capture Sgt. William Sullivan, a terrorist on the run. We blew it – bigtime.

Jake Anthony in The Zombie Syndrome: On Death Island. Credit: Andy Thompson

Inside The Seed

At Vancity Culture Lab at The Cultch until October 12, 2013
It’s ironic, isn’t it, that with the huge amount and variety of food available to us, we find ourselves scrutinizing labels as if our very lives depended upon it.

Patrick Sabongui as Foster Bryant in Inside The Seed. Credit: Daniel Martin

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

At Studio 58 until October 20, 2013
One of Shakespeare’s most often produced plays, A Midsummer Night’s Dream presents a real challenge to a director to come up with a fresh new take. Director Scott Bellis, his finger firmly on the pulse of pop culture, goes with zombies and vampires in this Studio 58 student production and shifts the action from Athens, Greece, to the fictitious town of Athens, Romania, circa 1900.

Penelope

At The Cultch until October 13, 2013
When everyone else’s cheering, clapping and woo-hooing had died down, I wondered what in god’s name I was going to say about Irish playwright Enda Walsh’s Penelope, produced by Rumble Theatre and The Cultch.

Alex Lazaridis Ferguson (left) and Kyle Jespersen in Penelope. Credit: Tim Matheson

You Should Have Stayed Home: A G20 Romp!

At The Firehall Arts Centre until October 2, 2013
Toronto’s Tommy Taylor confirms what we’ve always known: all you need to make good theatre is a really good story and a really good storyteller. And, boy, does Taylor have a doozy.

Tommy Taylor in You Should Have Stayed Home

Other Desert Cities

At The Stanley until October 20, 2013
Shades of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? American playwright Jon Robin Baitz takes a couple, Polly and Lyman Wyeth, throws in their coming-home-for-Christmas kids, Tripp and his sister Brooke, and, for good measure, adds Polly’s recovering-alcoholic sister Silda to this toxic cocktail.

Gabrielle Rose as Polly Wyeth in Other Desert Cities. Credit: David Cooper

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