REVIEW: Comedy of Errors a masterclass of mayhem
The Freewill Players launch their 35th outdoor season in Hawrelak Park this year with one of Shakespeare’s earliest and funniest plays, Comedy of Errors. It’s hard to imagine a better show for a spring evening than this venerable confection – an entertaining show as light as a breeze across Hawrelak Lake. It is, by the […]
PLAYBOT: It’s Shakespeare time!
One point in favour of teaching Shakespeare in schools and putting on Shakespeare festivals every summer – if we’re still arguing about this – is that almost everyone knows Shakespeare. Sure, he came from a distinctly white male European point of view, but his stories persist to this day because, well, they’re good. Think of […]
REVIEW: Master Class brings opera diva to life
The aura of Maria Callas stills hovers over opera in the last half of the 20th Century. She was “La Davina” – plain in person but beautiful on stage. Her acting may have been minimal but she dominated every production in which she appeared. Famous for her wobbling high notes, she seldom performed (especially in […]
Finest of Strangers the finest of Lemoines
A new play by Stewart Lemoine is something to celebrate. For some 36 years – since his debut at the first Fringe – he has prolifically turned out play after play, over 70 of them now. The amazing thing about all this is that the playwright has managed to maintain an innate curiosity in a […]
PLAYBOT: The Importance of Being Lemoine
In Upside Down World, while all other Edmonton theatre companies have ended their seasons and are resting up for the Fringe, Teatro la Quindicina is just getting started. It has been said – by PlayBot™ – that Teatro’s permanent resident playwright and artistic director Stewart Lemoine is the Oscar Wilde of Edmonton, so it fits […]
Absurdist ‘anti-play’ explores meaninglessness of life
Eugene Ionesco is a polarizing playwright. Along with Samuel Beckett (Waiting For Godot), he is the prime exponent of Theatre of the Absurd – an existential form of theatre that tells us that your life has no inherent value, other than what you impose on it. You’re on your own – and besides, we’re all […]
REVIEW: Tragically Hip ballet an elemental triumph
Alberta Ballet artistic director Jean Grand-Maître has made a reputation for himself with his signature portrait ballets. In 2017, they did Gordon Lightfoot’s Our Canada. Prior to that: k.d. lang, Elton John and Sarah McLachlan. And now, it’s a wrap for a triumphant sold-out run of No Dress Rehearsal, This Was My Life – the […]
Terry and the Dog intense, disquieting, touching
A man sits on his porch and waits for his dog to come back to life. “Buddy” is dead – and not for the first time. His master Terry is pushing at the outer edges of middle age, and is a recovering alcoholic. Twice before in a drunken stupor he has accidentally killed Buddy – […]
PLAYBOT: Refugees find love in Canada
Canada has always welcomed refugees – and the nation is better for it. The new people just have to get used to the frightful weather. Before the poor Syrians, there were Jews fleeing persecution in Romania 100 years ago. Some of them settled in Canada – and so here is the tale in a concert-theatre […]
Young Frankenstein: It’s alive! It’s alive!
Except for the venerable Walterdale Theatre, ELOPE Musical Theatre may be the oldest amateur theatrical production entity in Edmonton. For 35 years the company has been scouring the community for talent, holding auditions and mounting productions of Broadway musicals. In the past few years they have featured such shows as Guys and Dolls, Sweeney Todd […]
Fly Me to the Moon a grand tall tale
We are quite familiar with the works of Irish playwright Marie Jones. She had a huge success a few years back with Stones in His Pockets the story of a couple of sad sack extras in a major movie being shot in Ireland. There have been, at least, two productions staged in Edmonton. Jones is […]
PLAYBILL: Shumka keeps it real
The Ukrainian Shumka Dancers have turned down an offer to participate in an all-Shumka parody of West Side Story to tell the tale of Edmonton’s two sides – North Side Story. We were told Shumka’s core subscribers probably wouldn’t go for it (based on a comic by Chad Huculak). Just as well. Keep it real. […]
