Beyond Our Fourth Wall, March 21, 2012

Les Demimondes examines how fine arts, music, film, photography and the media have profited off the shabby mystique of the whore… 

Edgy Women Festival

Mar. 30 – Apr.1

Studio 303

Theatre…en français

by Estelle Rosen

The town of Lucy has strangely disappeared… 

Lucy Lost Her Heart

Theatre Junction Grand 

Mar. 28 – 30

Usine C

Six young adults find themselves in a deserted parking lot of a shopping centre…

Disparu(e)(s)

Mar. 20 – April 7

Théatre Prospero

EVENT: Callaghan! and the Wings of the Butterfly

After Dark, March 20, 2012

The Unbearable Lightness of PR
Why are there still some theatre companies who hire ultra-maroons?
by Gaëtan L. Charlebois
What are the lessons we have learned from the death of Vancouver Playhouse (and, in passing, I do not think it is going to rise again)?

For me the chief question is, "Why didn't I, as a concerned Canadian theatre person, know that this was coming?" I have since heard from many Vancouverites that the writing was on the wall. I have also heard that the atmosphere in Vancouver is not conducive (if not downright hostile) to theatre production. But I have learned these things after the fact. Somewhere along the line someone was not communicating to the rest of us. And I do mean "us", as the whole country should be mortified by what has happened in Vancouver.

The Upstage Interview: McGill Drama Festival

...you realize that actors have their own ideas...

Upstage Contributor Gaspare Borsellino spoke with McGill Drama Festival (MDF) Coordinator Benjamin Hanff and two MDF Directors Martin Law and  Lerato Islam. Below is an abridged version edited by Estelle Rosen, CharPo Editor-in-chief.

UPSTAGE:   How long has MDF been running?

HANFF:  I can’t give you an exact year but MDF has existed in multiple forms over 20 years. It wasn’t always called MDF but there’s always been a student play festival mounted in the Spring at Players Theatre.

The Sunday Read: First-Person - Ranee Lee on the life journey to Intimate Apparel

The Soul has many motions, the body one

by Ranee Lee

“I Learn by going where I have to go” to quote Theodore Roethke the poet. The lessons of my profession have brought me to where I am today, and this unpredictable expedition continues to unfold with every new experience. I have never thought of myself as more than a career woman in the arts. I am driven by the pursuit and successful outcome of a particular project whether in a solo or ensemble arena. The imperatives are at times wrapped in frustration and other times in accomplishment. This is not new news to any artist and performer, but it is the motivational tool to persist. As a child growing up in New York, my mother taught me that obstacles were made to be analyzed, and prevail over, that consequences are the results of actions and in everything there is a lesson. Sometimes we get it right the first time, other times the lesson comes in portions we must work through, but determination is a key to many doors.

Tour Whore, March 18, 2012

Making the Bouillion Cube

They won’t care how good my show is, if they don’t get the gestalt in 5 seconds or less. Gah!

by Cameryn Moore

Imagine that you’ve just pulled this beautiful roast chicken out of the oven. You labored long and hard over it, and it shows: smells great, looks amazing, your mouth is watering, it’s going to be delicious, you can’t wait to serve it out. And just as you’re sharpening the knife, the guest of honor says, wait, do you think you could make a boullion cube out of that?

That’s what this time of year feels like, when I have to take my show and boil it down to promo copy.

Review: State of Denial

Docu...Drama

Rahul Varma confronts the big issues again

by Chris Lane

Denial comes in many forms, and can effectively erase the memories of the oppressed victims of atrocities untold. Local playwright Rahul Varma seeks to uncover the personal stories that have been suppressed and present them in a stark and moving new play, State of Denial. The production is presented by Teesri Duniya, of which Varma is Artistic Director, a theatre company with a 31-year history of  politically relevant plays that depict diverse aspects of Canada’s cultural minorities. 

In writing this play, Varma derived a fictional story from multiple true stories garnered from years of interviews as a part of the research for Life Stories of Montrealers Displaced by Genocide, War and Other Human Rights Violations. State of Denial is being presented as a part of Life Stories Montreal and is directed by Deborah Forde.

Theatre For Thought, March 17, 2012

REQUIEM FOR A PLAYHOUSE

joel fishbane

Theatre, Vancouver Playhouse (1963 – 2012). Passed away suddenly on Saturday, March 10 surrounded by friends, family and protestors who insisted that they were conducting a vigil instead of a wake. The Theatre will be deeply missed by its artistic director, board of directors, fifteen permanent staff, two hundred contractors, hundreds of artists, thousands of subscribers and millions of fans of Canadian culture. 

The Theatre had a long and, perhaps unsurprisingly, dramatic life. It survived numerous marriages, divorces, trysts and trial separations involving countless artistic directors, board members and Canadian artists. Born in 1962, the infant Theatre was deposited on the doorstep of managing producer Michael Johnston by the municipal government. Although Vancouver had a thriving amateur community, it was determined that a professional theatre was needed to improve the city’s cultural life.

Review: Vigil

Marcel Jeannin and Kim Yaroshevskaya (photo: Andrée Lanthier)

Are you dead yet?

Darkness and Lite at The Segal

by Nanette Soucy

In Morris Panych’s Vigil, at the Segal Centre, in co-production with Rideau Vert, we meet Grace, a bed-ridden, silent crone who is besought by a houseguest come to watch over her and tend to her affairs as her life draws to a close.  Kempt, has dropped everything to travel a thousand miles to care for the auntie he spent his tortured childhood wishing he were.  Impatient for his host to kick the bucket, he spends the rest of her life unloading the rage and brimstone of his traumatic childhood in the care of an alcoholic father and a mother who desperately wanted a girl. Before Kempt pesters Grace to death, we encounter a dramatic plot twist.

CharPo's Real Theatre! March 16, 2012