By Ryan Pike
Death touches us all, whether we like it or not. At some point every living thing on this planet will die, but those inanimate objects have a free ride, until now. With their latest production, Famous Puppet Death Scenes, The Old Trout Puppet Workshop and One Yellow Rabbit aim to prove inanimate objects are no… Continue reading Theatre Preview: Getting revenge on creepy puppets
At first glance, the noir and the musical appear too disparate to successfully merge. After all, where noirs are all about heavy narration, metaphor and grisly themes, musicals boast flamboyant choreography, colourful sets and suspension of belief. Upon closer examination, however, the two genres aren’t so incompatible: in the end they both come down to… Continue reading Theatre Preview: Little Mercy excessively good
What a drag it is growing old,” the Rolling Stones once astutely observed. This observation sums up 82 year old Judge Francis Biddle’s situation in the eyes of his new secretary, Sarah Schorr, in Theatre Calgary’s latest production, Trying. Based on playwright Joanna McClelland Glass’ real life experience as the secretary of the former attorney… Continue reading Theatre Preview: Trying to succeed
By Ryan Pike
Jake and the Fat Man. Batman and Robin. Farley and Spade. The Odd Couple. The world has encountered many great pairings who, despite their obvious differences, have managed to become enormously successful. The good folks at Ground Zero Theatre and Vertigo Mystery Theatre hope this trend will continue as they unleash the latest unique couple… Continue reading Theatre Preview: Little Mercy looks to kill
As the lights dim in the Engineered Air Theatre and the audience hushes, a blonde and a brunette run out on stage. As the two girls, with their suitcase full of props, run away from 1950s small town Alberta the audience disappears from modern day Calgary and together they fall down the rabbit hole.Their feet… Continue reading Theatre Review: Le Gros Spectacle so funny it doesn’t matter whether it makes sense
We live in a society where saying no is the norm. No smoking, no killing hookers: it’s an epidemic. So it’s interesting, and refreshing, to see what saying yes will do for you. “We said yes to everything,” says Brieanna Moench, one half of the Wind-up Dames. “It allowed us to follow our instincts, our… Continue reading Theatre Preview: Dames prepare Gros Spectacle
By Fiona McLay
Not many plays can inspire an opera by one of the world’s most renowned composers, fewer still can cause a revolution. In celebration of the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth the U of C drama department is presenting The Marriage of Figaro, a play by Beaumarchais responsible for Mozart’s great opera and perhaps even more.… Continue reading Theatre Scoop: Figaro’s wedding worth the length
By Fiona McLay
Amanda Chapman’s bio on Hidden Insanity Theatre’s webpage reads: “[Chapman] is currently the artistic director of Hidden Insanity due to the fact that she is loudly opinionated on what is ‘good’ and what is ‘crap’ in theatre.” This is reassuring considering the ambitious nature of Hidden Insanity’s latest project. The theatre group is pleased to… Continue reading Theatre Preview: Hidden Insanity branches out with evening of three one-act plays
Mieko Ouchi’s latest play, The Blue Light, holds a dubious distinction at this year’s Enbridge playRites Festival. The production is undeniably the festival’s serious offering. Though every play featured this year explores some deep issues, nothing else dives into waters quite so deep as Nazism and the role of the artist in society. The Blue… Continue reading Theatre Preview: Heil The Blue Light
By Ryan Pike
The subject matter in Hippies and Bolsheviks could easily lend itself to overwrought cliches, resulting in an unsatisfying theatre-going experience. Thankfully, this wasn’t the case. Instead Hippies and Bolsheviks lures the audience in with the opening scene where Star (Daniela Vlaskalic) brings young Jeff (David Beazely) back to her apartment for a one night stand.… Continue reading Theatre Review: Hippies succeeds where communism failed