A Week of Edmonton Theatre - Three Terrific New Works! Anahita's Republic (Autash), Subscribe and Like (WWPT) and Listen, Listen (Teatro Live!)

I've just come home from seeing the third of three new works on Edmonton stages this week! There's nothing my theatre heart loves more than new Canadian works and all three were also written by Albertan playwrights, so that's even better! There was also a great deal of variety in the pieces so it was a but of a rollercoaster of theatrical offerings!

Anahita's Republic by Hengameh E. Rice (Autash Productions)

Now running at the Backstage Theatre (Fringe Theatre Adventures), Anahita's Republic is a play I have been long invested in. It's set in Iran, in a compound where the strong willed and sharply intelligent Anahita (Roya Yazdanmehr) is able to live her life the way she wants to. She's safe to reject the hijab and run the family business, using her brother Cyrus (Yassine El Fassi El Fihri) as her public face. All the while she works to challenge the regime and gain freedoms for women. The play shines a light on a part of the world we may speculate about but not really know. Yazdanmehr gives a passionate and invested performance, and when it looks like she may lose control of her carefully curated world, you can hear the desperation in her anguished pleas. Anahita's Republic is a play that makes you think when you both watch it and in the days that follow seeing it. It makes you think about what you have and what you might do if it were taken away from you. It also makes you reflect on what it might be like to live in a world where all you want is to have the same things that your brother has - the things he takes for granted and even casually rejects - but you can't have them because you are a woman. The cast is rounded out by Omid (Jennie George), a young women whose arrival upsets the balance of Anahita's life, and Omid's father Masood (played wonderfully by Michael Peng) who further complicates the situation with wants of his own. The show is nicely paced and the stakes stack up imperceptibly until things reach a breaking point. It's a tight 90 minute show directed with subtlety by Brian Dooley. 

Anahita's Republic runs to June 4th at the Backstage Theatre.
Tickets are $44 but there are Pay-What-You-Can tickets available for every show. You can buy your tickets here. 

Subscribe or Like by Liam Salmon (Workshop West Playwrights' Theatre)

So... this was an unexpected show for me. I knew it likely had something to do with social media, because of the title, and I speculated there was a romantic/relationship angle because of the casting and the images I had seen online prior to seeing the show, but that's about all I knew going in. It was both funny and sad. It was also terrifying and inevitable. It's a memory play about Rachel and Miles who start a YouTube channel and travel down the path of needing the likes and views and subscribers to validate what they are doing. Their need to generate those reactions becomes obsessive for one of them, and ultimately destructive for the relationship. This show had me unable to look away even though part of my brain was saying I can't watch. Gabby Bernard and Geoffrey Simon Brown have real onstage chemistry that makes you believe why they are together as well as why they pull apart from each other. He is puppy-dog-like, which is adorable, but hey, he also eats your shoes. She is thoughtful and deep and caring, but over-invested and drained, and it's hard to be the not-fun one. It's a complicated interplay, but believable. 

As someone who spends a lot of time on social media, I totally got this show. I have over the last few years reevaluated my online role and needs. I know what it is like to track your likes and views so I understand the obsession. After seeing the show, my friends and I spent a half hour discussing it and how we related and I have come back to it several times today. I imagine it will haunt me for a little while longer. It's completely relevant in our world today and as a cautionary tale, it suggests that even if you aren't thinking about the impacts of social media on our psyches, you probably should be. 

Subscribe or Like runs to June 11th at the Geateway Theatre. 
Tickets are $27 - $43. Tuesdays are 2-for-1 at the Door. 
You can Purchase your tickets here. 

Listen, Listen by Elyne Quan (Teatro Live!)

It was so much fun to laugh at this show tonight! The premise was simple, but what started out a something simple (a customer's request) snowballs quickly into the world of the absurd. Led onstage by the physically elastic Farren Timoteo, the cast of four (Nadien Chu, Alexander Ariate and Nikki Hulowski) are delightful to watch. I think they were having as much fun as we were in the audience!

It's quick paced (kudos to director Belinda Cornish) and moves so smoothly that I was surprised that the first act was an hour. It literally flew by! The soundtrack is terrific (I would like a mixed tape of it, please!) and the music, costumes (Leona Brausen) and set (Chantel Fortin)  transported me and everyone else to the 80s (the best decade) for a super silly story pitting customer against service worker! It's a show that you can't help but enjoy and laugh at. Everyone onstage is excellent. As to Timoteo, my companion for the evening speculated the role was written for him as his physical comedy was perfection. The rest of the cast all have their moments too - Chu's slow-motion fight scene is hilarious; Ariate's three wildly different characters have their moments; and Hulowski not only plays the smartest cute girl at the mall food court, but she also channels the entire secretarial pool from the movie Working Girl (sorry, Executive Assistants). So much fun and absolutely perfect for a summer evening! 

Listen, Listen runs until June 11th at the Varscona Theatre. 
Tickets are $30 - $42. Tuesdays are Pay-What-You-Can at the door. 
You can purchase your tickets here. 

After so long, 3 shows in a month seems AMAZING! The Fiancé, The December Man and Garneau Block!

 Yep, theatre is back. Some theatres are a little more back than others, and some are more distanced than others. Some are picking up where they left off, and some are showing new things. I took in three shows in the last month and it feels so strange to once again be out and about doing what I love! I'm still cautious, but it was nice to have moments in a darkened theatre where I both laughed and cried. 

Photo Credit: Nanc Price

Most recently (yesterday afternoon) I took in the new work, The Fiancé, in the Citadel's Shoctor Theatre.  With The Fiancé , penned by Holly Lewis (wife of Artistic Director Daryl Cloran), we were treated to a brand new farce taking place at the end of WWII. It featured local Edmonton theatre artists both on and off stage and it was a fun romp as the sweet and cake-loving Lucy (Helen Belay) and her tough no-nonsense sister Rose (Patricia Cerra) managed the comings and goings of Lucy's three wartime fiancés (Farren Timoteo, Tenaj Williams and Sheldon Elter), who have all arrived home on the same day. The stakes are raised by the arrival of a new landlord, Ms. Crotch (played by a ferocious Lora Brovold), with strict rules about unmarried ladies living in the building. As with most farces, the First Act served to set up the situation as precariously as possible and the Second Act was where it all payed off. It was an enjoyable afternoon spent out at the theatre where I could laugh and anticipate who would end up with who and what ridiculous circumstance would wrap it all up. I was not disappointed! The script is new and could use a little tightening and the removal of a few anachronistic bits that bumped me out of the story, but the cast do a great job selling every moment. And although the physical comedy in the fights and business are funny, they could also use a bit of judicious editing as they don't always carry the momentum required. As I mentioned, the Second Act is where it all pays off, as more people are added and more doors start getting opened and closed. All in all, this is a nice little show that will make you feel good and get you laughing. 

The Fiancé runs to November 28 and tickets are available here. Tickets range from $30-$108.00.

COVID RATING: B+ (Guests are checked for double vaccination and masked throughout the performance, hand sanitizer is provided in the lobby and entrances, but seats are not distanced and some guests removed their masks to drink and eat in the theatre)

Photo Credit: Scott Henderson, Henderson Images

Last week I took in The December Man at Walterdale Theatre. It has closed but I did want to comment on the excellent production. The December Man, by Colleen Murphy, tells of the 1989 Ecole Polytechnique tragedy involving the murder of 14 women and injuring others by a lone gunman railing against feminism. The story is told in the aftermath with the effects on one male student Jean (played with sensitivity by Filip Fufezan) who survived the shootings and the guilt that he deals with for not doing more. His parents, played by Christine Gold and J. Nelson Niwa, struggle to help him and their own limitations prevent them from being able to do so successfully. The trio of actors were beautifully committed to their characters strengths and weaknesses, and together there were a believable family coping as best they could with this horrible new reality. And the story, told in reverse order, culminated in a heart-breaking emotional release. The piece was directed with a skilled hand by Alex Hawkins who allowed the cast to weave through the emotional ups and downs realistically. 

The December Man closed this past Saturday, so you can no longer see it. However, Walterdale Theatre's next production is 5@50 by Brad Fraser which runs from December 8-18. Tickets can be purchased here. $25.00

COVID RATING: A+ (Guests are checked for double vaccination and masked throughout the performance, hand sanitizer is provided at entrances, bathrooms are restricted to one person at a time, seats are socially distanced, limited tickets are sold to prevent over-crowding)

Photo Credit: Arthur Mah

Earlier this season I also caught The Garneau Block at the Citadel in the Maclab Theatre. At the time of the Shut-down I think I was about a week and a half from seeing the show, so it was nice to finally catch it on the stage! I'm so happy for these shows-interrupted who are now able to be seen. Some productions over the course of the pandemic were able to transition to online productions, but with this being a play based on a novel by Edmonton's own Todd Babiak, so close to Opening, with a set left intact, I was really happy that they were able to keep (almost) the entire original cast and get the opportunity to share it with the city. I loved the book, so it was cool to see that world recreated onstage in this adaptation by Belinda Cornish. There are differences but the spirit of the story is intact, as are the characters. It was a great afternoon of laughter for me. Stand-out performance, however, must go to Nadien Chu whose onstage melt-down was one for the ages! As a whole, however, the cast was a delightful, well-balanced ensemble. Kudos!

The Garneau Block is no longer running so tickets are not available. 

Summer 2021 - A Return to Live #yegtheatre... tentatively... with Macbeth...

 

So... I saw a show this week... in person... it was outside... a return to a live theatre space. It felt good. 

On Wednesday evening, in Louise McKinney Park, I took in the Preview performance of Freewill Shakespeare's Macbeth. Responding to Covid, the company presented an adaptation written for 3 actors, which was shorter, with streamlined sets and costumes, to better fit into the Fringe and other locations. There's also a similar production of Much Ado About Nothing adapted for 5 actors, but I haven't had a chance to catch that one yet. 

It was so nice to be in an audience sharing the experience of live theatre, and this was a terrific choice as it was brisk and lively and quite funny. The three actors (Nadien Chu, Rochelle Laplante, and Laura Raboud) were skilled with the Shakespeare as well as the quick script. Three natural comedians, they played well with and off each other. Those that know Macbeth can be reassured that the essentials are covered, but this adaptation tends to lighten the more gory parts with clever songs and provide exposition in humorous ways. There's also low-risk audience participation. On the Preview night, the audience was a little rusty but once their memories were sparked they leapt in. 

Most lovely for me was seeing the three actors joyous response to the applause. I feel for all the #yegtheatre performers who have tried to serve us over the last year and a half with online performances. Finally they can hear our gratitude for the splendid art that they are creating instead of sending it out into the silent void of zoom. 

Next for me is a Fringe show. I'm finding it hard to get back to being around people so I am taking it slow. I'll see a show on Monday and if that goes well, I hope to catch a few more later in the week.

You can catch Macbeth and Much Ado About Nothing at the Fringe. Click the titles for the links to tickets and showtimes. Some performances already show limited availability, so you might want to get those ticket sooner rather than later! 

Those who self-destruct and those who try to help... Pretty Goblins at Workshop West...

I took in Pretty Goblins by Beth Graham presented by Workshop West Playwrights Theatre last night. It tells the tale of sisters, fraternal twins, Lizzie (Miranda Allen) and Laura (Nadien Chu), and their battle through life. One twin is wilder and self-destructive and an addict who cycles in and out of functional and dysfunctional existence. The other, calmer and more rational, but equally tortured as she is unable to 'save' her sister time and time again. It's told in flashback, and episodes, so we see how these two incredibly close children with the same parentage and opportunity can veer into vastly different adult lives. It's hard to leave the play without a discussion of nature vs. nurture as there are contributing factors from both. It's also hard not to leave the play with an incredible amount of empathy for those who have a self-destructive loved one in their lives. The struggle to support, and try to help after being pushed to the breaking point time and time again is heartbreaking.

This production has all the right components. It is skillfully and sensitively directed by Brian Dooley whose direction never confuses us as to where and when we are and which handles the gruesome parts honestly but with incredible respect for the script, actors and audience (there is one section that is particularly tough). The performances of Allen and Chu are layered and believable even as they zig-zag from past to past to present, and each has an evolution which feels inevitable but you wish wouldn't have to happen. Interestingly, I think that it's easy to imagine these actors in the other role, underscoring the nature vs. nurture discussion. The world that production designer Megan Koshka has created is both beautiful and ugly - depending on what it needs to be - a squalid room, a child's bedroom, a wedding reception...

Pretty Goblins runs to April 29 at the Backstage Theatre. Tickets can be purchased here.

I Made This! Or Rather, I am Making This!

The past 8-9 weeks I have been involved in APN's Edmonton Playwright's Circle working on a piece called Little Monsters.  The Circle experience has been great. Led by facilitator Conni Massing and filled with 8 playwrights of various stages in their writing career, we supported each other and helped everyone to write the best play they could. The most important thing for me is that it gave me deadlines and those are so much easier to write towards than a blank future.  Accountability is so important for a writer.  It would be wonderful to think that we could motivate ourselves, but for me, it is the deadline.  Anyhow, I started this piece at Playworks Ink in November during a workshop with Daniel MacIvor.  Prior to the workshop I did not even know it was a play.  I was about halfway done a first draft by mid-December, but I stalled until I joined the circle.  I stuck it in my life in a time I thought was pretty free (that was thrown off by Gibson being in Titanic) but I made it work - hammering out a rough first draft that I was very happy with and a second draft that I was even more happy with.  It still has a way to go, but in the 9 weeks of the circle I have done so much more writing than I have in the last 2-3 years. 

Anyhow, TONIGHT the Circle is sharing excerpts from our plays with the public for FREE! We got to select the excerpt and work with professional actors and a director today and tonight they will be presented.  It is at 7:30 p.m. in the EC Board Room at the Transalta Bus Barns. One of the actors asked me if I had slept last night in anticipation and to be honest, I slept very well.  When I saw the list of actors that would be reading my script (Nadien Chu, Annette Loiselle and Mat Busby) I was really relaxed about it.  They are all very good and actually well suited to the roles they read. Having Tracy Carroll shepherd them as Director didn't hurt either. I love my Circle Playwrights, but it is a different thing to hear your words read by real actors who try different things and go for it. Tonight will be extra exciting to hear it read with an audience in the house. I hope you can come!

The Ladies Who first amuse, then terrify...

I scored a date for The Ladies Who Lynch at Canoe Festival this evening. It was a mix of hysterical and terrifying and overall meant for a good theatrical adventure. Some things worked better than others for me. I was very impressed with Candace Berlinguette as Judith and Nadien Chu as Maureen and the other two ladies on stage held their own. Hard to know if it is the characters as written that are more compelling or the actors playing them. In any case, there weren't any weak links in that regard. It was also the right choice of a play to see to connect to the work I am doing in my Drama 409 class. I spent the last two days researching Split Britches, a Lesbian-Feminist theatre company out of New York, and although this was not a Feminist-Lesbian piece, it did challenge certain societal and cultural expectations. It was also post modern in that it did not track as 'real' and the arc was not traditional. Even off the top there was a self-awareness that underscored the piece.

I like to see things like this, but not all the time. I think that, for me, I enjoy this type of production more in contrast to other things. I wonder at those who only go for one type of theatre experience. I certainly find my experiences enriched by occasionally challenging them. I don't always 'get it' or 'connect' to every piece, but if I only see the same things I get very, very bored and it becomes more about the glass of wine at intermission than the actual show. That can't be good.

#2 of my projected 40 theatrical events for the year