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 … slowly.
Still, at the time, the scandal of women contemplating infidelity seemed far more shocking than if it were just the guys screwing around on their wives. Because, you know, double standard.
The great playwright Noel Coward takes a mighty poke at the sexual politics of his day with Fallen Angels, another comedy of (bad) manners being revived by Edmonton’s Bright Young Things company, and playing at the Varscona Theatre Nov. 22-Dec. 1. Lot of Coward in this building lately.
Dubbed the Roaring Twenties Desperate Housewives, the play stars several veteran local actors, including the real-life husband-and-wife team Mark Meer and Belinda Cornish, along with Vanessa Sabourin, Rachel Bowron, Nathan Cuckow and John Ullyatt. In the press release, producer Jeff Haslam promises to “hit the perfect blend of high class writing and high class acting.”
Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley
And so it begins – the cavalcade of merry Christmas theatre in Edmonton. Perhaps you detect a note of Scroogliness about this? Not true! It’s Halloween that really grinds my gears. Christmas? Bring it on!
In Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, Mary, the forgotten “middle child” in the famous Bennet family (in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice) is the central character in this holiday favourite. It’s said to be a “sequel” (with air quotes) to Pride and Prejudice. Mary, to put it bluntly, is a nerd. She likes to read books and play the pianoforte, and seems doomed to spinsterhood until a man named Arthur comes into her life. He’s a nerd, too.
Cue heartwarming Christmas romance at the Citadel Theatre until Dec. 9.
Tuck Everlasting
Here’s a deep existential question being posed in what is supposed to be a kids’ play: Who you chose to be immortal, or would you grow bored of life after a while?
Based on the Natalie Babbitt novel, Tuck Everlasting tells the tale of the little girl named Winnie who encounters a mysterious, isolated family in the woods. Apparently they’d all ingested some sort of “miracle water” and now live forever – so of course the family sealed themselves away from the rest of society. Why? Winnie soon finds out in this enchanting musical adventure produced by St. Albert Children’s Theatre Nov. 22-Dec. 2 at the Arden Theatre.
What a Young Wife Ought to Know
Another story set in the 1920s, this one not so cheery: A Hannah Moscovitch play that deals with birth control rights. Don’t forget: Both birth control and abortion were illegal in those days. Doctors preached “abstinence.” Suffering and death were the results.
What a Young Wife Ought to Know was inspired by a book by early 20th Century birth control crusader Dr. Marie Stopes, containing letters from women describing all manner of horrors and asking for help. The story focuses on one young woman named Sophie who’s already been pregnant four times. One of her babies died, another was handicapped (and her sister died of a botched abortion), and so her doctor told her to stop getting pregnant. “Stop having sex,” she was told. Being poor Irish immigrants, the couple couldn’t afford black market condoms, and the story takes an edgy turn as Sophie and her loving husband Jonny start looking for a way out of their dilemma. With brilliant performances and spot-on direction, the result is a heart-wrenching drama in this Theatre Network production playing until Dec. 2 at the Roxy on Gateway.
Canada 151
Apparently some hosers forgot about the Canadian sesquicentennial party and decided, “Oh, well, f*** it! Let’s celebrate Canada one year late!”
Any excuse for yet another jukebox musical, eh?
This one, on stage at the Mayfield Dinner Theatre until Jan. 27, is an oh-what-a-feeling oh-what-a-rush doozy of epic proportions. Music by Bryan Adams, Shania Twain, Celine Dion, Anne Murray, the Guess Who, Alanis Morissette, the Tragically Hip and many more is presented in a fantasy musical celebration that hits all the bases of the Canadian musical canon in a breathless two-and-a-half hour show. A great band, as always, does a fine job replicating all the different artists in their eras of history. Highly recommended.
