Lungs filled with doom in dark comedy
The Shadow Theatre production of Duncan Macmillan’s Lungs was supposed to open on March 13. But then the production blew up, losing its Montreal-based director and two local stars. When we finally got to see the show on Friday March 22, the directing credit was split between the assistant director Emma Houghton and Shadow Artistic […]
PLAYBOT: La Boheme Rhapsody
You could argue that the decadent, hard-living, unprotected sex-having “bohemian” culture of the late 1970s led directly to the tragic circumstances depicted in the musical Rent – which is set 10 years later and loosely based on the Puccini opera La Boheme, which was written 100 years earlier. In a further time twist, we return […]
REVIEW: Arizona road trip shows depth and heart
Think of Mesa, the new production from the Varscona Theatre Ensemble, as a road show. In fact, it is much like the current movie hit Green Book, where two widely different characters find themselves stuck together on a long auto journey. These characters learn a great deal about each other – and about themselves. At […]
PLAYBOT: Polar Vortex of Chinook theatre
Now here is a hollow mockery: The biggest winter theatre festival in Edmonton is called The Chinook Series – named for the meteorological miracle of a blessed hot wind that’s nowhere in sight. With dozens of performances taking place Feb. 7-17 in the ATB Financial Arts Barns’ theatres and other area venues, the sked for […]
REVIEW: Here she comes! Miss Teen a magical family comedy
Vancouver playwright Michele Riml is best known for her Sexy Laundry, a spirited comedy in which a middle-aged couple check into a posh hotel to rejuvenate their flagging 25 year marriage. A while back, the play was given a very funny mounting by director John Hudson for Shadow Theatre. This week at the Varscona Theatre […]
PLAYBOT: Stage mom goes overboard in Miss Teen
What it is with stage moms becoming obsessed by their daughters’ beauty pageants? Could it be a faded rose from days gone by? You want to be supportive for your kid and all, but some mothers go way overboard. Many ridiculous cases both real and fictional are evoked in Michele Riml’s new play Miss Teen, […]
EDMONTON THEATRE 2018: The Colin MacLean Awards
If the Alberta economy is in tatters, it would be hard to tell from the number of plays and musicals to grace our stages this year. Theatre budgets may be suffering and costs ballooning, but we fortunate Edmonton theatre-goers have enjoyed a mountain range of productions. Like our Rockies, some were high, others not so […]
PLAYBOT: Last call for Carol!
You will be visited by three ghosts! The first will arrive when the clock strikes one. The second … hey, what? Where are you going? Come back here! You’re not supposed to flee the visitation! … damn it, he got away … curse these chains. Aaaaand … scene! You think the Citadel Theatre would give […]
FALLEN ANGELS: Varscona Farceurs Scandalize Citizenry with Lascivious Hijinks
Back in the Spring of 1925, that young theatrical turk Noel Coward was at it again. He wrote four plays that year – but the one that had the bluestocking brigade most up in arms was Fallen Angels. It featured two young wives, typical Coward creations, pampered, pretty and flighty, admitting to premarital sex – […]
PLAYBOT: Fallen Angels high class comedy
It’s becoming clear in hindsight that women had a raw deal in the 1920s. Expected to be obedient housewives and mothers, they were assailed by prejudice and hobbled by double standards, and that wasn’t the worst of it. On the plus side, women just won the right to vote, so everything was about to change […]
PLAYBOT: High expectations for Carole King musical
How a nice Jewish girl from Brooklyn became one of the greatest songwriters of all time is the rich subject of a new musical that opens in Edmonton tonight. From a Broadway hit in 2014 to the Jubilee Auditorium until Nov. 11, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical follows the inspiring story of its titular subject […]
PLAYBOT: Redpatch tells untold (until now) WWI story
Edmonton First Nations actor Sheldon Elter can’t be in two plays at once – but one imagines he would’ve totally been up for Redpatch. He’s already starring in The Comedy Company (see below), another play about World War I. Coincidence? Not this time, Jasper. Remembrance Day is coming up. At the Citadel Theatre Nov. 1-11, […]
