Monthly Archives: October 2019

The Particulars: the invasion of the minutiae. Punctuate! is back in town

Posted on October 31, 2019 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca Poor Gordon. He has a complicated problem. His life, an infestation of minutiae moment to moment, is driving him crazy. Especially at night. The scratching of vermin in the walls. The chewing of insects in his … Continue reading →

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Crime plays: The Ballad of Peachtree Rose, a new thriller from Nicole Moeller, opens the Workshop West season

Posted on October 29, 2019 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca “Who are the monsters?” That’s what playwright Nicole Moeller wonders. It’s what she’s always drawn to wonder in her plays, and the answer is never clear-cut. She asks again in the new high-speed thriller that premieres … Continue reading →

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Women in their 50s get sitcom Botox: The Roommate opens the Shadow season. A review.

Posted on October 25, 2019 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca It’s impossible to know anything about the season-opening two-hander comedy at Shadow Theatre — including its title — without thinking of Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple (female version). The Roommate, by the young (and multi-award-winning) American playwright … Continue reading →

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Writing for women of a certain age: meet Jen Silverman, the author of The Roommate

Posted on October 25, 2019 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca Jen Silverman is the New York-based playwright/ screenwriter/ novelist who wrote the comedy The Roommate. Last produced at Chicago’s Steppenwolf in 2018, it’s the season-opener at Shadow Theatre. She made time in her schedule for some … Continue reading →

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Do shebangs come in partials? Simone et le whole shebang opens the L’UniThéâtre season

Posted on October 22, 2019 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca There’s a certain heat-seeking rom-com engine driving Simone et le whole shebang, the raucous, tart-tongued season-opener at L’UniThéâtre, Edmonton’s francophone theatre. At the centre is an unexpected encounter between two hostile, elderly characters, who are up … Continue reading →

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Type A fabulous: Baroness Bianka’s Bloodsongs at Northern Light. A review.

Posted on October 21, 2019 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca The chandeliers give off a lurid red glow. The bandstand will make you smile; a sparkly set of outsized teeth with pointy incisors, the inspiration of director/ set and costume designer Trevor Schmidt. The stage accoutrements? … Continue reading →

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A rare backstage pass: E Day takes you behind the scenes of an election. A review of Jason Chinn’s new political comedy

Posted on October 20, 2019 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca “Welcome! Thanks for volunteering your time,” says a bright young woman with a smile and a clipboard as you enter the theatre. You’ve wandered into a cluttered makeshift office (designer: Beyata Hackborn, lighting by Scott Peters), … Continue reading →

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Fight Night gets the vote out, in a fun and disconcerting way

Posted on October 18, 2019 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca Uncanny. It’s all about us. Sorry to be self-centred, but it’s hard to believe that Fight Night, a fascinating five-year-old show from the innovative Belgian collective Ontroerend Goed, wasn’t custom-made for us, right now. So here … Continue reading →

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Baroness Bianka’s Bloodsongs: a bloodthirsty cabaret to launch the season at Northern Light

Posted on October 17, 2019 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca “Everyone’s grandmother has an accordian in the basement,” says Kristin Johnston, pointing at a battered case with judicious applications of duct tape. This venerable objet is not some sign of random self-improvement on Johnston’s part. She’s … Continue reading →

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Simone et le whole shebang: the season opens at L’UniThéâtre

Posted on October 16, 2019 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca In the intricate dark comedy that launches the L’UniThéâtre season Friday, a couple of 60-something-plus strangers from elsewhere, sporting symmetrically opposed damages, meet  — in a nursing home in Fort McMurray, the unofficial Canadian home of … Continue reading →

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