Review: (Toronto) Legoland

  Amitai Marmorstein and Celine Stubel (Photo: Barbara Pedrick)

The First Cut is the Deepest

by Shannon Christy

Atomic Vaudeville’s production of Legoland is a rich exploration of two intelligent teens who run headlong into catastrophe and discover that the world is a dangerous and cruel place where you must carefully pick what you love.  

The play itself is very fast paced, peppered with songs, dance, and puppets; seasoned with layered humour and quotes that ring in your head afterwards.  We learn that when it comes to theatre, “fuck” is actually appropriate if you are playing an urban youth; that syphilis surely had a hand in Shakespeare's and Nietzsche's great abilities; or that scarier than terrorism are the people who are afraid of it...

Review: (Toronto) True West

Stuart Hughes (photo: Cylla von Tiedemann)

True West is Strangely Directionless
by Christian Baines

Sam Shepard’s furious tale of brotherly feuding isn’t the easiest play to pull off. But something has gone seriously askew when the production’s comedy elicits only a few polite chuckles, and its darker elements summon only that faint shrug of ‘meh’.

Lee is a drifting petty criminal. His brother Austin is a highly successful screenwriter. But do the two men secretly yearn for a taste of what the other has? True West has become something of a modern American classic and when done right, brings the brothers’ conflict to an explosive head that teeters dangerously between the hilarious and the downright terrifying.

Picture of the Week, April 4, 2013

What's not to like about this Rodrigo Moreno photo of Paloma Nuñez for Chile Con Carne? We like the way the photo is split between mad colours on one side and the blonde wig on the other. We like the actor's face, the doll, her eyes. There is something patently theatrical (and fun!) and seductive about all of it. 

(Real also a first-person piece by Chile Con Carne's director, Marilo Nuñez)

The Album, April 4, 2013

INDEX OF NATIONAL FRINGE FESTIVAL COVERAGE, 2013

Review: (Vancouver) Billy Elliot

The Dancing Lad
by Jay Catterson
@ScienceOfSmut

At long last, Billy Elliot: The Musical triumphantly arrives in Vancouver nearly five years after opening on Broadway. Based on the hit film of the same name, the endearing story of a Northern England coalminer's son who gives up boxing for  ballet was adapted for the stage by the film's original creative team: director Stephen Daldry and writer Lee Hall (book and lyrics). Featuring music by Elton John, Billy Elliot The Musical has since gone on to win four Olivier Awards and 10 Tony Awards including Best Musical, and has spawned several hit productions around the globe. 

Due to the rigorous physical demands of the show, the North American touring cast features four child actors who alternate the role of Billy Elliot; Drew Minard took on the titular role at the performance I attended, and his genuine sense of boyish vulnerability coupled with his tremendous dancing ability was a sight to behold. Minard's Act Two Swan Lake pas de deux with Billy's older self (performed by Maximilien A. Baud) was both beautifully touching and breathtaking, to which he follows up with a knock-out rendition of "Electricity", a paean to Billy's passion for dance. It was undeniable that we were in the presence of true stage talent (and at such a young age, too!). 

Review: (Toronto) Chile Con Carne

Paloma Nuñez (photo by Rodrigo Moreno)

The Gringos and Me
by Beat Rice

Chile Con Carne is a solo acted show fuelled by Paloma Nuñez who plays the role of young Manuelita. It is the 70’s, and Manuelita has recently moved to Canada with her family from Chile, when her activist parents had been exiled and blacklisted. Being of elementary school age she struggles to make sense of being in Canada, and at the same time is enamoured by the looks and lifestyles of the surrounding ‘gringos’.  She takes a page out of her parent’s book and fights to save her favourite cedar tree, which is to be mowed down. Through the play we see Manuelita at school with the gringos, at home with the Chilean community, and up in her tree, writing letters to her grandmother, one of her main connections to home.