Author Archives: Liz Nicholls

Going Undercover with the crack improvisers of Spontaneous Theatre: a review

Posted on April 6, 2018 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca “I like your thinking,” says the tough-cookie Det. Sergeant (Rebecca Northan), snapping her gum approvingly at the rookie detective from time to time in the course of Undercover. “I like your thinking” is the mantra of … Continue reading →

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“Doing it and enjoying it”: Slut is opening at Northern Light

Posted on April 6, 2018 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca “I’m just having fun being single. Is that a crime?” In the, er, tart little solo comedy that opens Friday at Northern Light Theatre, we meet a middle-aged accountant whose zest for sex, and generous-mindedness about … Continue reading →

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Big issues in small rooms: Atlas Theatre is back with Going To St. Ives

Posted on April 5, 2018 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca “As I was going to St. Ives, I met a man with seven wives.…” The thorny  little two-hander that opens Thursday on the Varscona stage, the finale of the inaugural Varscona Theatre Ensemble series, invokes that … Continue reading →

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Undercover: spontaneous detective work with improv queen Rebecca Northan

Posted on April 4, 2018 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls 12thnight.ca “Everyone has the capacity to improvise,” declares Rebecca Northan decisively, looking for inspiration on a lunch menu last week. “We all improvise all the time!” Not everyone, I think to myself, wincing visibly at a couple … Continue reading →

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Surviving the unsurvivable: the astonishing creation that is Betroffenheit, a review

Posted on March 31, 2018 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca What are you supposed to do with fathomless tragedy? The kind of limitless grief that consumes your mind and melts your bones?  Betroffenheit is about that. In its harrowing and brilliantly executed way, this astonishing dance/theatre … Continue reading →

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Brian Webb on Betroffenheit, and other matters theatrical for the weekend

Posted on March 30, 2018 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca Thoughts from Brian Webb, artistic director of the dance company that’s teamed up with the Citadel to bring Betroffenheit our way this weekend: “Crystal is the cream!,” says Webb of Crystal Pite, the star Kidd Pivot … Continue reading →

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Cleave, a sense of possibility in contradiction: a review of Tiny Bear Jaws’ latest

Posted on March 30, 2018 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca No wonder we’re screwed up. We’re looking for definitive clarity and judgment in a language full of unruly verbs —  dust, sanction, screen, bolt, cleave — that contain their own opposites. Cleave: to hold together. Cleave: … Continue reading →

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Gender, sexuality, identity: Elena Belyea’s Cleave asks questions

Posted on March 28, 2018 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca Elena Belyea thinks about the punchy title of her new play with a certain unmistakeable satisfaction. Cleave, after all, has two completely opposite meanings: to pull together and to wrench apart. Families, those repositories of contradictory … Continue reading →

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Out of trauma and into artistic creation: Jonathon Young talks about the acclaimed dance/theatre fusion Betroffenheit

Posted on March 28, 2018 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca The intersection of real life and artistic creation can seldom have been so high-stakes as it is in the acclaimed dance/theatre production that arrives at the Citadel Friday for three performances. Betroffenheit, which has gathered awards … Continue reading →

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Onstage: a weekend theatre update

Posted on March 23, 2018 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca Your weekend could include a musical. There’s a couple to choose from, and though both are a challenge (for very different reasons) for the form, they’re at opposite ends of the musical spectrum •One of the … Continue reading →

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