At Bard on the Beach until September 14, 2013
If this review reads like an ode to actor Jonathon Young, that’s what it is. Young plays Feste, the Fool, in director Dennis Garnhum’s early 1900 take on Twelfth Night. Perhaps Young caught me in a vulnerable state of mind but his performance is so beautiful, so layered and comes from so deep inside the character that I was getting misty-eyed from the sheer loveliness of it.
Jonathon Young in Twelfth Night. Credit: David Blue
At H.R. MacMillan Space Centre until June 29, 2013
This eagerly-awaited offering from Electric Company is so far from what I anticipated that the day after opening night I’m still in a state of disbelief.
Michael Rinaldi and Patti Allan in You Are Very Star. Credit: Tim Matheson
At PAL Studio June 15 (8PM) and June 16 (2PM)
Why would I bother reviewing a three-performance-only, staged reading of a silly play? Because it features such a wonderful collection of professionals all in one show: Adam Henderson, Nicola Lipman, Merrilyn Gann, Mack Gordon, Linda Carson, Russell Roberts, Annabel Kershaw, Anthony F. Ingram, Susan Coodin and Luke Beattie.
At the Russian Hall until June 15, 2013
Why did Billy Marchenski go to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone? No, it’s not a question like, “Why did the chicken cross the road?”
Alison Denham and Billy Marchenski in Slowpoke. Credit: Jonathan Kim
At Jericho Arts Centre until June 30, 2013
The Observer theatre critic Claire Brennan wrote on September 17, 2011: “The writer Blake Morrison first described this notion as “bonkers” when Susannah Clapp, this paper’s senior theatre critic, suggested it to him 10 years ago.” This ‘notion’ was to explore the lives of the Brontë sisters through the text of Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters.
Olesia Shewchuk and Victoria Lyons in We Are Three Sisters. Credit: Nancy Caldwell
At Vancity Culture Lab (at The Cultch) until June 8, 2013
Proof has one of the best end-of-Act 1 hooks ever written. Playwright David Auburn absolutely guarantees you’ll want to stay for Act 2 with the bombshell his character Catherine (Josette Jorge) drops just before the lights go down.
Josette Jorge in Proof. Credit: Graham Ockley
AT GO Studios until June 15, 2013
Why playwright Kris Elgstrand thought the aftermath of the vehicular death of a teenager would be fodder for comedy is anybody’s guess. But apparently the opening night crowd laughed themselves silly.
Lara Gilchrist, Lori Triolo, Brad Dryborough and Maxine Chadburn in
Ramifications of a Particular Crash
At the Firehall Arts Centre until June 2, 2013
There are times when I don’t like this job. This is one of those times.
Robert Moloney, Lisa Bunting and Kirsten Robek in The Matchmaker of Montreal.
Credit: Tatiana Balashova
At CBC Studio 700. No more performances
If the future really is going to be friendly, maybe Telus or some other big corporation would like to step up to the plate to take Dissolve on the road to every highschool in the country.
Emmelia Gordon in Dissolve. Credit: Pink Monkey Studios
At The Cultch until June 2, 2013
Been there. Done that. Got the t-shirt. No, really. I do have the Mump & Smoot t-shirt. And I wear it proudly.
John Turner and Michael Kennard in Mump & Smoot in Something. Credit: Gary Mulcahey