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Vancouver Fringe Festival – 2023
Written & performed by Cameryn Moore September 7, 9,13, 14, 15& 17, 2023 | The NEST, Graville Island The premise of Muse, Cameryn Moore’s self-entitled experiment running at Vancouver Fringe, undoubtedly rouses many questions in pre-attendees. And the show doesn’t fail to answer them. In fact it is surprisingly straight forward – Moore poses and talks, we draw and listen. Nevertheless,when it ends we are left contemplative,and the questions we have are by no means small. What is the relationship between the body and the self? Can we separate the two? By now we all know art is subjective, but how objective is sight? Full review
Written & performed by Maarika Freund September 7, 10,11, 13, 16& 17, 2023 | The NEST, Graville Island Maarika Freund’s
Peaches: The Play! is a one-woman show set in 2028; a not-so-distant
future and a not-so-dissimilar dystopia. The entertainment industry
is capitalizing on rape, with a new musical singing the power of forgiveness
........ Full review
Written by Cristina Tudor, directed by Keltie Forsyth September 8, 9,10, 11, 14 & 16, 2023 | Performance Works, Graville Island Stories are fantastical because life is fantastical. Cristina Tudor's beguiling Romanian fairytale explores the space where they collide. Starting its run at Vancouver Fringe Festival last night, Lia & Dor takes its audience on a journey through Lia’s family history and Romanian folklore. Full review
Written & Directed by Majid Tafreshi September 7,9,13,15,16 & 17, 2023 | Waterfront Theatre, Graville Island IThe song opening Three Acts of a Woman, which premiered at Vancouver’s Fringe Festival this week, is lamenting, moving. It encompasses all that the women of Iran have lost. Such unimaginable losses might appear to have left nothing but ash, but still from the ashes Iranian women rise. Full review
When & Where September 12 to 17, 2023, evenings 8pm, Sat & Sun matinees at 2pm | Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver Director Des McAnuff Choreography Sergio Trujillo Music Director Jonathan Smith Music Coordinator John Miller Scenic Design Robert Brill Costume Design Paul Tazewell Sound Design Steve Canyon Kennedy Lighting Design Howell Binkley Production Stage Manager Nicole Olson Reviewer John Jane The show’s subtitle “The Life and Times of the Temptations” is largely based on the autobiography of Otis Williams, the group’s founder and de facto leader. Jeremy Kelsey (in place of Michael Andreaus on this night) in the role of Otis capably leads the twenty-member cast, as well as taking on responsibility of the story-telling. Full review
When & Where alternating nights between July 12 to August 26, 2023 All shows at 8pm, except on Fireworks Nights (July 22, 26 & 29) when shows begin at 7pm | Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park Director Stephanie
Graham Production Manager Richard Berg Set
Design Brian Ball Lighting Design Robert Sondergaard
Costume Design Christine Reimer Sound Design
Michael Kidder Musical Director Lia Wolfe Choreography
Krystal Kiran Stage Manager Koh Lauren Quan
Musicians Director Stephanie Graham Production Manager
Richard Berg Set Design Brian Ball Lighting
Design Robert Sondergaard Costume Design Christine
Reimer Sound Design Michael Kidder Musical
Director Lia Wolfe Choreography Krystal Kiran
Stage Manager Koh Lauren Quan Reviewer John Jane Matilda
The Musical is based on Roald Dahl’s dark children’s
story, adapted for the stage by Dennis Kelly and songs added by Tim
Minchin. Set in England, roughly in the time it was written, it follows
the misadventures of a five-year-old girl who doesn’t fit into
her family’s self-absorbed dynamic. Full
review
When & Where alternating nights between July 11 to August 25, 2023 All shows at 8pm, except on Fireworks Nights (July 22, 26 & 29) when shows begin at 7pm | Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park Director/Choreographer Tracey Power Assistant. Director Paige Fraser Music Director Sean Bayntun Production Manager Richard Berg Technical Director Matthew Oviatt Set Designer Brian Ball Costume Designer Stephanie Kong Lighting Designer Robert Sondergaard Sound Designer Michael Kidder Props Stephanie Barclay Intimacy Director Karyn Mott Dance Captain Ava Maddison Stage Manager Emma Hammond Musicians Sean Bayntun, Barb Choi, Livia Cohen, Iain Waddell, Michelle Xu, David Zhen, Christian Richardson, Monica Sumulong-Dumas, Colin Parker, Nick Apivor, Lawrence Woodall, Julie Holden, Andrew Radke, Justin Kury & Elijah Morrison Reviewer Christian Steckler In a time of culture wars in America, and increasingly in Canada, a production such as The Prom is a broadside on those who ironically want to forbid people being who they are by citing freedom of speech and expression. They say that no one has the right to tell others how to live, and then act and legislate to do just that - tell others how to live. Full review Bard on the Beach
When & Where August 19 - September 24, 2023, evenings at 7.30, Sundays at 2pm | Howard Family Stage in the Douglas Campbell Theatre, Vanier Park Director Rebecca Northan Costume Designer Philp Edwards Masks Composite Effects Lighting Designer Anton deGroot, Michael K. Hewitt Stage Manager Lili Beaudoin Reviewer Elizabeth Paterson Improv
theatre with Macbeth for inspiration and Goblins to boot. This
is an intriguing premise for a show at Bard on the Beach and a bit of
a leap of faith for Swan-of-Avon-ophiles, but theatre is nothing if
not exploratory.Full
review
When & Where June 28 – August 13, 2023, evenings at 7.30, Sundays at 2pm | Howard Family Stage, Vanier Park Director Lois Anderson Set Designer Amir Ofek Sound, Music Director and Composer Pankanea Lighting Designer Sophie Tang Costume Designer Mara Gottler Choreography & Fight Director Jonathan Hawley Purvis Reviewer Christian Steckler In her insightful adaptation of the play, Lois Anderson focuses on the effects of violence and war on the individuals and societies involved. The result is moving and thought-provoking for the audience, bringing, in this reviewer’s opinion, a deeper appreciation of Shakespeare’s work. Full review
When & Where June 15 – September 24, 2023, evenings at 7.30, Sundays at 2pm | BMO Mainstage, Vanier Park Director Cherissa Richards Costume Designer Jessica Oostergo Set Designer Pam Johnson Sound Designer Kate De Lorme Lighting Designer Gerald King Choreographer/Fight Director Jonathan Hawley Purvis Video Designer Candalario Andrade Production Stage Manager Joanne P.B. Smith Reviewer Elizabeth Paterson Fast paced and vivid, Bard on the Beach's Julius Caesar will have you on the edge of your seat, swept into a world of violent politics, plots, treachery and war.Full review
When & Where June 8 – September 30, 2023, evenings at 7.30, Sundays at 2pm | BMO Mainstage, Vanier Park Director Daryl Cloran Musical Director Ben Elliott Costume Designer Carmen Alatorre Set Designer Pam Johnson Sound Designer Owen Hutchinson Lighting Designer Gerald King Choreographer/Fight Director Jonathan Hawley Purvis Dance Captain Sharon Crandall Intimacy Director Melanie Yeats Production Stage Manager Joanne P.B. Smith Musicians Sally Zori, Isaiah Terrell-Dobbs Reviewer John Jane Director Daryl Cloran’s whimsical re-imagining is a delightfully entertaining piece of theatre, but hardly one for Bard purists. Cloran moves the action from late sixteenth century in the Forest of Arden to the Okanagan in the sixties. Duke Frederick and Duke Senior have been replaced with Dame Frances and Dame Senior as the truculent siblings. Full review
When & Where September 28 - October 21, 2023; Wed - Thurs 7:30pm, 8pm Fri / Sat with 2pm Sat and Sunday matinees | Pacific Theatre, 1440 West 12th Avenue Interiewer John Jane I spoke to Tetsuro by telephone this week (August 28) as he was attending a theatre conference in Victoria by the Sea, P.E.I. I asked what audiences will find different in this production compared to the one first seen in 2015. Full interview
When & Where June 10 – 25, 2023; Evenings at 7:30pm, final matinee performance on Sunday 25 June @ 2pm | Presentation House Theatre, 333 Chesterfield Avenue North Vancouver Director William B. Davis Set Designer Erin Finnerty Costume Designer Julie White Lighting Designer Adrien D Hodgson Sound Designer John Mills Cockell Reviewer Eve Newstead If
aging is the heart of Belinda Lopez’s big-hearted play The
Window Outside, then its arteries and veins are dementia, loss
of self, familial obligations, choice and death. Lopez considers universal
issues in the context of one ordinary family.Showing now at Vancouver’s
Presentation House Theatre, her Canadian premiere production boasts
a talented cast and a triumphant blend of humour and tragedy.
Full
review
When & Where June 2 – 24, 2023, evenings Wed - Sat at 8pm & Sat at 2pm | Pacific Theatre, 1440 West 12th Avenue, Vancouver Director Kaitlin Williams Set Design Alaia Hamer Costume Design Melicia Zaini Lighting Design Jonathan Kim Sound Design Chengyan Boon Properties Coordinator Monica Emme Stage Manager Taylor MacKinnon Reviewer John Jane Leah Nanko Winkler obviously likes to write about what she is most familiar with. Born in Japan to a Japanese mother and a Caucasian American father, then raised in Lexington, Kentucky, the Shiota-Rose family at the centre of her family drama is much like her own, and is even set in Kentucky. Full review
When & Where May 25 - June 4, 2013, evenings 7.30pm, Sat, Sun at 3pm | Firehall Theatre, 280 East Cordova St. Writer and Performer Derek Chan Dramaturg Heidi Taylor Sets/Props/Costume Design Megan Lane Video Designer Andie Lloyd Lighting Design Sapphire Haze Reviewer Nancie Ottem Happy
Valley closes out the 2022/23 season for the Firehall Arts Centre.
It is an appropriate production to close the 40th season at the Firehall
Arts Centre being an intimate one man show in an intimate theatre. Derek
Chan, playwright and performer of Happy Valley has devoted his life
to theatre. Full review |
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muse:
an experiment in storytelling and life drawing
Peaches:
The Play!
Lia
& Dor
Theatre
Under The Stars
Theatre
Under the Stars
Pacific
Theatre 