Review: ArtHouse

Photo from a previous ArtHouse production: ArtCrypt (Photo credit: Julian Stamboulieh)

Theatre's in the House!

...fairies flit between the living room and their disco bathroom, prompting unexpected mini dance parties...

By Valerie Cardinal

ArtHouse was certainly the best house party I’ve been to in a while. Quite literally, all the performances take place in someone’s home – audience members essentially get to pick what they want to see from a multitude of 10 to 15-minute performances by comedians, actors, musicians and more. They can also opt to kick back in the living room, enjoy a beer and observe the mini-gallery of art on the walls, or the cupcakes and hand-knitted pasties for sale. Performers travel between the different rooms in the house and the living room, asking the audience to follow them to see a show. ArtHouse doesn’t even have a specific show time; doors open at 7:30pm, shows start at 8pm and the party doesn’t stop until midnight.

Due to the cramped performance quarters, most of the short shows are heavy on audience participation.

Enter one room, and you find yourself in the domain of the paper bag queen, who welcomes citizens, immigrants and ambassadors alike into her kingdom. Downstairs in the basement, a bedroom is turned into a comedy club, as viewers sit on the bed or the floor for a very cozy set by local comedians. Right next door, singer/poet/beat-maker Discussion Percussion interviews strangers in order to improvise a song about them. Back upstairs, fairies flit between the living room and their disco bathroom, prompting unexpected mini dance parties. I’m sure there are also more hidden performances I didn’t get a chance to see. 

At first, the location of the performances made me feel a bit out of place, like I was crashing someone’s party. Eventually, I relaxed into the intimate atmosphere, where performers and audience members are encouraged to mix and socialize. Due to the cramped performance quarters, most of the short shows are heavy on audience participation. It can start out as awkward, but it eventually makes people talk to each other and discuss what they’ve just seen. If you can’t bring friends, expect to leave the ArtHouse with a few new ones. 

For info: AstraTheatre